With Christmas approaching we thought we do a round up of 10 of the best photography related stocking fillers out there.
Photography is an expensive hobby, and we all know Christmas time is a drain on our resources so we’ve tried to keep our selection to accessories at the cheap end of the scale.
1. A Tripod
In our opinion a tripod is one of the most useful accessories any photography can have. Whether you’re shooting sports, wildlife, landscapes or portraits there are always times when a monopod gives you the ability to shoot steadier, sharper images than hand holding shots.
2. White Foam Backed Board
One of the foundations of good photography is good light. Whether you are shooting indoors or out this board is great for bouncing light around and removing shadows, softening tones or even as a makeshift neutral background.
3. Hot Shoe Bubble Level 
This great little device should see an end to you correcting wonky horizons in photo shop for ever. Pop it on your DSLRs hot shoe and the 3 axis bubbles let you see when your composition is level in an instant, no matter if you’re shooting portrait, horizon.
4. Flash Diffuser
Using one of these diffusers can transform the light your flash gives off. It’s amazing what a difference these diffusers make. They’ll soften the light that hits your subject making the end shots look much more professional.
5. Lens Blower
We discussed before how a lens blower is the best way to not only keep your lenses clean but also remove irritating dust from your cameras sensor. These blowers are exactly the sorts of things all photographers would have a good use for but few get round to buying, making them an excellent Christmas present.
6. Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson 
Before I read this book i thought that there were two types of photography books: ones with pretty pictures and insanely boring ones about the theory of photography.That was until we read Understanding Exposure.
This book was a game changer in terms of educating amateur photographers. While some of the pictures look a bit dated now (shock horror they were mainly shot with film) the way the author breaks down the key elements of exposure and explains how easy it is to capture great shots.
Amazon price: $17.52 (and worth every cent!).
7. Rechargeable AA Batteries
Anyone that uses speed lights or off camera flash will know how much money you can quickly spend on batteries. After we ran some tests earlier this year we soon found out that you can save a fortune by simply switching to rechargeable AA batteries.
Rechargeable batteries have come a long way since i first used them in the early 1990’s. So long as you buy batteries with a high mAH rating (aim for 2400 or above) they should provide just as much charge as disposables.
8. More Memory! 
As DSLR cameras increasingly offer more mega pixels and higher resolution images the demand for large memory cards keeps increasing for photographers. Add to that the fact that virtually all prosumer level DSLRs now shoot HD quality video and having large amounts of spare memory storage is crucial.
The good news is that memory cards just keep getting cheaper and cheaper. You can now pick up a 16gb Transend SD card for under $20.
9. The Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby
Scott Kelby’s The Digital Photography Book is perhaps the biggest selling digital photography book of all time. The main idea of this book is to share the tricks of the trade used by professional photographer day in and day out. Placing less focus on theory it instead tells you what settings to use when – practical advise with the sole intention of getting the reader taking better photographs.
There’s not too much detail (a good ting) with each page dedicated to a different technique, trick of skill. This fantastic format makes this book a real page turner.
10. A Film Camera 
We’ve written before here on DSLRGuru about how refreshing and good for your photography shooting with a film camera can be. While we recommended the Lomo LCA it isn’t the cheapest option by a long way.
A far cheaper, yet equally fun and exciting way of experimenting with shooting film is with a Holga medium format camera.
So there it is, a selection of 10 great accessories that any photography would be happy to receive on Christmas morning. Have we missed anything? If so let us know using the comment box below.
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