My brother had his 60th last April and it was a day-long affair with clay shooting in the morning and early afternoon then a party at Bisley in the evening. I shot the day and gave him a large coffee table quality book of memories that he loves.

Like Casperwb says include the recipient in the pics - inflicting your taste on somebody else may not work.

I give framed 8 x 10s as gifts, and I have always had positive comments.

I try to ensure that the recipient is included in the photo.

I want to thank you one and all, as you have given a lot of insight to this question, and as someone new to photography,
it is a question I was pondering. Great answers and good food for thought! I can see I will learn a lot here!

I just sent two large canvas prints to my parents for their birthdays. Of course they are of their grandkids, so they were excited to get them.

I don't think it is pompous if the photo is given as a complete gift, framed up and matted etc like bernard said. If its just the raw photo, that could be awfully presumptuous!

YES - I do pictures as gifts, especially when I know that the person that receive them like my style.
(BTW: I was posting here before, and my post vaporized, does any of You had same experience)

I don't think it's pompous at all providing the person you give the picture(s) to is a close friend or family member whose tastes are known to you. In my case it was pictures of airplanes every time and I knew that these plane lovers liked the aircraft I had photographed. No real art involved in that of course, just a few nice academic portraits of their favorite airplanes.

I guess the same applies to old cars, boats, trains, etc… :o)

I have only rarely given photos as gifts. I kinda feel that just giving my photos is a bit pompous - I am NOT Ansel Adams. However, a few times I've given photos that I've taken that I really felt were more personal to the person I gave it to.

The answer is YES ! But the photo has to be perfect from all viewpoints, nicely framed, with anti-UV glass or clear plastic, and sufficiently large to be nicely displayed in the person's flat or house. I have also given series of framed photos to suit someone's tastes, so, knowing what they like most is mandatory. These presents were highly appreciated every time. The only problem is that, depending on the frames you buy, it can get quite expensive. A bit of wise shopping is required to limit the damage :o)

I also do my own Xmas & New Year's cards. This is a nice way to please your family and friends, and it gets very cheap when compared to what one can pay in card shops !

Have any of you given photos away as gifts? I have given out calendars and Xmas cards with my images to friends and family before. I don't think I'll do it this year though. Just curious if anyone else has done this for the holidays, birthdays or just because?