These are the 5 most common motifs in photo calendars.

Photo calendars are booming at the end of the year. They are still a popular Christmas present for mother-in-laws and the like, and not just for ambitious amateur photographers.

The good resolution of current smartphones in combination with easily accessible and well-functioning online portals makes it much easier today to create photo calendars that can fulfil even the highest demands. Every year in December, thousands of these calendars run through the digital printing machines at ESSER. The ESSER Group does not operate a corresponding portal itself. Instead, we are a production partner for these portals and, in addition to printing, we also take care of packaging and despatch to the end customer.

This #printondemand service has been used by us for many years and by many portals.  We therefore have a pretty good overview of the most common photo motifs in these calendars.

Here are our top 5 most common motifs in photo calendars.

Top5: Landscapes and travelling

From the beginnings of photography to the present day, nature has been one of the world's favourite photo motifs. In addition to the beauty of nature, there is another reason for this: nature and landscapes are simply there. You don't have to make an appointment with them, they don't go anywhere, you don't have to put make-up on them or hire a studio. They are accessible to everyone and are naturally beautiful.

Top4: Dogs and pets

You photograph what is beautiful, but even more often you photograph what is close to your heart. And these are very often the animal friends in the household. However, 4th place does not belong exclusively to dogs. They share this place with horses, hamsters, goldfish and other animals.

Top3: Cats

Of course, cats are also pets and therefore in 4th place, although the flood of cat motifs in calendars is so great that they form a class of their own. The furry tyrants dominate the animal world of calendars like no other species.

Top2: Baby, children and kids.

It is certainly good news that children come before cats and pets. Love for one's own child is the strongest bond we know. Thanks to smartphones, it feels like every second of a toddler's life is photographed and documented. You can imagine how difficult it must be for parents to choose just 12 pictures for a photo calendar.

Top1: Nude photography.

You might have guessed it. The aesthetically photographed female or male body is the photo motif par excellence. From an evolutionary point of view, the great attraction that naked bodies exert on us naturally makes sense.

So those were our top 5 favourite photo motifs in photo calendars. If you turn this hit list on its head, another realisation emerges: obviously the choice of motif is also a question of the age of the photographers and their changing interests ...

Happy New Year to you all!