Gifts for Photographers That Don't Make Them Cringe

There is a whole category of gifts marketed at photographers that no photographer actually wants. Camera-shaped mugs. Prints that say something about light. Generic camera bags that look fine and work terribly. The people who give these gifts mean well, which makes it a little sad. Here is what actually lands: things that solve a real, specific friction point in how they shoot. More storage, better care for their gear, a strap that doesn't dig into their neck after four hours, a way to print the shots that have been sitting on a hard drive for two years. Practical. But in a way that shows you paid attention.