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Julian EllioTt presents his travels in Mongolia.
Yak milk, Buddhist monks and Eagle hunting!
20/09/2024
Our first speaker of the season, Julian Elliott, is best known for his landscape and travel photography. (www.julianelliottphotography.com) He hails from Salisbury, but delivered his presentation by Zoom from a distant Vietnam. We enjoyed an inspirational evening featuring his travels in the relatively little known, Mongolia.
Amicable and easy going, Julian fascinated us with tales of the challenges he faced in a country that could not be more different from any with which, as Europeans, we are familiar. Landlocked between Russia and China, Mongolia is a vast wilderness of high plateaux, with further mountains on the horizon, and temperatures that regularly render the rivers and lakes icebound. Julian strives to do justice to the perilous views with cameras and drones, capturing the beauty of the stunning night skies and the colours of the sunrise.
It is an under-photographed country, so lacks the usual visual reference points and guidance for photographers that abound in more familiar destinations. So Julian created his own, and where there was habitation he harnessed the power of the tilt shift lens in and around the Buddhist Temples, using his knowledge of macro and portraiture when capturing the essence of the resident monks.
Beyond the city, settlements are widely scattered, facilities basic, and weekly showers a keenly anticipated event, but there is Yak milk a-plenty, the magic of the world’s last remaining, truly wild horses, and the excitement and pageantry of the Eagle Hunt. Julian captured both the essence of the people in traditional dress, and the stark brutality of their celebrations. We were privilege to his advice and guidance on composition and light in the context of the unfamiliar environment, and he was warmly thanked for what was a very memorable, and thought-provoking evening.
Next Thursday members will relax together and enjoy a look at the most recent WCPF images, and will be keen to support the Masons’ coffee morning on the following day.
Jenny Short. 20.09.2024
Amicable and easy going, Julian fascinated us with tales of the challenges he faced in a country that could not be more different from any with which, as Europeans, we are familiar. Landlocked between Russia and China, Mongolia is a vast wilderness of high plateaux, with further mountains on the horizon, and temperatures that regularly render the rivers and lakes icebound. Julian strives to do justice to the perilous views with cameras and drones, capturing the beauty of the stunning night skies and the colours of the sunrise.
It is an under-photographed country, so lacks the usual visual reference points and guidance for photographers that abound in more familiar destinations. So Julian created his own, and where there was habitation he harnessed the power of the tilt shift lens in and around the Buddhist Temples, using his knowledge of macro and portraiture when capturing the essence of the resident monks.
Beyond the city, settlements are widely scattered, facilities basic, and weekly showers a keenly anticipated event, but there is Yak milk a-plenty, the magic of the world’s last remaining, truly wild horses, and the excitement and pageantry of the Eagle Hunt. Julian captured both the essence of the people in traditional dress, and the stark brutality of their celebrations. We were privilege to his advice and guidance on composition and light in the context of the unfamiliar environment, and he was warmly thanked for what was a very memorable, and thought-provoking evening.
Next Thursday members will relax together and enjoy a look at the most recent WCPF images, and will be keen to support the Masons’ coffee morning on the following day.
Jenny Short. 20.09.2024