Photographer Profile

Julian Elliott - Profile

I am an award-winning professional freelance landscape and travel photographer as well as an occasional writer who constantly travels the world. I am basically a nomad traveller.

A lot of my time is spent in South-East Asia and Central Asia capturing landscapes and cityscapes along with the various cultures that inhabit them but I also travel across Europe.

Awards

In October 2015, one of my images was chosen as the winner of the Countryside is GREAT section of the Landscape Photographer of the Year in conjunction with Visit Britain. In October 2017 my image of Big Ben and the Shard entitled “A Shard of Ben” was commended in the Urban View category of the Landscape Photographer of the Year. I have also had commended and highly commended images in the International Garden Photographer of the Year. 

My work

My photography and stock footage have been sold across the world in over 40 countries through agencies such as Getty Images. They have been used as magazine spreads right through to commercial and product sales. The footage has been used in things such as corporate websites or as part of a TV broadcast.

Travel and landscape photographer Julian Elliott

My approach to photography is simple, get it right in camera first.

My Story

Salisbury cathedral during a frosty dawn in Salisbury, Wiltshire.

Where it all started

Back in April 2005 when I purchased my first camera I decided that being in the office was not something that I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I would rather spend my time on the side of a freezing cold hill getting superb light at dawn or seeing the setting sun produce an endless display of colour over a beautiful seascape, mirrored on a beach full of shimmering sands than in the comfort of a cosy office. But it would take until November 2010 before I could fully realize the dream of breaking the daily grind of the office and finally going solo as a full-time professional landscape and travel photographer.

My approach to photography

My approach to photography is simple, get it right in camera first and don’t spend needless time in front of a PC. The vast majority of my work is edited in Lightroom where images are lightly edited as the patience I’ve had in waiting for the light has usually added a lot of the colour. I use Adobe Photoshop to blend images where necessary as well as to adjust the curves to correct the colour balance and finally add sharpness to the final image.  Digital cameras have a different tonal range than that of film emulsion. The curves adjustment will put more depth into the image in the form of blacks or, occasionally, some highlight information. Used correctly, the curves adjustment can help balance the colours and remove colour casts.

The view from Piazzale Michelangelo over to the historic city of Florence at dusk.
Incense village in Vietnam - Vietnam photo tours

Using filters

In order to get some of the colourful images that you see on my portfolio, I use, at times, filtration in the form of Kase Filters polarizers and ND filters. I am often asked if what you see is real and not a product of Photoshop. The answer, simply, is yes it is real. The colours that you see are real and are a reaction of the colour temperature of light to the particular time of day or the weather conditions accompanying them.

COMPETITION AWARDS

At times I choose to enter my work into various competitions to get my work seen by the wider world.

Over the years I have received various acknowledgements of what I have done. 

Black & White Photo Awards
2024 – Lone Flight Over the Taj Mahal – Finalist

Chromatic Awards
2023 – The Land of Giants – Honorable Mention in Landscapes
2023 – The long and winding road – Honorable Mention in Landscapes

Epson Pano Awards
2016 – Old Man of Storr
2022 – Race to the Top – Bronze
2022 – Waking Up The Horns – Silver

International Garden Photographer of the Year
Year 9 – New Shoots
Year 11 – Breathing Spaces – Highly Commended
Year 11 – Bountiful Earth – Commended
Year 13 – Breathing Spaces – Commended
Year 17 – Wildflower Landscapes – 2nd Place

International Portrait Photographer of the Year
2023 Awards – 2 images chosen as part of the top 101

Landscape Photographer of the Year
2015 – Countryside is GREAT award
2017 – Urban View – Commended

MonoVisions Awards – Black & White Photography Awards
2024 – Honorable Mention – Architecture
2024 – Honorable Mention – Landscapes

ND Awards
2023 – Honorable Mentions – Nature and Landscapes categories

PX3 – The Prix de la Photographie
2023 – Bronze
2024 – Honorable Mention

ReFocus Awards
Black & White 2023 – Honorable Mention – Landscapes Category
Black & White 2023 – Honorable Mention – Travel Category
World Photo Annual 2023 – Honorable Mention

Tokyo International Foto Awards
2023 – Honorable Mention

Travel Photographer of the Year
2023 – Special Mention

The small church of San Johann in the Val di Funes, Italy.
What is a travel photographer

Equipment I use

Currently, I use a Canon R5 mirror-less camera and a Canon 5D Mark IV along with several Canon L Series lenses including three tilt/ shift lenses to capture the images you see in the galleries.

The time-lapse footage that I produce is facilitated by a Promote Control with post-production ramping occurring in LR Timelapse.

If you purchase anything through this link I will get a small commission, but at no extra cost to you.

Stock Photography

My stock photography and footage work can be found with the following image libraries: Getty; Robert Harding; AGE Fotostock and Alamy. I also have my own stock image library where you can purchase some exclusive images directly from me.

Morning breakfast, Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
Riders at the start of the 2013 Paris Tours cycle race, Authon-du-Perche, France.

Commercial work

Outside of the world of stock, I have done various commissions for some of the UK’s leading photography magazines such as Digital SLR User magazine, Digital Camera Mag and Photo Plus. Visit Britain – The British Tourist Authority commissioned me in 2016 to ensure that some of the major cities in the UK looked beautiful in a series of time-lapse sequences. The Mairie de Tours in France has also commissioned my work for use in their publicity material as well as a number of other tourism boards in Europe who trust that the work they are going to receive is of a high standard.

Currently, I am an ambassador for Benro Tripods, Vallerret Photography Gloves and Kase Filters.