I love the concept of Christmas, with its "goodwill and generosity to all" ethos. However, I really wish we could put more effort into making this a 365-day-a-year practice, where kindness and compassion thrive regardless of the season.
This being said, it's great to bookmark our lives and the year gone past with Christmas – just before we kickstart a new year.
One huge part of Christmas is the gift giving. And I'm sure a lot of you have family who would love to casually drop $3,000 on the latest lens or camera for you. Now, I'm not suggesting that your family (or friends) are putting a price on their love for you, but let’s be real – the price of love, is probably somewhere between $25 and $250.
So with these price constraints in mind, we've put this list of reasonably priced, photo-centric gifts together in the hope that you can point your loved ones towards these more affordable photography related products that we've found on Etsy. Take note – some of these products are from overseas, so keep in mind shipping costs and time. If they won't make it to Australia or New Zealand in time for Christmas, there's always birthdays...
If you are not familiar with Etsy, it's a global online marketplace that connects independent artisans, crafters, and vintage sellers with buyers seeking unique, handmade, or one-of-a-kind items.
1) Socks. $16.50. Socks (and undies) are a bit of a mainstay for Xmas presents from your Grandma or relatives who may not really know you that well. These ones in particular are of a better design featuring vintage-y cameras of different colours with a nice colour palette. If you don't like this style, you can find a bunch of different ones on Etsy.
2) Kodak T-shirt. $26.50. Whether you wear it beneath a jacket, around the house or as a bed-shirt, you can't go wrong with giving or getting a T-shirt. If this yellow one in particular is too bright, you can find many other styles to suit.
3) Vintage enamel pin. $10.00. If you want to convey your love of photography in a low key way, you can't beat an enamel pin. As with the socks and t-shirts, there are many designs you can find online all at a similar price.
4) Vintage camera floating wall mount. $21.00. Storing your vintage cameras is usually limited to shelf space (or in boxes in your garage), but this floating wall mount is an ingenious way to display your collection.
5) Clash of the Cameras. $31.00. 'Trump cards' were all the rage back in the 1970's & 80's. In this camera card game, you are dealt cards and you voice your particular camera statistic on your card in the hope to win over (trump) your opponents card.
6) Custom label linen photo box. $44.00. Sure, you could put your photographic prints into a shoe box, but how cool would it be to have a beautiful, custom labeled linen box that perfectly housed all your favourite prints.
7) Wooden hard drive stand. $47.00. A bit more on the practical side, but non-the-less, a kind of classy way to keep your hard drives displayed and ready to use on your desk.
8) Vintage camera lamp. $109.00. Getting back to those who love vintage cameras, you might think of making them a little more useful by turning them into a lamp, or better still, just buy one from someone who has already customised one. Just make sure you are buying it from a country with 220-240 volt – and not from the US or Japan where the power supply is 110 volt.
9) Leather camera strap. $48.20. This strap in particular is quite chunky, and you can get a name custom printed onto it for an extra fee. If this strap doesn't float your boat, there are others to be found.
10) Dual camera strap. $70.80. For the serious shooters out there who like to shoot events and such with two camera bodies simultaneously.