The Best Holiday Gifts For Photographers In 2022
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
Why does the holiday shopping season seem to close in on us in the blink of an eye? We tell ourselves that we have months to find gifts for everyone in our lives (including gifts for our favorite tech lovers), but that is shortened to weeks in a blur. In this crunch time of holiday shopping, how do you pick a gift for a photographer? If there is a photographer on your list that you still haven't shopped for, don't worry; we've rounded up a list of gifts that are more than likely to be enjoyed by any photographer. That's because we curated this list with practicality in mind — photographers require a lot of equipment for their craft, but the people shopping for them may be lost in how to shuffle through those items.
Yes, there are a lot of gift ideas for photographers out there that focus on the cute factor over function. Pretty floral camera straps, stickers and charms, tchotchkes (bonus points for having a cheesy photography quote printed on them), and, of course, the travel mugs mimicking camera lenses. It's not that these gifts are bad ideas — not at all, especially if the photographer asks for them specifically — but your shutterbug friend will probably be thankful to receive something with more application in their everyday work tasks. If they've been a photographer for a number of years, especially, we'd just about guarantee that your gifting predecessors have gotten all the cutesy novelty presents out of the way. This list touches on universal photography needs: storage, equipment care, and photographer comfort.
SD cards (but the good ones)
Memory cards are an obvious essential accessory for photographers. We're pretty sure you can walk into a gas station and find SD storage cards on the shelves somewhere, but please believe us when we say that the lowest quality SD cards would almost never get used by a photographer. The writing speed of the card makes a huge difference for photographers — this indicates how quickly the card is able to receive data about a picture, convert it into the preferred file type, and save it. A photographer using a slow card will be forced to wait for it to catch up (during this time the camera will display a message like "please wait," "busy," or "writing files," and will not be able to take any more pictures during that time) before they can move on. In an organic event like a wedding, this could mean missing out on a precious irreplaceable moment.
Storage, on the other hand, may not be a huge deal depending on the photographer. There are 512-gigabyte SD cards, but many camera professionals are in the habit of cycling out their cards before the storage is full. Because there's always a chance of something going wrong and the card becoming corrupted in the camera, photographers may replace their cards every hour while shooting a big event. This way, if the card goes kaput, you only have an hour's worth of photos on the line, not eight hours. So in keeping the write speed as the priority, we recommend the Lexar Professional 2000x 64-gigabyte cards, which write at 260 megabytes per second. A two-pack of these cards is listed for around $155 on Amazon. It may seem a steep price for not a whole lot, but your photographer friend will thank you.
Anti-glare computer film
Photographers can spend even more time in front of their computer screens than they do behind the lens. Taking the picture takes a fraction of a second; perfecting skin tones, removing blemishes, fixing lighting problems, and everything else that a photographer does to polish the picture up could take an hour per picture. This gift requires some knowledge about your gift recipient's computer screen size, but here is an example of a two-pack on Amazon for $27.99 that fits 15.6-inch laptop screens.
The film reduces glare, deepens darker colors, and blocks some blue light emissions, which can help reduce eye fatigue and headaches for photographers that spend hours on end staring at their computer screens. In a perfect world, though, your photographer friend would have monitors with anti-glare properties built into their screens – HP makes a great anti-glare monitor, if you love your photog buddy enough to spend a couple hundred on them — since lower quality third-party anti-glare films can reduce image quality and distort the white balance.
External storage
There can never be enough storage — that's a golden rule in photography. Every professional seems to have their own systems for how long old projects are stored, how they are categorized, or if finished products are kept alongside raw unculled pictures, but no matter what, a photographer will never tell you that they've just got too much free storage lying around. External storage is a preferred tool for its independence from cloud-based systems, and the low (but never zero) chance of device failure and file corruption. It would be helpful to gather at least some intel before shopping for your gift recipient to find out if they have a preferred brand, size, or type of external storage.
But even if you're coming into this gift completely blind, you can't go wrong with a basic USB portable hard drive, like this 2-terabyte option for $63.99 at Best Buy. It's small enough for photographers to easily bring out into the field for secure storage of large amounts of photos.
Portable power bay
Camera batteries. Flashes. Laptops. There are a million and one things that need recharging when a photographer is out in the field, and without some sort of portable power source, the solution is usually to bring enough duplicates to burn through when batteries die, or gamble on the shoot venue having available outlets. Both of these solutions come with some stress and hassle, but if you got your photographer a Jackery Explorer 300 portable power station, they'd never have to worry about a low battery warning again.
This is one of the pricier photography gift ideas on our list at $299.99, but the value in use will easily surpass the price tag. It's a great gift for wildlife photographers or wedding photographers — anyone who is out in the field for long periods of time, or frequently has to shoot at unfamiliar locations. If you yourself are an avid camper or traveler, you might as well pick up two. These portable power stations are useful for anyone.
Camera strap padding
Cameras, especially with a big lens attached, aren't all that heavy in the first hour of holding them. But photographers that spend hours and hours with the weight of their cameras on the neck and shoulders swear that gravity gets stronger the longer they've got their camera strap on. If your photographer in mind doesn't have pads on their camera straps, they'd almost certainly agree that they need them. Most camera strap pads are universal and can be moved to any point on the strap, like this two-pack of strap pads for $15.99 on Amazon.
If your gift recipient really struggles with neck, shoulder, or back pain after a full day of shooting, especially if they're using the standard issue neck strap, you may want to consider influencing them to upgrade for the sake of their own comfort. Alternatives are too numerous to count, but a good start would be a shoulder sling for cameras that shifts the bulk of the weight of the neck onto the shoulder.
Shoe insoles
There's a running joke that only the worst gift givers will get someone socks for Christmas, right? But by now, most of is know that one of the first lessons of adulthood is to never, ever turn down a new pack of socks. Really, anything that supports comfier shoe wear for those who go hours without the reprieve of sitting would be a good gift idea for photographers. As the Mayo Clinic explains, any type of employee spending the majority of the working day standing or walking, especially on hard surfaces, are at greater risk of developing plantar fasciitis — and no one, photographers included, has time for a painful foot condition to slow them down.
Shoe insoles are a great practical gift idea or stocking stuffer to make the 10th hour of a long day photographing a wedding just a tiny bit easier. Of course, knowing the shoe size of your recipient would be helpful (albeit a strange question to ask of someone if you're not close), but many insoles can be cut to size if necessary. A pair of orthopedic shoe inserts — which support plantar fasciitis sufferers — is $39.99 on Amazon.
SD card storage
You can never have too many SD cards — that's what just about any photographer will tell you. But before your shutterbug bestie has SD cards falling out of their ears, you should help them out with some card storage. With all of the options out there, you're bound to find at least one that suits your gift recipient's needs: waterproof, key-locked, pocket-sized, foam-padded, or equipped with labels for easy organization like this one for $16.99 on Amazon. We recommend this one for the convenient labeling on the lid (which helps to keep track of photos from different jobs and events), water and dust-resistant seal ring, and carabiner for handy clipping onto a backpack. This case also universally stores SD cards and CFexpress cards, which are compatible with many bigger, higher-end cameras.
In any case, losing track of an SD card can have catastrophic consequences if that card is the only place where priceless memories were stored. There are storage options for every budget, whether you're looking for something that holds five cards in a camera bag or 50 cards in a desk.
Lume Cube
Despite the intimidating nature of shopping in a niche — and not exactly bargain-friendly, in most instances — field, gifting photography gear that would suit the majority of professionals' needs is not impossible. Photography light kits can reach into the thousands for price, but even the most serious photographers encounter situations where the extras are unnecessary and something simple will do. Lightweight, portable, wireless, no-nonsense lighting is a ubiquitous enough need in many shooting scenarios. The Lume Cube RGB LED panel isn't the most advanced in photography lighting, but for $139.99, it brings an impressive amount of capability: Kelvin-controlled light temperature, white and color ranges, and a strobe option for flash photography.
Anyone who travels for their photos, or shoots nightlife/street photography scenes would benefit from something like the Lume Cube. This light source is a great way to get beginner photographers off the ground for an affordable price, too. The Lume Cube can be found on Amazon.
Neutral colored backdrops
Does the photographer you're shopping for mostly work in a studio? Then they would absolutely benefit from getting a neutral-colored backdrop. There's a chance they've already got some, but neutrals, especially white, cream, or tan-colored ones, can get scuffed up easily from prop furniture and shoes, and can show creases and blemishes. With how often neutral backdrops are used, they tend to get beat up quickly, so your photog friend will almost certainly not turn down a replacement to keep on the ready. And if they didn't already have a universally toned background paper, it won't take long for them to realize their value.
Backdrops can be purchased just about anywhere, but we recommend Savage Universal. Their paper backdrops are thick and durable, with a huge range of shades available even outside of neutrals. Most studio photographers prefer the 107-inch by 36-foot roll, but we have to forewarn you — this is bigger than you think, and definitely won't fit under the Christmas tree.
Anti fog wipes for lenses
Glasses wearers know the struggle very well. Coming into a chilly, air-conditioned room from the outside on a hot, humid day immediately fogs up your lenses. The same happens with camera lenses, but moisture can cause quite a bit more damage in the lens of a camera than the lenses of eyeglasses. Stark temperature changes, outdoor humidity, mist, and fog — anything leading to a water accumulation on or around camera glass is something photographers want to avoid, since moisture and very expensive electronics aren't exactly peas and carrots.
Even with that very expensive risk aside, the fogging up is just plain annoying. There are products dedicated to preventing pesky fog. Lens glass should only be wiped with a dedicated microfiber cleansing cloth, so it's not just as easy as rubbing the fog away with the hem of your shirt. Anti-fog wipes marketed for eyeglass lenses work on camera glass, too. We recommend the HEALQU lens wipes, which come in convenient single packs and are a moistened, non-abrasive material — so no worry about the devastating scratching of a lens or fibers getting stuck on the glass. A 250 count is less than $15 on Amazon.
Gifts for late-night editing marathons
When the deadlines come knocking, photographers stop sleeping. One of the best gifts to a photographer is not anything photography related at all, but actually comfort items to get them through periods of high stress — for example, a wedding photographer may be inundated with projects in June, while a sports photographer is slammed when fall football starts up, and a studio portrait photographer is in the weeds during pictures with Santa season. Many photographers spend more than their fair share of late nights at the editing station to churn out finished projects before the deadline.
If the photographer you have in mind drinks energy drinks or sparkling water while at the computer, they'd probably love a mini fridge to keep their beverages close by. A wheeled utility cart would be great for storing things to munch on (bonus points if you fill it with yummy, nutritional snacks to power them through the midnight editing slog). This desk pillow might look silly, but it beats resting your head on your arms when you need a second away from the harsh light of a computer screen. Depending on how much you know about your photography friend's personality and productivity preferences, your editing care package could include anything from fidget toys to a Bluetooth speaker for music, to a comfy new blanket, to ambient lighting.
B&H Photo e-gift card
Absolutely stumped on what to get your camera-wielding friend? Or do they seem to have every tangible thing under the sun that a photographer could ever hope for, complete with collections of old cameras and lenses? While we do agree that it's always the thought that counts, we don't think picking up any cheesy t-shirt or junky trinket is the answer, either. Instead, why not give a gift that will help your beloved shutterbug out when their camera is in need of servicing or when it's time to buy the new lens they've been saving up for? There are a couple of trusted third-party online photography markets out there where you can pick up a gift card for your recipient to save for a rainy day.
We recommend B&H Photo, where you can purchase an electronic gift card or send one by mail, with amounts ranging from $20 to $1,000. Adorama is also popular, and can also send gift cards via e-mail or snail mail as low as $25 or up to $1,000. It may not seem like much in the moment, but it would definitely be appreciated when the time is right.