If you’ve been browsing through potential photography gifts for the photographer in your life (even if that photographer is YOU), here are our favorite photo tools and toys for every budget.
$10-$30 Budget
Camera and lens wraps: Wrap up your camera and lenses like burritos in these Velcro camera wraps and place them directly in your carry-on to save space.
Camera bag insert: Fly under the radar and use this padded insert to convert any backpack, shoulder bag, or carry-on roller into a camera bag, with plenty of protection for your gear.
Bigger and faster memory cards: If there’s one thing that a photographer would appreciate as a gift, it’s more storage space for all of their photos. The Silicon Power Elite Micro SDXC UHS-1 packs a ton of value in a super-fast card. You can get up to 128GB of space (so much space!), and get this: These cards are waterproof and shockproof, can survive extreme temperatures, and are immune to the X-ray machines at the airport.
“Thinsulate” gloves: Don’t let the cold stop your photo adventures. These light gloves let you access your thumb and pointer finger, so you can still operate the camera, while keeping your hands warm. For women and men.
$30-$100 Budget
Portable power bank: The Anker PowerCore+ can charge your phone up to 9 times… and will even charge laptops or camera batteries, in a pinch. It’s a little clunky, but a real lifesaver on the road.
Business cards from Moo: Get your photographer friend (or yourself) set up with some photography business cards. When you order from Moo.com, it’s like you have a portable gallery in your hand, because you can print a different photo on every single card in the pack. So, if you order 50, you can walk around with your 50 best photos as tiny prints to show and give away. Pretty neat.
Photo tip cards: Our Great Escape Publishing Photo Tip Cards make it so much easier to take beautiful photos wherever you are. Get your settings right the first time and cut down on your processing, produce striking images, and get accepted more quickly to stock photo agencies. They make a great stocking stuffer—even if you’re stuffing your own stocking.
Art prints, Photo book, or Calendar: Parabo Press offers gift cards for all kinds of photo printing options, from wall prints to holiday cards to books and calendars.
$100-$400 Budget
Adobe Lightroom: If you want to sell your photos and you don’t have Lightroom… it’s time to get it. This program is a must for anyone serious about improving their photography. Lightroom not only allows you to process photos beautifully, but you can also organize them, keep them in “collections,” add keywords and titles, and more. It’s well worth it if you truly want to sell photos… and even more worth it if someone gives it to you as a gift! You can now get Lightroom and Photoshop together for $9.99 a month.
Solid travel tripod: One of the best-value options on the market for a solid tripod that’s also small and light (at 15.6 inches and 3.6 pounds) is the MeFoto Roadtrip, in aluminum for $144 or half a pound lighter in carbon fiber for $299.
Turn Your Pictures Into Cash: For everyday study, or as a reference on your virtual bookshelf, Great Escape Publishing’s landmark study-at-home program is for anyone ready to start earning money from their photography skills. With downloadable chapters and brand-new instructional videos, the handy online edition of Turn Your Pictures Into Cash opens the door to markets you may never have heard of… with easy steps for taking and selling your photos… no matter how “beginner” you are.
[Editor’s Note: Learn more about how you can fund your travels and make an extra income with photography, travel writing, blogging, and more in our free online newsletter The Right Way to Travel. Sign up here today and we’ll send you a new report, Five Fun Ways To Get Paid To Travel: A Quick-Start Guide, completely FREE.]