Non-Gear Gifts for Photographers

With the holiday season approaching, it seems everyone is putting together lists of gifts for photographers.

Most of these lists are filled with things like lenses or cameras or lights and such. Which, frankly, make poor gifts unless you know exactly what the person wants.

Let’s take a different approach in putting together a list of gifts for photographers. Let’s come up with gifts that aren’t more gear to go in their bags.

Thus, in no particular order, I present…

Things That Aren’t Photo Gear but are Great Gifts for Photographers

• A subscription to CreativeLive or Kelby One for online video training. Both offer a variety of photography topics. If your recipient’s interests extend into other creative realms and business, go for CreativeLive. If it’s purely photography, either is great.
• A gift card for their favorite airline. While gear is an expensive part of photography, for those who like to travel as part of their photography ventures, the process of getting there can be quite costly¹.
• A piece of wall art from a favorite photographer. Who do they enjoy? What artist or style of imagery do they like? A piece of wall art (print, metal, canvas) for their home or office is a wonderful gift. Who would value photography more than a photographer?
• Some kitchen gear… a camera cookie cutter or a set of salt and pepper shakers that look like film canisters.
• How about a book by former Obama White House photographer Pete Souza? Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents juxtaposes over 100 of Souza’s images of President Obama along with various bits of news and tweets and headlines from the first 500 days of the Trump administration.
• If a photographer has books, how about some vintage camera bookends such as this set available on Amazon?
• Offer to pay their membership fee or dues for a photography organization. There are a variety of camera clubs and other photo organizations such as PPA that often have a membership fee. If they’re curious about joining, perhaps you could gift them a year of membership.
• Some photo-related jewelry could be appreciated. I’m sure there are any number of sources. A quick Amazon search revealed a dangle bracelet was or a camera pendant and earrings. Don’t think this is only for women… men might appreciate camera cuff links.
• Or how about some photography stickers – available from a variety of traditional and nontraditional sellers.

Hopefully this gives you some ideas when it comes to gifts for photographers without you having to spend a ton of money or worry that you’re going to get something that doesn’t fit with their desired set of gear, brands, or shooting style.

1. My preferred Airline is Alaska 😉 ↩