Category: Gifting Guides Page 8 of 12

If you’ve got a shutterbug on your list this year, you’ve got plenty of options when it comes to what to buy. Gifts for photographers and photography enthusiasts abound – so how do you choose the best one?

From special lenses and camera equipment to books and gadgets, here are our picks for the best gifts for photographers, whether amateur or pro, this holiday season.

1. Photography at MoMA: 1920-1960. This beautiful survey of modernist photography, published by the Museum of Modern Art, tells the history of this artistic period through photographs in MoMA’s collection. The book consists of 8 chapters, each with a scholarly essay to introduce it, and features works by Man Ray, Alfred Stieglitz, and Dorothea Lange, among many others. This would look great on the coffee table of any art photographer (or art photography buff).

2. iPhone Telephoto Lens. Even photographers can’t always carry their best cameras around. When all they’ve got is their iPhone, this telephoto lens can help make an average snapshot into a great snapshot – maybe one that’s even up to their exacting standards. The lens can fit in a pocket or purse with no problem, making it just as portable as the phone, and comes with a mini-tripod and phone case.

3. Lens Coffee Mug. Photographers need coffee, too – especially when they’re out to catch that “magic hour” just after sunrise. This travel mug that looks just like a camera lens is just flat-out cool. Just make sure they keep it nice and far away from their actual camera lens…a mix-up would definitely not be cool.

4. The Nixplay Iris. This digital frame is our latest offering, and is designed to look more like a traditional picture frame than our other digital WiFi cloud frames. The Nixplay Iris allows you to send photos from your phone or other device straight to the frame, no matter where you are in the world – if you’ve got WiFi, you’re connected. This would make a great gift for traveling photographers, as they can send their photos to the frame at home, sharing them with family in real time.

5. MaxStone Wireless Camera Remote. Any professional photographer will doubtless have one of these in his or her bag already, but beginner photogs will discover a whole new world when they start using this. The gadget allows you to take pictures remotely, so you can not only take selfies that look more like real portraits, but you can also take better pictures of unpredictable subjects – namely, kids and animals.

6. The Sun Strap. Even the most experienced photographer has found herself without a spare battery on occasion. Help the photographer in your life avoid that sinking feeling of realizing that his camera is dead with the Sun Strap, a strap with a flexible solar panel built in. The solar panel stores energy in a battery pack that has both a USB and micro USB output, so you can use it to charge not just your camera, but your phone, iPad, or other mobile device.

7. Green Screen Kit. While pros might want something a bit fancier than this portable kit, we bet your average amateur photographer would be over the moon to receive this this year. This is also a great kit for high school or college-aged photographers, who will have fun experimenting with backgrounds and lighting.

8. Spider Camera Holster. Camera straps and camera bags have their uses, but they can cause a whole lot of neck and back pain if you’re wearing them for hours at a time – like wedding photographers do, for example. This holster is a wonderful alternative. It eliminates the back pain because it sits around the waist, and the quick-release mechanism allows photographers to access their cameras at a moment’s notice.

We hope this list helps make your gift-giving a bit easier this year. If a Nixplay WiFi cloud digital frame is on your list, check out our post “A Lifetime in Pictures: Suggested Pictures for Your Gifted Nixplay Digital Frame” for some great ideas on how to personalize your gift.

Beatrice Bisais

Bea is Nixplay’s Social Media Manager. She enjoys drinking coffee, reading about wars, and writing stories. Send her a message at beatrice.bisais@nixplay.com.

Moms: They give us everything, and they never ask for anything in return. So when it comes time to buy mom a gift, you want to make sure that you’re getting her something as unique and beautiful as she is.

This holiday season, try giving Mom one of these special gifts.

A beautiful coffee table book

Who doesn’t love a gorgeous coffee table book? And since these big, beautiful books are something most of us rarely splurge on for ourselves, you can be pretty sure you’re getting Mom something truly special.

If your mom is a home and style enthusiast, try Styling Nature: a Masterful Approach to Floral Arrangements. If she’s a lover of fine portraiture – or Annie Leibowitz – go for Vanity Fair: the Portraits.

An elegant smartwatch

Smartwatches don’t have to look like a tiny wearable computer, as several companies have proven recently. For a smartwatch with a traditional aesthetic but a typical smartwatch display, opt for the Fossil Q.

The Pebble Time Round smartwatch is a sleek, lightweight watch that offers a minimalist design and plenty of useful features.

If you want a smartwatch so well-designed it could trick people into thinking it’s a high-end, traditional watch, take a look at the Huawei Watch.

The Nixplay Iris

Mom deserves style and grace in everything she owns – even her digital picture frame. The Nixplay Iris’s sleek, silk-metal finish and three color choices (Silver, Peach Copper, and Burnished Bronze) make this digital picture frame something she’ll want to display right alongside her traditional picture frames.

The Nixplay Iris’ features include a high-resolution display, an activity sensor that tells the frame to “wake up” when someone enters the room, and WiFi connectivity, so you can send Mom pictures from anywhere, at any time. It’s a great way to stay connected with her through all of life’s little moments – even if she can’t be there with you.

A swanky cookbook

If mom loves to cook – or if she just loves flipping through all those delicious pictures of food – pick up a high-quality cookbook. For the romantic at heart, there’s Ina Garten’s Cooking for Jeffrey: a Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, which features recipes that Garten makes for her husband of 45 years, Jeffrey.

For the adventurous, fun-loving cook, try the totally unique Dirt Candy: a Cookbook. This graphic cookbook is filled not just with recipes, but with comics detailing everything from how to properly slice a zucchini to what it’s like to run a restaurant.

A subscription box for sweets

Subscription boxes are the gifts that keep on giving, and boxes that deliver a collection of delicious chocolates or candies to you every month – well, we’re hard-pressed to think of anyone who wouldn’t be thrilled to get that as a gift.

For the chocolate lover, try Chococurb’s mini box, which will send Mom a box of three personalized premium chocolate items each month.

If she’s a true chocolate connoisseur, you may want to opt for Choco Rush. This club offers a three-bar-per-month box featuring all bean to bar chocolate – in other words, chocolate from makers who perform every single step of the chocolate making process in-house.

If Mom’s more of a candy person, try Treatsie, which will ship her a collection of artisan confections from sweet makers from around the country each month.

Amazon Echo or Google Home

Whether or not Mom is particularly tech-savvy, she’ll be able to get a lot out of the Amazon Echo or Google Home, two smart home bluetooth speakers and virtual assistants that both came out in the past couple of years.

You’ll want to think long and hard about which to get Mom, as a device like this is a highly personal item – but then again, who knows her better than you do?

Happy shopping! We hope your holiday season is filled with lovely gifts, but more importantly, with making happy memories with the ones you love.

Beatrice Bisais

Bea is Nixplay’s Social Media Manager. She enjoys drinking coffee, reading about wars, and writing stories. Send her a message at beatrice.bisais@nixplay.com.

The holidays will be here before we know it, which means it’s time to start pulling together your gift list.

While it can be fun to give your loved ones the latest gadget, toy, or video game, these things lose value with time. Why not give your friends and family something that brings you closer – something that helps you connect with each other?

That’s what a digital frame can do. If you’re having trouble deciding which frame to get, here’s a guide to help you out.

The dedicated parent or grandparent

Choose: The Nixplay Iris

These enthusiastically family-oriented people need a frame that they’ll love to display at home or in the office. Their family is their life, after all, and they want to share the images of the ones they love with everyone who comes to visit.

With its stunning silk-metal finish and sleek design, this WiFi photo frame brings a contemporary twist to the traditional picture frame which makes it perfect for the home or office.

The Nixplay Iris also features an ambient light sensor so it can adjust the display to fit the lighting in a room, and a motion sensor that tells the frame to wake up when someone enters the room, and go to sleep when they leave.

The traveler and adventurer

Choose: The Nixplay Seed

A bold explorer needs a bold frame – one they can take along on all their adventures without worrying about packing bulky cables, extra batteries, or easy-to-lose SD cards. They also need WiFi connectivity, so they can send and receive pictures from friends and family no matter where on the globe they are.

That’s why the colorful Nixplay Seed is a great choice. With a choice of blue, yellow, or burgundy, you’ll be able to find a perfect color for your own adventurer. Travelers can use the Nixplay app to connect to their social media profiles, too, so they can pull those perfect Instagram shots into their digital frame playlists.

The executive or business traveler

Choose: The Nixplay Iris

Busy executives and business travelers have a special need to feel connected to the ones they love – especially when they’re having to miss important moments like the school play, or the Little League championship game.

They also need a stylish frame that won’t look out of place in the corner office or their hotel suite. While they’re on the road, family members can send them images from the day via the Nixplay app, making for a fun visual surprise when they get back to the hotel.

The Nixplay Iris’s light and motion sensors give it excellent battery life, so that road-weary executives can come back to their latest photos going no matter how many meetings they had to get through that day.

The urbanite

Choose: The Nixplay Seed or the Nixplay Iris

These trendy, culture-loving city dwellers need a frame where they can display their latest selfies, vacation pictures, and Friendsgiving shots – not to mention the images of their closest friends and family.

Depending on their style, the Nixplay Seed or the Nixplay Iris would be a good choice. The Nixplay Seed can fit perfectly into more eclectic home decor, while the Nixplay Iris would look beautiful in a modern or contemporary home.

The soon-to-be graduate

Choose: The Nixplay Edge

Your soon-to-be graduate is in the thick of enjoying that final year, be it high school or college, and they need a simple, slim frame to show off the fun they’re having.

The ability to connect to social media is of prime importance for these young people, so you absolutely want a frame with WiFi connectivity. The Nixplay Edge is a low-profile frame that will fit easily into any bedroom, dorm, or apartment decor, while allowing your graduate to display their best Facebook photos to the world.

Holiday shopping can be a hassle, but knowing what you’re getting for whom can help immensely in making it the enjoyable experience that it ought to be. Start your shopping right by checking out the Nixplay store, and get in the holiday spirit by checking out our post on holiday decorating tips!

Beatrice Bisais

Bea is Nixplay’s Social Media Manager. She enjoys drinking coffee, reading about wars, and writing stories. Send her a message at beatrice.bisais@nixplay.com.

Shopping for people who have impeccable taste can be fun – or nerveracking.

On the one hand, those who stay abreast of style trends, new gadgets, and the latest consumer products may be interested in more unique or hard-to-find items than your average person.

On the other, you want to be sure that the gift you’re giving them isn’t something they already have, or worse, something they’ve seen and passed over.

When the person you’re shopping for is an executive, these problems can be compounded. In addition to being unique, you want your gift to be suitable for an office or business environment. Thankfully, there are lots of products that fit this description if you know where to look. To help you out, here’s our list of gifts for the style-conscious executive who has everything.

1. The Oree Keyboard. This beautifully crafted wireless wooden keyboard would be a wonderfully unique gift for an executive with an interest in one-of-a-kind, artisan products. The keyboard comes in either maple or walnut, and is fully compatible with any Mac or Bluetooth-equipped PC.
2. The Nixplay Iris. Our newest digital frame is designed for those who love the latest tech, but who also hold the highest standards for design. The Nixplay Iris’s smooth, silk metal finish allows you to show off your favorite moments in a digital frame that looks just like a traditional picture frame. Frame owners and family members can send pictures to the frame instantly from anywhere in the world, making this the perfect gift for an executive who works long hours or travels frequently. 
3. Pebble Time Round smartwatch. The Pebble Time, which started as a Kickstarter project, is consistently rated as one of the top smartwatches out there. The Round edition offers all the bells and whistles of your typical smartwatch, but with an added bonus for the style-conscious: the Pebble Time Round looks like a tastefully designed traditional watch. The round face and minimalist clock face mean that wearers can accessorize with the Pebble Time Round without looking like they’re wearing a tiny computer on their wrist.
4. Polaroid Zip Instant Photoprinter. While the classic Polaroid camera is a thing of the past, the company that gave us the first instant camera has reinvented itself for the age of the smartphone with products like the Zip Instant Photoprinter. The printer lets you print photos directly from your smartphone in less than 60 seconds, and since the printer uses zero ink technology, you never have to worry about buying cartridges.
5. Orbit Basic Turntable. The Orbit Basic Turntable is a record player worthy of a spot in the office. The modern, minimalist design makes it a perfect item for music aficionados or vinyl collectors. Add in a few choice records and you’ll have a perfect gift.
6. Gift set from Olive and Cocoa. Olive and Cocoa is a company that specializes in high-end gift sets of every sort imaginable. From gourmet foods to classic barware, from stationery to spa collections, each gift set is beautifully presented in a signature wooden crate. You can even have the crate personalized with a hot iron branding of a logo or name.

Combine one of Olive and Cocoa’s gift crates with a Nixplay Iris or another of our cloud WiFi digital frames like the Nixplay Seed for an exceptional gift from the whole office.

7. Bobine stand for iPhone. In need of a stocking stuffer? This simple but very cool gadget is a flexible stand for your iPhone that’s also a dock, tripod, and cable. Shape the cable however you want or plug it into your computer via the USB port. The stand works great for taking photos for your family photo playlists, acting as a recipe holder while you’re cooking, or letting you read hands-free.

We hope this takes some of the guesswork out of what to give the executives in your life. Happy gifting!

Beatrice Bisais

Bea is Nixplay’s Social Media Manager. She enjoys drinking coffee, reading about wars, and writing stories. Send her a message at beatrice.bisais@nixplay.com.

We’re excited to announce the launch of a brand new way to display your favorite moments: the Nixplay Iris.

Building on our Nixplay Seed and Nixplay Edge frames, the Nixplay Iris offers the same WiFi connectivity and mobile app that our customers already love, allowing them to send photos directly to their frame as each special moment unfolds. Now, however, they can display those moments complemented by an even more stunning design.

That’s just part of what sets the Nixplay Iris apart from our other frames. Created for those for whom a beautiful aesthetic is as important as great functionality, the Nixplay Iris is a digital photo frame that will appeal to even the most discerning design buffs.

A sleek, timeless design

You’ll notice that the Nixplay Iris looks more like a traditional photo frame than the Nixplay Seed or the Nixplay Edge. We worked hard to create the most beautiful digital frame available – and in fact, the Nixplay Iris is truly a one of a kind. There are no other frames on the market that offer both the Nixplay Iris’s features and its unique design.

The Nixplay Iris comes in three elegant colors with a sleek, silk-metal finish:

• Peach Copper
• Silver
• Burnished Bronze

This gives the Nixplay Iris an understated, stylish appearance.

Share your happiest moments any time, from anywhere

Nixplay’s WiFi Cloud frames are all about helping you share the moments you want to remember, from baby’s first smile to the view from Machu Picchu. So we make our frames as easy to use and connected as possible.

The Nixplay Iris is no different.

• Using our Nixplay mobile app, upload photos from your phone to your frame instantly, from anywhere – whether that’s your living room, or a hotel suite 3,000 miles away.
• Invite friends and family to share to your frame.
• Connect up to 5 frames.
• Declutter your hard drives and memory sticks by managing your photos on your free Nixplay account.
• Store your photos securely in the cloud with 10GB of free Nixplay Cloud storage.
• Connect to third-party platforms like Facebook and Instagram to select and display photos on your frame.
• Bring your photos out of hiding – instead of snapping them and relegating them to a folder on your computer, show them off in a high-quality display.

New features

The Nixplay Iris offers additional new features, as well.

• An ambient lighting sensor senses the light level in the room and adjusts accordingly.
• A motion sensor tells the frame to wake up when you enter the room, and go to sleep when you leave.

The easy – and beautiful – way to stay connected

While it’s a perfect fit for the well-decorated home, the Nixplay Iris is just as suited to the corner office or boardroom.

Busy executives can use the frame to stay connected to family.

Travelers can send photos of their latest adventure back home to loved ones.

Businesses can highlight their Instagram or Facebook photos for customers.

And moms, dads, and grandparents can share snapshots from the Little League games, ballet recitals, and birthday parties that make for such wonderful family memories.

Have photos from your last business trip to Singapore to share? Want to send your wedding photos to family members across the globe? They’ll look even more spectacular framed by the Nixplay Iris. And since the frame also features a high-resolution IPS panel, your photos always display in perfect color and clarity.

The Nixplay Iris is now available for purchase in our US Store.

Beatrice Bisais

Bea is Nixplay’s Social Media Manager. She enjoys drinking coffee, reading about wars, and writing stories. Send her a message at beatrice.bisais@nixplay.com.