It’s starting to look a lot like Christmas…! We love Christmas time and we love recommending fun photographic gifts for our students to enjoy and to keep them inspired. We’ve put together an amazing list full of cameras, tripods, books and fun accessories that every young photographer will enjoy! Our gifts are for kids as young as 7 and as old as 16, I mean 19, I mean 16! We hope you enjoy looking through the list as much as we have putting it together – all items are Sharp Shots Approved!

Cameras

For ages 7-11, we LOVE and recommend the Kodak PIXPRO WPZ2. It’s waterproof, shatterproof and full of fun camera settings. It’s a perfect entry camera for children as it allows them loads of freedom to use it (we fully endorse dunking it in puddles for AWESOME photos)

As of this year we’ve started using them on our workshops at schools. Previously we were using the Nikon Coolpix W150. However these are no longer being sold and moving forward these Kodaks will be what we use for our sessions.

 

 

For teens ages 12+, we’d suggest looking at the Nikon D3500. This is a great entry level DSLR, which will allow your teen to grow with their camera, learning more and more about the different settings as their photographic interests grows. They can also save up their pocket money for further lenses too!

This camera is great for the aspiring teen photographer that wants to blur their backgrounds and take stunningly sharp action shots. More details can be found here.

 

 

Lenses

If the young photographer is looking for a new lens for their DSLR, we’d suggest looking at these two options:

The Nifty Fifty or 50mm lens

This is a great lens as it allows the young photographer to make their subjects really stand out, blurring the backgrounds. Much more so than the kit lenses that are sold with the cameras. It’s also a great tool for understanding more about composition as they can’t zoom, they’ll have to walk back and forth to get closer or further away. It’s quite a compact lens and makes the DSLR’s feel much smaller and lighter.

Click here for the Nikon 50mm lens & Click here for the Canon 50mm lens

**As all camera models are different, we’d suggest double checking these lenses fit with the current camera before purchasing.

 

The Telephoto Lens (70-300mm)

If the young photographer likes photographing wildlife or sport, check out getting them a 70-300mm lens to help them to zoom into all the action. It’s a great addition to their camera bag and with the extra zoom, they won’t miss any of the action, they’ll now have to just choose what to photograph instead!

Click here for the Nikon 70-300mm lens & click here for the Canon 70-300mm lens

**As all camera models are different, we’d suggest double checking these lenses fit with the current camera before purchasing.)

 

 

Camera Accessories

 

Velbon UT-3AR

 

A lightweight tripod is a great gift and something every photographer cherishes. The Velbon UT-3AR is a full size tripod but, at just under 800g and 30cm in its smallest form, is light and small enough to carry around all day. Whole kit comes with the tripod, the detachable ball head and a carry case. All for a great price too! More info here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joby Griptight One GorillaPod Stand

 

If you are looking for an even smaller tripod for use with a phone, we love the Joby brand who are now releasing various products for mobile photography! The model in the photo and linked here has universal smartphone compatibility and flexible legs for wrapping round off ground surfaces. The package comes with both the stand and phone mount, so nothing else is needed. There are more expensive models which have greater robustness and sturdier mounts, however we love this for being lightweight and portable. We use them on the majority of our courses .

 

 

 

Photography Books

Our founder Lillie has written a book for kids based on all the fun things we do in our classes and clubs! All photos used are by our sharp shots photographers and there are 40+ activities to be inspired by and to do! A perfect gift for all young photographers! You can purchase the book on our Christmas vouchers page paired with a Christmas voucher and signed by Lillie or by itself on Amazon.

 

 

 

We are also a big fan of Henry Carroll’s book, this is great for teens who are looking to learn more about famous photographers and to demystify aperture & shutter speed. It’s a great “how to” for our older photographers. Click here for more info.
for more info.

 

 

 

 

Fun Stuff!

 

HP Sprocket Printer

These pocket sized printers are an excellent pairing for all those phone photographers out there who want quick and easy printouts. Whats great about these is it connects using fast Bluetooth, meaning prints in around 40 seconds! All through using Zink photo paper, meaning no costs for extra ink cartridges and optional peel off sticky paper, meaning you can either have loose or stick inside a diary of some sort without having to use glue or blue-tac. See the link to the HP Sprocket here and the paper you need here

 

 

 

 

Canon Selphy Printer

 

Want those stunning photo quality 4″ x 6″ prints in a compact wireless printer? This Canon Selphy Printer will get you those! With its own large LCD screen With the ability to connect wirelessly to all your devices and automated features in printer to make sure photos are always at their very best! Check out the printer here

 

 

 

 

Detachable lenses for iPhone and Tablets

A perfect side gift for phone or even tablet photographers. Extra lenses to give your camera that “Pro camera’ feeling! Check out these Apexel lenses with 10 different lenses to choose fom! You’ll never be missing that extra lens again, since they all come packed in their own small case. Some phone lenses require you purchase a special case to fit them on, but not these since they come with a detachable clip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gift Vouchers

We’ve got some amazing gift vouchers for young photographers that cover our online on demand and live workshops as well as our face to face workshops! Head over to our Christmas Gift Voucher page for more info.