Author: Harry Guinness / Source: reviewgeek.com
Photographers are often gear obsessed; while this might make it sound like they’re easy to buy gifts for, photography gear is normally a terrible present. Here’s why and what to do instead.
Photography Gear is a Bad Gift
The photography market is basically made up of a thousand different incompatible standards.
Clip A won’t fit on tripod B and X lenses certainly don’t work with Y camera, though Z adapter may make it possible.Photography gear is also incredibly expensive. Good lenses start at a few hundred dollars and quickly go up to a couple of thousand dollars. Even a decent tripod will set you back $150.
Photographers are also very particular and often have very specific areas of interest. A landscape photographer and a portrait photographer are probably both “the photographer” to their friends and family, but the stuff they covet and what they buy will be totally different.
Combined, these three issues make buying photographers gear an absolute nightmare. Even if you can afford to buy them something, there’s a good chance it won’t work with their existing setup or won’t help them with their style of photography.
Now, there’s one caveat to this. If you know the person you’re buying for well and know a specific piece of gear they want (or they’ve asked for a particular thing) then go ahead, they’ll be delighted. I’m just talking about the kind of aimless buying that’s so common when you have to buy a gift.
Right, now we’ve ruled out gear (for the most part), let’s look at some good photography related gifts you can get them instead.
Some Learning Materials
You can always get better at everything you do and photography is no exception. One of the best gifts you can give a photographer, then, is some really great learning material.
What you go for depends on their level and what area of photography they’re interested in.
A Lynda subscription is awesome for beginners since it covers so many areas. I’m a huge fan of a lot of their courses. Lynda subscriptions start are $29.99 per month and you can buy gift cards for any amount.
If you want something a bit more photo-specific, with more options for intermediate photographers, check out KelbyOne. Plans start at $9.99/month although the only gift option…
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