Christmas Gift Ideas for the Photographer

Now that I have made my holiday book recommendations, next up are my Christmas gift ideas that are (mostly) under $100. If you have a loved one that is into photography, and you have no idea what to get him or her, here are just some ideas to help make the holidays a little brighter.

 Canon Tea Coffee Cup Lens Camera Mug over at Amazon.com. Be the talk of the office with your cool lens mug. $49.99

Gaffer Tape. I know, I know, not the most exciting thing around, but trust me when I say that this stuff is invaluable. I always travel with some in my camera bag, as you never know when you will need it. It isn’t just for laying cables down onto the floor. What makes gaffer tape so amazing is that it doesn’t leave behind a residue that will take years and tons of elbow grease to get back off. $12.95.

Black Rapid RS-4 Camera Strap. I tried the strap on a recent workshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and I have to say that I love how comfortable my camera was. Definitely recommended. They have a few other models available if you want to pimp yours out a little more. $54.00 at B&H.

Synology DiskStation DS1010+. OK, this is not exactly an under $100 gift, but since I recently bought one of these I thought I would say just how awesome it is. :-). This baby has 5 bays, and can act as a web server, iTunes server, bittorrent client and tons more. What is cool is that I am setting up a VPN to my home and I will have one unit at home and one at the office, and I can have each unit backup to the other through the WAN. Instant off-site backups! Roughly $800 online.