Christmas Gift Ideas For The Experienced Photographer

Buying for an experienced photographer may seem like a tricky prospect, but with a little thought, it should be possible to come up with some great Christmas gift ideas that they’ll love – hopefully they’ll repay the compliment by presenting you with a cracking canvas print for your wall!

Unlike the complete beginner, the experienced photographer will probably have all the basic gear, but they’re also more likely to be interested in specific sub-genres of photography – and that’s where you should focus.

It’s time to do a little detective work! Find out what kind of photographer your recipient is – are they into macro? Off-camera flash work? Birds and nature? Architectural? There are so many potential gifts for all of these specific genres, but we’ll share a few ideas here to get your creative juices flowing.

Lenses – We know that these are usually expensive purchases, but professional lenses are a great gift for that special someone – just make sure you’re buying something they need!

Lighting gear – Any photographer into off-camera flash work will always need (want!) more lights, light stands, modifiers and accessories. Cheap Yongnuo manual flashes are brilliant value and work well as part of a strobist’s arsenal; strong mini light stands are often omitted from a photographer’s kit, but buy decent Manfrotto ones; strong umbrella adapters from Calumet will last a lifetime; quality shoot through umbrellas, pop-up softboxes and other modifiers like snoot kits will also be appreciated.

Books – Referencing the master photographers is a fantastic way to learn and grow your own art, so don’t be afraid to buy the experienced ‘togger a high-quality picture book. Concentrate on the best photographers in the genre that they're interested in for the wide-eyed wow factor when they unwrap your gift.

Photo experiences/training days – If the photographer in your life has everything they need you could send them off on an experience day. Take a look around the website https://www.experiencedays.co.uk/photography which has some wonderful gifts to choose from.

Lomo camera – Why not stretch their horizons a little with a Lomography film camera? They’re great fun for photographers of all ability, and might make them appreciate just how good their everyday kit really is!

As you can see, you don’t have to actually be a photography expert yourself to come up with some great Christmas gift ideas for the experienced photographer in your family – although they might think you are if you present them with one of these on Christmas morning!