Landscape Photographer's Christmas Wish List

Christmas is already just one month away and it feels like I made my Christmas 2023 Wishlist Article just yesterday. It’s crazy how time flies! I don’t know about you but if there is one thing I find difficult, it has to be putting thought on presents! I always want to make an effort when it comes to giving gifts…I want people say: WOW! I never thought about that!

I don’t like to give a boring gift card…and I love to go shopping but knowing what to give to your loved ones can always be much easier when you have an idea of what they want. If you have a photographer spouse or if you are the photographer in your relationship and don’t know what to ask for for Christmas, here are a few very useful and thoughtful ideas:

ADOBE SUBSCRIPTION

Photography isn’t only about pressing the shutter release button…once we get home, we must edit the images we took during that dream trip that just ended! Some people like to use what ever software that was supplied with the camera they bought and I am not going to lie, in most cases, they’ll do the job kinda ok. But we need more! I sure need more than the Canon EOS Utility software that came with my camera.

This is where an Adobe Subscription Plan for photographers comes in handy as a Christmas gift. If you choose the right plan for photographers, this will cost around 25$ CAD per month. That is actually really cheap! I remember paying up to 800$ for Photoshop only and when ever that Photoshop was obsolete, I had to buy another one… The Adobe Subscription will give you access to Lightroom, Bridge, Photoshop, some cloud storage which I never use…and more. I know you end up paying all the time, year after year but you always have the latest version of each software included in your plan. Of all that’s included in my plan, I use mostly Lightroom for cataloging all my images, adding keywords and metadata, doing initial adjustments to my RAW files and then Photoshop to do more precise local adjustments of colours, tones, emphasizing atmosphere and so much more.

VALLERRET PHOTOGRAPHY GLOVES

I live up north in Canada and we happen to have a few months of really cold weather. I am not complaining about the cold weather. I actually love winter and all the magic it adds to my images. I literally spend hours outside to capture the perfect Winter Wonderland scenes! I think what makes the biggest difference during winter is our own comfort. Being underdressed is not fun and will make our time outside miserable.

I have tried many different brands of gloves which were all designed for hiking and winter sports. I love Outdoor Research! They make great gloves for when I do winter sports such as snowshoeing or skiing…but they just don’t work for photography. Being stationary for hours will definitely get your fingers cold. And I never really believed in the touch screen capabilities of most winter gloves. It’s frustrating! You try to touch one button on your camera’s rear screen and you end up touching everything but what you initially wanted!

Photography requires a different kind of glove. This is where Vallerret Photography Gloves come in handy! First of all, they are functional, you can take your index and your thumb out when needed thanks to their removable finger caps, the gloves are very well insulated and they also happen to look great! What’s even more amazing is you can buy a whole system which consist of multiple layers, first a thin POWER STRETCH PRO LINER with touch screen capabilities, second a MARKHOF V3 glove on top of it…and when things become really serious, you can add a pair of ALTA ARCTIC MITTENS as the final top layer. I always recommend to people to use a layering system for clothes. We can do the same with gloves too! I am telling you guys, this will be good for what ever winter can throw at you!

KASE FILTERS

Finding the right optical filters can be difficult. Why? There are so many options on the market! And each company tends to say they have the best optical filters. And after trying many different brands of optical filters, I can say with confidence that Kase Filters’ statement about being the best on the market is proven! I love their filters. I am using their KW Revolution Series of magnetic filters for most of my lenses now. What makes them that good? Read below and find out!

They offer top of the line optical glass which is extremely sharp. When you use cheap filters, image sharpness can be affected. As far as I can tell, Kase Filters has never degraded the quality of my images. Also, Kase Filters have very little to no colour cast. Once again, colour casting can be a real issue when using cheap filters. We use top of the line lenses that cost a couple thousand dollars each, let’s use top of the line optical filters too!

And then one final reason to absolutely love Kase Filters, their filters from the KW Revolution Series are magnetic. You screw a magnetic ring on the lens and then the filter will simply and easily snap to the lens. At first, I was telling myself that this was a gimmick. But how may filters did I drop while trying to screw them on my lens? How many did I drop in a river? The struggles are gone!

LEOFOTO TRIPOD

The tripod probably comes in as the most important piece of equipment you’ll have…why? Because it will hold your expensive camera and lens! I lead photography workshops and a lot of people buy inadequate tripods thinking they got the best deal ever. There is a reason why it was cheap… The price will reflect the quality of the product you purchase.

What I love about Leofoto is they make quality tripods made with sturdy carbon fiber, aircraft aluminum and rust resistant stainless steel hardware. Their tripods are not only very stable, they will last a lifetime! And in the case of an unexpected event, Leofoto does have a good customer support department and spare parts supply. The tripod technically won’t break under normal usage, but if you drop it and happen to break something, you will be able to buy spare parts.

CAMERA SPECIFIC L BRACKET

Another under rated item for the landscape photographer: a camera specific L Bracket! You might wonder why I love to use an L Bracket? Here’s why. It allows mounting the camera to the tripod in both portrait and landscape orientation. Not having an L Bracket will force you to tilt the camera sideways which will not only de-stabilize the tripod, this will also limit camera positioning. The camera will very likely end up interfering with a tripod leg or the tripod itself. And those limitations will also affect you creativity.

When buying an L Bracket, just make sure to buy one that was designed specifically for the camera body you own and use. Well designed L Brackets will always have pins or ridges to prevent the camera from rotating on the bracket. Universal brackets are universal, as their name says… There will be no guides or pins or ridges to prevent the camera body from rotating on the bracket and this will defeat the purpose of a true Camera Specific L Bracket.

MEMORY CARD READER

A good Memory Card Reader will always make for a good Christmas gift! I know some cameras will allow file transfer via the supplied USB Type C cable. I personally prefer to use a proper Memory Card Reader as it will always end up being faster and more stable. By stable, I mean by not getting corrupted files. I had issues with a USB Cable being a little bit loose inside the port and I accidentally bumped into the cable while transferring files. Some of the files went missing or became corrupted. It’s a good thing that I always capture images on both memory cards in the camera so I didn’t really loose any images that day.

When buying a Memory Card Reader, only buy a top of the line model from a trusted company such as Sony or Sandisk. There are a lot of cheap options on the market and I highly recommend you avoid these at all cost! I was once on a trip, my HoneyMoon to be more specific and I was able to capture videos of some stunning Albatros matting! It was of the upmost beauty! At some point, my memory cards were full and I needed to backup the data but I had forgotten my good card reader at home…so I bought a cheap one! I bought the only one I could find and it crashed on me! I lost all the amazing Albatros videos I made a few days earlier…

A FLASHY JACKET

You could definitely ask for a flashy jacket or give one for Christmas. First, it will keep you warm! Right? And second, I personally love to create selfie images in which I am part of. The addition of the human element in many scenes will add a sense of scale. Also, I always try to have one that will contrast greatly with my surroundings. In summer or fall season, I love to use a yellow jacket. And during the cold winter months, red will be my colour of choice.

POWERFUL HEADLAMP

A proper powerful headlamp will always be extremely useful. Since most of my photoshoots happen at sunrise or sunset, that means I will be hiking in complete darkness. A cell phone flashlight won’t do it for me! I need both my hands to be free since I am almost always using walking poles for maximum stability which makes sense since it will be dark outside.

A headlamp is so much more practical. I love the brand PTZEL. They don’t only make great climbing equipment, they also make great headlamps. When shopping for a good headlamp for hiking in the dark, two factors should be considered: Power and Weight. My headlamp has a power of approximately 450 Lumens. It’s quite powerful! I have no issues seeing in complete obscurity. Of course, the power level can be adjusted as desired… And the second factor, weight is also important. Some headlamps will be more powerful than 450 Lumens but will have a bigger battery setup on the strap behind your head and they can be heavy and uncomfortable.

…IN CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I am 100% sure that any of the gift recommendations will make the photographer in you or the photographer you share your life with a happy person on Christmas morning! I know the struggle of finding the perfect! If you want more ideas, you are welcome to read last year’s All I Want For Christmas Article and find more inspirational recommendations!

Now on my side, I must try to find Christmas ideas for the Horse Lover in my wife…she isn’t the easiest person to find gifts for. I asked her what she wanted and she said horse stuff…very helpful, right? Do you have any recommendations? I don’t want to give her a boring gift certificate..

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas Holiday Season!