Lifestyle Action Camera: The 3 Best Gifts for Travel Photographers

Have a travel enthusiast in your life with a love for being behind the lens? Buying the perfect gifts for travel photographers can be tricky as it is a specialized hobby and everyone has their individual preferences for that they like or don’t. And not everyone has the money to splurge on an expensive 1080p HD video camera or expensive speciality lens for their loved one. How do you find the best gift for the travel photographer in your life that is affordable, practical, and serves to improve and grow in their photography journey?

Here we give you our top 3 picks for the best. Not only are these gifts unique, but they’ve also been chosen specifically for travel and adventure photographers and the types of environments or scenarios they may encounter. Best of all, none of these gifts is going to break the bank. Keep these suggestions in mind the next time you shop, and your donation is guaranteed to be a hit!

1-Cloud-based or physical storage.

All photographers know that storing raw files is both essential and painful if there’s one thing. Frequent photographers must regularly delete or back up files to make room on SD cards. Raw and edited files can be quite large and take up an excessive amount of space on laptops or phones. This is where storage options come in.

Also Read: Top 3 Best Beach Cities on the West Coast

Cloud storage may seem like an odd choice of a gift, but it is one of the most practical and valuable things you can provide any travel photographer. Travel photographers may spend extended periods in localities with minimal computer access, be unable to carry a laptop, or in some cases, have their equipment stolen.

Having cloud storage allows them to transfer all their pictures to a safe, secure storage location accessible anywhere with internet access. While there are many free cloud storage services, the large size of many raw image files can eat up free space very quickly. A subscription to a cloud service like Amazon or Dropbox can get you over 100GB of storage space for under $100 and give the travel photographer in your life the perfect place to keep their work.

Besides cloud-based storage, physical storage options like SD cards or an external hard drive can be a great option. A good quality 1TB external hard drive can range anywhere from $40 to $80 and is an invaluable asset for a photographer.

2-A weatherproof camera bag

Travel photographers will go to great lengths to get the perfect shot, and this can sometimes involve hiking through hot locales, navigating dusty terrain, or even boarding a boat for a mid-ocean view. As you can imagine, these kinds of environments aren’t the best for sensitive camera equipment, and photographers must find a way to keep their equipment safe while also keeping their gear light enough to be carried. Bulky bags can be uncomfortable, but the smaller option may not have enough space for everything.

A weatherproof camera bag will protect equipment from joint damage and make it easier for a photographer to get around. Look for bags marketed for rough terrain and have plenty of storage options for large items like laptops and lenses and are easy and secure to wear. You can even add some waterproof cases to store and protect lenses and SD cards. This is the type of gift that every travel photographer will appreciate, especially when they’re caught in bad weather.

3-Clip-on smartphone lenses

As smartphone cameras continue to get better in terms of clarity, quality, and even editing, many travel photographers now consider them a valuable part of their arsenal. After all, a smartphone is portable, easy to use, and vital for capturing small, unexpected moments on the go, whereas a traditional camera may take too long to set up. These lenses enable photographers to try different shot angles, such as fishbowl or capture more distance with a telephoto lens. With this in mind, there is a vast array of portable smartphone accessories that elevate phone photography.

Clip-on lenses are usually adjustable to the phone model and make. They are lightweight, easy to transport, and relatively affordable compared to professional camera lenses. You can also up the value of this gift by adding other helpful accessories, like a collapsible travel tripod for setting up shots, a hands-free clicker, selfie stick, or if you’re incredibly ambitious, a drone attachment for overhead shots.

Have some excellent travel photography gift suggestions of your own? Let us know!