Someone asks, 'What'd you like?" Photo books work. Film works. More than that... it's a struggle. Curious how you folks deal with it? I'm told a good pair of boots, a warm pair of socks... maybe new feet for the tripod... these work, too.
Really curious where you guys run with this... or don''t. All's fair in love and whatever.

FWIW, here's my current thinking for year-end 2020 when the family asks for "What can I get you?" Something small... something not much $'s, but something that's a treat and a bit of a new challenge, or at least "out of my lane". Last year, I thought, "Color film would be nice". So as Fall rolled around, I've been having fun shoot the colors... and getting set to dabble in E-6 and crank out my more familiar C41.

For next year, I'm thinking to try a special film like a box of ADOX (CHS or CMS),Ilford Ortho Plus, or Rollei Infrared 400. Each is kind off the beaten path. I snagged a filter for infrared earlier... so that's a likely candidate. But the others are intriguing, too. Adox is expensive stuff, and they seem to insist results depend on their own developers... which isn't a thrill to a guy who loves D-23 and is also fine with ID-11 and Perceptol, but Ortho is also a thought.

Downside of course to this is the distraction of whether a few sheets of a film are really going to get close to pulling out whether or not it's worth the bother. So for some, maybe this is too much distraction, too much work, and not really a "gift". But I'm wired to like the challenge. Curious - which would you do, or would you think of something in th $50/$60 and less department that follow a completely different vein? Maybe I get lucky and turn out something worth sharing back with them. That'd be wonderful.

Black Friday cometh... but last time I checked, it don't come much to film, lens cleaners and the like. Such is life... and the blackness that cometh in midday.