christmas

Editor's Note: After the piece was published, we were made aware of a deal WeSellLikes is running that gives away 1,000 likes to anybody who writes about their website. We wanted to make it clear that we did not know about this deal nor do we have any intention of taking them up on their offer... although the irony did make us chuckle.

I had a really great Christmas.

I asked Santa for several things, among which were pink slippers, pajamas with the bear from the movie “Ted” on them, a new cell phone case made out of big fake pearls, and a mini-vacuum to suck up all the sunflower seeds that accumulate around my desk while I work. Yes, I am a seeder.

I was a reasonably good girl this past year. I suppose it all depends on one’s definition of “good,” but I always did my best and tried to stand up for what was right in the world and only got heavily intoxicated a few times and paid for the person behind me in line at Starbucks as much as possible, so all in all, I figured I was on the “Nice List.”

Well, your last chance to order something online and get it in time for Christmas pretty much came and went already, and yet us lazy PetaPixel editors (okay, not us, just me) have yet to put together a holiday gift guide. Well, I offer my hardiest apologies, and what we'll call our 'Holiday Exchange Guide.'

The folks at Custom SLR are in the holiday spirit, there's no doubt about that. After all, why else would you take on the pointless (but awesome) task of creating the world's largest camera tripod Christmas tree?

Say you and your girlfriend are both photographers. And say, also, that you've been together for four years and you've decided it's time to send out your first Holiday card as a couple. There's only one issue: you celebrate Christmas and she celebrates Hanukkah. What are two photographers to do?

Why, you turn the studio you work at into a creative half-Christmas half-Hanukkah scene and shoot a Holiday card so awesome the entire Internet takes notice, that's what you do!

Christmas is exactly ten days away, which means parents have a little over one week left to frantically drag their screaming children to the local mall or holiday venue to sit on Santa's lap for that traditional picture. But where most parents would do this for a few years until their kids inevitably grow out of it, a pair of brothers decided they would keep the tradition going... for 34 years.

Each year, UK retailer John Lewis releases a touching, moving and otherwise awesome Christmas advertisement that manages to moisten our eyes and get us in the Holiday spirit like none other.

Doing this requires that they constantly re-evaluate their approach and come up with new and creative ways to inspire and endear viewers to their message, and this year, that meant taking a step back and using animation techniques that'll hit you right in the nostalgia bone: hand drawing and stop-motion.

If you're a Flickr user, you can currently snag and open a Christmas present from the service a few days early. The photo sharing service -- which has been undergoing a renaissance as of late -- is currently handing out three free months of Pro membership. Simply log in to find a link to the present on your home page, or visit the Holiday Gift page directly.

Dear Santa,

I don’t really need anything for Christmas this year. But I would appreciate if you would bring some gifts to my favorite photography manufacturers.

With Christmas just around the corner, here's a clever DIY craft idea for adding some photographic cheer to your gift giving this year: adorn your presents with gift bows made out of 35mm film strips.

Freelance filmmaker Colin Mika scored a viral hit last year with his time-lapse video of Los Angeles shot through a snow globe. This past November, Mika created a followup video as a holiday Christmas card on behalf of Canadian law firm McCarthy Tétrault. He visited six cities across Canada and England: Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Québec City, Montréal and London.

Lens-shaped coffee mugs and vacuum flasks (the proper name for the Thermos) have become a hot novelty item in the world of photography over the past couple of years, and Leica wants a piece of the action. Two weeks ago, a Leica-branded coffee mug was spotted on eBay, and now it appears that the strange product will be hitting store shelves at brick-and-mortar Leica retail locations.

Photo-editing wizard Corey Barker of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals wanted a photo of his house decorated with Christmas lights but was too lazy to physically put up the decorations... so he did it in Photoshop. All the colorful lights and decorations you see above were 'shopped in.

Custom photo frame maker Alphabet Photography has scored one of the first big viral marketing wins of this holiday season by releasing the creative video above a couple of weeks ago. In it, they play the popular Christmas tune Carol of the Bells using various objects inside the warehouse in which the company's photo frames are made.

If you've got spent, empty film cassettes lying around collecting dust, Photojojo has a crafty idea for the mindful re-user: make them into rolled invitation or stationery holders.

It's quite simple: cut and decorate 1.375″ x 11″ strip of paper, pop the top off the film cassette (you can use a bottle opener) and tape the inside end of the strip to the film spool. Wind the paper into the cassette and leave a tab for the recipient to unfurl the message.

If families always listened when photographers say, “look natural”, this is what nearly every Christmas card would look like.

For 25 years, YouTube user spoonito‘s father would record footage of spoonito and …

If you’re a photographer and not an architect, why settle for boring ol’ gingerbread houses this holiday season? Gingerbread …

Christmas is almost upon us, and for the second straight year PetaPixel's gift guide comes incredibly late. Think of it as a general guide to nifty photo-related gifts that have emerged over the past year rather than a Christmas gift guide -- after all, gifts are great to receive year-round, right?

Want to go beyond using ordinary wrapping paper for your Christmas gifts? You can make some DIY wrapping paper …

Wanna add some photo-geekery to your Christmas tree this year? Try making custom Christmas ornaments out of strips of …

Want a clever way to use your Christmas tree as a photo display? Simply print 1.5-inch photos onto acetate …

Have a bunch of film canisters lying around and not sure what to do with them? You could use them to geekify your Christmas lights by punching a hole in the caps and sticking the lights in.

With a huge arsenal of camera gear at their disposal, the folks over at BorrowLenses can do a lot of fun and random experiments that us ordinary folk can only dream about. After first stacking lens filters and then teleconverters, they've gone to the next level by stacking $150,000 worth of camera gear into a Christmas tree.

Sorry that this year's list of awesome photography gifts comes even later than last year's... we'll try to have it ready earlier in 2011. This year we have 10 fun, novel, and/or useful gifts for photography-lovers you love...

If you’re planning to give any gifts to photography-enthusiasts this Christmas, you can try adding a little awesomeness to …

Thinking of buying a love one a digital photo frame this Christmas? You might want to reconsider. A recent …

The holiday season is upon us! In celebration of the season, we’ve compiled our first holiday gift guide! …