Interview: Julia Marr, 2025 Travel Photography Awards Winner
Photographer: Julia Marr
Based: Gold Coast, Australia
Instagram: @_mycameradiaries
Quick-Fire Questions
Favorite lens? 24 – 70mm f2.8
Presets or manual editing? I use my own presets as a base and then manual editing on top.
Sunrise or sunset? Sunrise
Favorite snack while shooting/travelling? Bananas and choc chip cookies
The #1 photo location you’ll always recommend or return to: Fingal Head, NSW, Australia
The Interview
1. Your work beautifully balances travel, culture, and colour. What first drew you to photography?
I started taking photos on a little digital camera at the age of 13. I loved taking photos of butterflies, flowers, and anything colourful! Throughout school, I studied photography and spent all my free time in the darkroom developing photos. This is where my love for photography really grew. I took a road trip around Australia at the age of 20 with a group of international backpackers, which sparked my passion for travel photography. I started taking photos of the landscapes and our adventures, and every day I took a Polaroid and wrote about my experience, which led me to call my page “My Camera Diaries”.
2. How did you learn photography, and what practices do you use now to keep challenging yourself creatively?
I learnt photography at school, we had a dark room, and I loved mixing all the chemicals and watching the film develop. After school, I completed a diploma in photography. I would say, however, that the majority of what I have learnt is from experiments and travel experiences. I have an inspiration board of images that I absolutely love and will take little perspectives and angles from those images and adapt them into my frame. Also, just having fun and trying new things is always a great way to challenge myself!
“Take more photos! Get experimental, try shooting new subjects. Become a part of a travel photography community and talk with like-minded individuals!”
3. Your travel blog, My Camera Diaries, weaves together storytelling and imagery. How do you see the relationship between photography and writing, and does this help you explore a destination on a deeper level?
For me, Travel Photography and writing have always gone hand in hand because I have always written about my experiences while travelling as well as taking photos. The camera grabs those quick, in-the-moment details like light, faces, little scenes you might miss, while writing helps me slow down and make sense of why those moments mattered.
Doing both helps me connect more deeply with a place. I’m not just snapping photos and moving on; I’m paying attention, hanging back, and thinking about how a destination feels. The photos help me see what’s in front of me, and the writing helps me understand it; they turn a trip into a real experience.
4. When you arrive somewhere new, what usually draws your eye first?
The most colourful subject for sure! I love capturing colours and patterns, whether it be a beautiful building, mural, landscape or even an exotic animal.
5. Can you share one of your most memorable photography moments while travelling, or the story behind one of your favourite images?
Ooooh, I have so many! But I think a standout photography moment for me was in Sumatra, photographing Orangutans in the wild. I was doing a jungle trek trying to find them, and 3 hours in, we found a mum and baby orangutan. I literally just started crying because it had been my dream for so long to see them in the wild. I sat there and took photos of them. I could have spent days with them just watching their behaviours. To this day, it was one of the most magical and meaningful moments of my life.
6. You shoot across genres, from travel to family portraits and weddings. How do these different practices influence each other, or do you treat them as separate areas of your business?
I tend to keep them separate. Each one lives in a different headspace for me; travel is more free-flowing and personal, while weddings and family work are very much about showing up for clients and their expectations. Treating them as different lanes helps me stay focused and keeps things from getting muddled, both creatively and on the business side.
7. What does being part of The Travel Photography Club community mean to you, and how has it shaped your photographic journey?
I love being a part of the Travel Photography Club Community. It’s so nice to be able to connect with other travel photographers and bounce ideas, and see different destinations you might not have known existed. Seeing how others approach travel photography has pushed me to experiment more and trust my own eye, and the community aspect has honestly been just as valuable as the photography itself.
8. What cameras and lenses do you usually pack for your travels? Are there any accessories you never leave home without?
I try to travel as light as I can. I have my Nikon Z7 II body with my 24-70mm f2.8 and 70 -200mm f2.8 lenses. I might pop in a 50 mm too occasionally. I also pack a travel tripod, laptop, and hard drive. Also, I always make sure I pack an ND and Polarising filter, could never go on a trip without them!
9. When you’re travelling, how much of your shooting is planned versus spontaneous?
I would say 50/50. I always choose a location based on one destination or subject that I want to photograph, and I tend to plan my trip around this. I will research the best time of day and the best season to visit. The rest of the trip is mainly spontaneous, and these photos sometimes end up being my favourite! I always try to stay as true to the scene as possible.
10. Editing plays such a big part in the outcome of an image. How do you balance staying true to a scene with your creative intent?
When editing, I mainly enhance the colours as I shoot in a flat colour profile on my camera. I try to shoot early morning and late afternoon to be able to get creative with light to help stay true to a scene as well.
11. What is one creative habit or practice that you’ve found invaluable over the years?
Honestly, it’s just being in nature. Spending even as little as 10 minutes a day in my garden or a natural environment, and romanticising all the little things. Where it is a butterfly flying around, the sun glistering on the water, and the sound of waves crashing. This is where my creativity rises from.
12. What place, project, or story are you most excited to explore next through your photography and writing?
Currently, I am working on my blog posts from my past trip to Central America, and I feel like I am reliving all my adventures again! I am hoping to spend a month in Italy this year with my partner’s family. I am excited to immerse myself in the culture and photograph the historical buildings (and of course the food)… I’d better go practice my Italian now!
13. What advice would you give photographers who want to improve their travel photography or want to explore photography as a career?
Take more photos! Get experimental, try shooting new subjects. Become a part of a travel photography community and talk with like-minded individuals. Find some local photographers in your area and create a little photography group!
Start your photography career within your hometown, take photos of all the natural landscapes, activities, and everything that travellers love to do in your town and pitch these to local companies, businesses, and tourism boards.
