whats a good gift for an aspiring photographer?

It would have helped me to tailor the answer, if I were told about your budget and the level of photography that the photographer has achieved.

To start with,

Any photographer would be always willing to add a new lens to their gears. Try finding out what kind of photography he loves most. A wide angle or macro or telephoto would certainly make him happy

A Photographer's Bag/ Jacket

A nice tripod

A trip to a scenic place

If your budget is low,

A pro account of Flickr

A subscription to a photography magazine

A 18 Grey card

A fold-able reflector

A photography course

If your budget is even lower,

A model (yourself) to pose for him.. [I am always in look for a model]

A patient admirer of his photos :)

Give her some moneys and tell her to use it for photography... Let her think of what she wants to do.... different people have different 'photographic needs' even at the 'aspiring' level.. she may do something as simple as buy herself a Flickr-Pro account with that... Or start a photographic website or something..U never know..Given her a book is like giving an icecream to someone who already had 3 slices of cakes...He may or maynot eat the icecream...I think u get my point....

Holgas, in my opinion, are awesome. But what does your bf like? Film or digital? If he's into film, also take a look at vintage manual cameras. I snagged a mint Olympus OM-1 for 30 bucks, then later got a complete Olympus OM-2 set and extra lenses for 50 bucks for my husband.

A book. If she's still at the very beginning then understanding exposure is a good idea. If she's moved on a bit, Michael Freeman has written some good theme books.

If you could give us a bit more detail it would help a lot , age, photographic level, how much you want to spend etc, all that will help a lot