Proud Photography Blog

If you have a budding amateur photographer in the household or a friend who loves to take pictures, what should you think about getting them?  What are the affordable but useful gifts for the festive season?

Presuming that the person you are buying for already has a camera and lens, here are some quick ideas as to what else you can buy them.

1.    Camera Bag

Every photographer needs a secure, spacious and practical camera bag. Many photographers’ collect equipment and run out of space.

You could pick something that is light and compact, and then they can go out and about of if they need lots of space, try a backpack or a large carry case.  There are also a number of chic and stylish camera bags that you can buy which don’t look like camera bags which are great for younger people, and those who don’t want to look like they are carrying expensive equipment about.

2. Memory

It may sound like a boring present but lots of photographers need more memory! It could be a new memory card or one with lots of space, or even an external hard drive – most of us need room to store our every growing collection of pictures.

You can get memory cards fairly cheap online these days for as little as $10 and an external hard drive for as little as $100.  Make sure you get a memory card that is compatible with the camera as there are many types – SD cards, Mini SD, Compact Flash, Sony Memory Stick, XD cards etc.

2.    Vouchers

You can buy vouchers for camera shops but you an also buy online vouchers for printing companies – for example, they could order a photo book or a number of prints of their choice as a gift.  This kind of present offers flexibility and it means that can control what they end up with.

3.    Software

Adobe Photoshop is one of the most powerful and a useful piece of software that you can buy but it’s also a very expensive program.  If you know a budding photographer who can’t afford to buy Photoshop then why not look at the number programs you can buy as a gift?  Even if you only have a small budget you may be able to find something to help them organise their images or add special effects.

4.    Books

A photography books is a great gift – it could be an instructional book with everything an amateur needs to know or a photo book which is full of stunning images.  Does the person you are buying for have a photographer they love? Maybe you can buy a book full of their photos.  Do they want to specialise in something like black and white images, or shooting portraits? Perhaps you can buy something like a tutorial book with specialist advice.
Look on Amazon.com for the best book deals and to get a good idea of what books are out there.  If you are unsure of which books to buy you can also buy a magazine subscription – find out which magazines your recipient likes and buy a 6 month or 12 month package for them.  Quite often these come with free gifts too.