The Glove Gift Guide for Photographers:

It’s that time of the year. The fireplaces are roaring, the snow is falling and everyone is scrambling to find the perfect gift for their loved ones this year. As fellow photographers ourselves, we know how hard buying for a photographer can be. If you’re left confused by the technical jargon and tech specs of products you don’t understand then you’re in luck! If your photography loving beau likes shooting in the winter, a simple pair of photography gloves might be just the ticket.

 

Safe-Hit Gift (Under €80)

• If you’re looking for a photography gift that’s sure to be a hit, you can’t go wrong with our fan favourite Markhof Pro V3 and our W’s Nordic or the Urbex Street Photography Glove.
• The Markhof Pro V3 and W's Nordic are routinely our best sellers and because of their versatility, we’ve deemed them our “never leave home without them” gloves. Fitted, slim profile with Thinsulate Insulation and a merino wool inner are the core pieces of this glove.
• The Urbex features a Merino Wool liner and FlipTech finger caps, making this sophisticated low profile glove a perfect companion for street photographers exploring the urban tundra. 

 

Luxury Treat Gift (under €110)

• Our Skadi Zipper Mitt PSP, Tinden and Hatchet are the perfect gifts for the dedicated winter photographer.
• Built for deep winter conditions, these are the gloves you’ll want if you’re out in the snow all day long.
• The Skadi is a liner + mitt for ultimate customizability, while Tinden and Hatchet are our warmest 5-finger gloves.
• For the dedicated photographers and videographers, these gloves are sure to keep you warm when the weather turns blue. 
• The versatility of the Skadi allows you to completely customize your use. Keep it as a mitt or unzip to reveal one finger or all four, depending on your needs.
• The Tinden and Hatchet are our warmest weather-resistant five-finger gloves. The FlipTech flaps overlap to ensure no snow gets in your glove while you’re in the mountains.

 

Ultimate Photography Glove Gift:

 

• For the hardcore winter-loving photographers, there’s no greater gift than the gift of warmth. 
• Our 3 part layering system is the ultimate way to keep your hands warm.
• Start with the Power Stretch Pro Liner as your base layer
• Add any of our photography gloves (Tinden, Hatchet, Markhof Pro V3, Urbex or Nordic)
• Top it off with the Alta, our “glove for our glove” 
• For those travelling to the Arctic, a layering system with a heavy-duty top layer is a must. 
• This is the perfect system for photographers who live and breath winter. The night sky shooters, the Northern Light chasers, the deep Arctic lovers. This layering system is a sure bet on warmth. 

Still not sure what to buy? Here are some of the best sellers for every type of photographer in your life.

 

The adrenaline junkie:

Photo by Todd Easterbrook

The skier, the snowboarder, the dog musher, the mountaineer. Whatever the extreme sport, you probably know somebody that waits all year for the first day of snow. These athletes are admirable both in their search for the extreme and their love of winter. Buying for the winter adrenaline junkie is no easy feat and picking the right glove for them will depend on a few things: where they’re shooting, how cold it gets, and how active they’ll be.

Assuming they’ll be active the whole time easily keeping warm with body heat, the winter athlete might be best suited for our Markhof Pro V3. This glove is our fan-favourite and is a great all-rounder. For extra protection, the Markhof Pro V3 + a Power Stretch Pro Liner will provide a bit more customization in the warmth department.

For the winter athlete who maybe needs a little more warmth or who won’t be active the entire time, consider the Skadi Zipper Mitt PSP, Tinden or Hatchet. All of these gloves are designed to protect in harsh winter conditions. The Skadi is a mitt + liner glove to give the shooter the best of both worlds, dexterity, and warmth. The Tinden is a five-fingered glove with extra insulation and FlipTech that overlaps to keep snow out of the glove. Similar to the Hatchet, a full leather photography glove providing the durability needed when photography takes you into the wilderness.

 

The nature lover:

Photo by Simon Markhof

Shooting nature requires a great deal of stamina and patience. For landscape photographers, this could be long walks to get a unique view of a place that’s often over-photographed. Wildlife photographers, on the other hand, spend hours staking out grounds and waiting quietly for the wildlife to make an appearance. There’s no question about it, nature photography can be a cold endeavour if not properly layered up.

For photographers who are in cold conditions and exerting minimal energy, the Tinden and Hatchet are a good choice. Both are our heavy-duty gloves providing protection against the harsh winter elements. The FlipTech overlaps to ensure that no cold air or snow gets in the glove while wearing the glove. For a bit more activity, the Hatchet is a full leather photography glove, awesome choice for scrambling through the bush, building a campfire, or capturing the scenery. If the photographer in your life likes spending hours at a time in the snow waiting for that perfect picture of nature, these are the gloves for them!

For photographers who are often in wet and windy environment, the Milford is an optimal choice. It's a 2 in 1 solution. In everyday use it's keeping the warmth and protecting against the elements, while when the weather turns stormy, the Shell can be pulled out from the back pocket of the fleece glove and slipped on over the top. 

 

The urban dweller:

Winter photography isn’t all about the outdoors. Sure, nature can put on a fine show when the snow falls but for many, urban winter photography is just as beautiful. Frozen glistening streets, city centres decorated in Christmas lights, icy architecture. The urban dwellers find beauty in man-made structures and there’s no question that cities can get just as cold as wintry mountain towns. For urban lovers, we recommend the Urbex Street Glove. This glove was designed with the street photographers in mind who need to be ready to capture candid moments in a fraction of a second.

The Urbex glove is built to help urban photographers maintain that balance of style, warmth and functionality. This unisex glove features genuine goats leather, 100% merino wool and touch screen compatible index and thumb, making the perfect glove to transition you from the coffee shop to an impromptu street shoot. The FlipTech on the index finger and thumb allow you to change your settings quickly. 

 

The filmmaker:

The winter filmmaker is a special, hearty breed. They often spend long, full days out in the elements doing take after take, making sure they have the content they need. Finger dexterity is incredibly important to filmmakers because they have a lot more to juggle: audio accessories, various forms of artificial lighting, lenses, filters. Having full use of their fingers to secure all their bits and pieces often means having to completely remove your glove and suffer through a few minutes of burning cold pain.

Not anymore! Our Skadi Zipper Mitt PSP was made to fit the needs of photographers and filmmakers alike who want the warmth of a mitten with the flexibility of a glove. We designed this glove in close conjunction with Lukas Riedl, our team shoot who need something to keep him warm during his long days of shooting. A side zipper allows all four fingers to slip out and the FlipTech on the thumb ensures you have full mobility. The sticky palm helps you grip your equipment so operating a gimbal become safer and more reliable.

For the filmmaker who often operates in the Mild Winter but wet and windy conditions, Milford is a great choice. Since it's a 2 in 1 glove, it protects from cold but also from stormy weather with its 10k ripstop Shell.

 

The wandering traveller:

Travel photographers are always dancing the delicate line of carrying the right gear but keep things lean enough to make travelling easier. Unless your travelling photographer is going to extremely cold places, the Markhof Pro V3 is the piece of kit to throw in the suitcase. Our Markhof Pro V3 is our crowd favourite and for good reason. With a merino wool inner and Thinsulate insulation this glove is warm enough for the mountains but smart enough for the cities. This is the glove we never leave home without. It’s slim and small without compromising warmth.

 

The arctic obsessed:

If your photographer is headed to the Arctic, they’ll need maximum protection. Temperatures regularly drop to -35 degrees and often even reach -50. For a photographer shooting in those conditions, any exposed skin will be punished. For our coldest Arctic days, we recommend a layering system to ensure maximum warmth.

Start with the base: any of our photography glove models (we recommend the Tinden, Hatchet, Nordic or Markhof). All of these gloves still allow the photographer complete dexterity with the FlipTech fingers. For those that run extra cold, a Power Stretch Pro Liner might be a good addition underneath your normal photograph glove. 

Next, we’d pair the base gloves with our Alta Over-mitt. Yes, this glove is big, but it’s warm! The Alta was inspired by our early days of dog mushing when you literally needed a glove for your glove. Weatherproof and warm, the Alta slips over your glove with a zip across the top of the palm, allowing you to expose your gloved hand from underneath. When you’re not shooting and when you need to get down to business, drop the over-mitts and let them hang out of the way on the included harness.

Photo by Hallvard Kolltveit

 

The Book Worm

If your photographer is in the beginning stages of developing their winter photography skills, why not give them the gift of knowledge? Our Winter Photography Basics digital course covers everything you need to know to jumpstart your winter photography.  This gift is perfect for anyone starting out in winter photography looking to master the basic skills. It's also a great gift for the photographer who lives far away because hey, no shipping costs!

We take nearly a decade worth of experience and condense it into concise and easily digestible lessons to help fast track your winter photography. The course provides you with real-life field examples and gives yous hands-on guided learning so you can move through the course at your own pace. The course is jam-packed with cheat sheets, field examples, and exercises for you to help reinforce what you've learned in the lessons. 

 

Accessories or Would you like some fries with that?

You chose a pair of gift gloves for the photographer in your life? Perfect!

How about a couple of add-ons that will make their winter photography adventures even more comfortable and enjoyable?

• Keeping hands warm is very important to every winter photographer - how about head and neck? Crucial, right? Our 100% merino wool Neck Warmers and double-layer Stash Beanies make all the difference
• Since winter photography comes with those water spots and snowflakes landing on camera lens, our Microfibre Lens Wipe (3 Pack) is always a spot on accessory to gift
• When photographers need that little external help heating up their hands, they turn to our Hand Warmers - they are air-activated and start to heat up once the package is opened, lasting for 10 hours (each package comes with 2 hand warmers and fits inside the built-in pocket on the back of Vallerret Gloves)

 

If you liked this post, you’ll love these too!

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Winter is no joke! Keep warm and shop our range of Vallerret Photography Gloves.