* Photography as a Gift Ideas and Inspiration *
January 25, 2010In my house we celebrate a lot of holidays and over the years my family has come to expect that there will be updated portraits of the kids in the family presented as presents. Even though we work with photography and gifting photography every day here in the studio I thought it would be fun to go out there and get some ideas from others about what they like to give as gifts.
This is a collaborative blog post which means that it didn’t come from me but from others who wanted to contribute. Their names are here and any information we had about them. There are some great ideas here for good gifts for this coming year.
Enjoy!
| Idea | Details | Contributor |
| Hard Cover Photo Book | My son gave me a hard cover book of photographs from a family trip to Washington DC that he put together with an Apple computer program.
The book came with a paper dust jacket on which he had printed his personal note. He laid out all the photographs on his computer and submitted them to the Apple service and they sent the book within a few weeks directly to him. As a designer, I am very attuned to how things look and the layout of the book was beautiful and looked very professional. So much better than a “crafty” photo album. It was the best gift EVER! As a family, we tend to take digital photos and then leave them on the memory card and never see them again. I had been be-moaning that fact to my son so he decided to rectify the problem. I was so moved by his thoughtfulness that it brought me to tears. I proudly display it on my coffee table and can leaf through it whenever I like! I think I will do the same for him next year but with a selection of chronological images of some of the most memorable occasions of his life. I can see this being a gift that we will create year after year! |
Robin Siegerman
Sieguzi Interior Designs Inc. Toronto, Canada |
| Photography Calendar | My brother has recently taken up photography and my mother put together a calendar this holiday season featuring her favorite photographs by Ste, which are nature inspired. This gift gave me a personal insight into my brother and his hidden talents. I am not even sure if he realized how good his photographs were/are until he saw them in a published format.
I was quite impressed and it resulted in shared conversations as I too have a passion for photography (in a different area). I focus on my child who has been “modeling” since she was born and I have created calendars and a photo book showcasing my captured momement. In my travel articles that I write and publish, my photography is often featured. I am not a scrapbooker so other ways to showcase my photography has been a great asset. I’m looking now at a new site that can turn my photographs into canvas art. Very excited to try it out. I used the frames this year too as a gift where you can record messages and included a few of my favorite photos of my children for their grandfather. Not only did I capture a photographic moment, but I also captured my four-year-old’s voice! I love the photo books too and the calendars…both to give and receive. These are very personalized and offer a glimpse into your family, your soul, and your passion. Oprah’s big giveaway/partnership with Snapfish last year turned me onto the photo books. |
Jennifer Thomas |
| Kids candid photo sessions for the holidays | My client, Allison Beuker (http://www.abeukerphoto.com)is a photographer specializing in family/kids candids. She offered family photo sessions to moms for their holiday cards and one little girl wanted to gift her mom one of the prints from the session, professional mounted. She picked out the proof herself so it would be a surprise (even though Daddy paid for it.) Very cute. Another of her clients took some pro-mounted photos from her session with her 2 boys and gave gift to her parents.
You can see Allison’s site at www.abeukerphoto.com and Allison’s available to talk about photography as holiday gift ideas also. |
Rebecca Penovich
Silver Springs, Maryland |
| Photo Collage of Shared Adventure | I spent a large part of last year planning and completing a 1,000 mile hike around Lake Michigan. Along the way, some of my family and closest friends joined me for a day or two on the lake.
As a special remembrance of our time together, I gave a photo collage of a newspaper article and photos from the time my sister and cousin joined my adventure. This turned out to be one of the most meaningful gifts I gave this year. My sister and cousin are not ‘outdoorsy’ types (they much prefer to go ‘power shopping’), but they took time from their schedules to join me on my adventure. We had a wonderful time together those two days on the lake. They both vowed to hang the framed photo collage in their offices for all their clients to see. |
LOREEN NIEWENHUIS
Battle Creek, Michigan |
| Personalized Story Books | The best present I gave (and would have loved to receive!) to each member of my family was a personalized story book with their best photos of the year. People tend to diminish their successes and forget their many blessings, so a story book highlights each person’s achievements, travels, artwork, and milestones with witty narratives that will be enjoyed by many future generations.
This story book will be handy for “Show and Tell” occasions at school, birthday parties, or family gatherings. When the child’s Bar Mitzvah, Sweet Sixteen, wedding, or milestone birthday comes around, it is easy enough to flip through a few of these books to find the best photos and stories to share with the audience. |
Sharon Birke |
| photo from space | this is a great one my parents gave me a photo of michigan taken by astronaut jerry linenger a MIR cosmonaut its not the basic straight forward direct shot its very cool you can also see a piece of the MIR arm in the foreground
he lives near traverse city michigan and the photo is signed and personalized to me our company does a lot of photography that is published in a lot of national publications, but this is really cool this was film, and he actually took 10,000 photos, but didnt know if any of them would be any good until he got back to earth:) |
Dave Richards
Bloomfield Hills, MI |
| One letter at a time – Letter Photography | This Christmas we gave our kids an incredibly unique gift – their last name in photographic images.
We stumbled upon this micro business called A to Z Illusions at a handcrafted show – we were the next booth over. The owner photographs everyday objects that become letters. Example a horseshoe becomes a U, a post becomes an I, etc. His business was booming! People loved his stuff and it wasn’t uncommon for him to make a $75 sale within minutes. We purchased photographic images (letters) one for each letter in our married children’s last name. We framed each individual letter and they are now able to be hung on a wall or stand on a frame. http://www.atozillusions.com/index.html this is his website. |
Betsy Hiebert
Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada |
| There’s no place like Grammy’s home | I gave my mom a photo of the 4 grandkids holding hands and walking toward her house. They are walking away from the camera. Even our dog is on a leash headed in to see Grammy. It is a black and white photo. One grandchild has a broken arm, the cast shows from behind. A little breeze is blowing. I mounted it with a white mat and thick black frame.
She loved the snapshot of a perfect moment in time…when all is wonderful at grammys house. |
Lori Randall
Meeker, OK |
| Photo resembles an original, but with the grandkids | My FIL was a pilot in the Navy and flew a specific plane during his career. One of the best photos of him during that time was taken of him in front of the plane, both by himself and with his buddies. This year, my husband and I and our three kids visited a retired Air Craft Carrier with that same plane retired on it. We took photos of my husband by himself and then one of the kids standing in front of it in the same poses as my FIL and then printed all the photos in black and white and gave it to my FIL for Christmas in a multi-photo frame. He mentioned to me that he was so excited to see the old photo of him and his buddies, coupled with the new ones of his son and grandchildren that he was going to hang it in a prime spot near his desk. He had said that my husband never mentioned the plane on the carrier when we went and he thought they must have moved it. Now he knew it was so we could surprise him and he was very moved by the framed photos of his memories past coupled with his family. | Elizabeth Gerdes
Marietta, GA www.stitchabovetherest.com |
Until later – A
