by Jerome D.
Introduction
Jord Hammond is a British travel and landscape photographer, educator, and workshop leader, originally from Dover on England's south-east coast, whose distinctive use of colour and light has built him an audience of nearly 800,000 followers on Instagram and made him one of the most recognisable voices in contemporary travel photography.
He studied marketing and advertising at university — not photography — and discovered the medium almost by accident. In 2015, after graduating, he moved to China to work as an English teacher. He picked up a camera initially just to document his experience for family and friends back home, photographing on weekend trips around the country during his time off. Within six months, what had started as a casual hobby had become a genuine passion. He saved enough money to take six months off and travel through Asia, during which he began taking photography seriously as a craft rather than a record-keeping exercise. He built his early portfolio by offering small companies free photoshoots in exchange for usable images, then transitioned to paid work once his Instagram following had grown sufficiently.
His work has since taken him to more than 41 countries, with a particular focus on Asia — China, Vietnam, Bali, India, Bhutan, and Oman feature heavily in both his personal photography and the small-group workshops he now leads internationally. His photography has secured him commercial work with major travel brands and tourism boards, and he has built a significant business around photography education: the Travel Photography Accelerator, a structured online course covering both shooting technique and post-processing workflow, alongside in-person workshops in destinations including Bali, Vietnam, India, Bhutan, and Oman.
His own description of his project is direct: a photographer whose "use of colour and light brings a fresh new perspective to the world of travel photography." His stated philosophy on developing a distinctive style is equally direct: "If someone sees a photo for the first time and can say 'hey, that's definitely a photo by Jord,' because it is recognisably my style, I'd consider it a job well done."
Camera Gear Used by Jord Hammond
Hammond's gear history is documented across two confirmed primary sources: a 2017 interview with CP Collectives in which he describes his original Canon kit directly, and a dedicated gear profile from Photography Pursuits documenting his subsequent upgrade. Both sources are consistent with the progression typical of a self-taught travel photographer scaling up equipment as his career developed.
Early Career Camera: Canon 6D
Canon EOS 6D — His confirmed first serious camera, stated directly in his 2017 CP Collectives interview: "I use a Canon 6D with the 16-35mm f/4 (essential for landscapes!), 24-105mm f/4 and 70-200mm f/4." The Canon 6D was Canon's entry-level full-frame DSLR at the time — a sensible choice for a photographer building a career from the income of teaching English in China, offering full-frame image quality without the cost of Canon's professional-tier bodies. He used this camera through his early Asia travels and the period in which his Instagram following first grew significantly.
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| Canon EOS 6D Check price on Amazon |
Current Camera: Canon 5D Mark IV
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV — His confirmed upgrade and most recently documented primary camera, stated by Photography Pursuits: "Currently Jord Hammond uses the Canon 5D Mark IV. This is a full frame DSLR and all of his most recent photos on Instagram will have been taken on this... Jord has also said that he used the Canon 6D in the past, but he bought the 5D Mark IV as an upgrade." The 5D Mark IV's 30.4-megapixel sensor and improved dynamic range over the 6D gave him additional latitude for the colour-driven, high dynamic range editing style that defines his work — pulling detail from both shadows and highlights in the strong, often harsh light conditions of South and Southeast Asia.
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| Canon EOS 5D Mark IV check price on Amazon |
Lenses
Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM — His primary and most-used lens, confirmed in both sources. In his original CP Collectives interview he called it "essential for landscapes." Photography Pursuits confirms its continued centrality to his work: "The Canon EF-16-35mm f/4 IS lens is Jord's go-to lens choice and he claims that 90% of his photos are taken with it." For a photographer whose work spans vast landscapes, dense cityscapes, and architectural subjects across Asia, a wide-angle zoom that can capture full scenes while maintaining sharpness and contrast is the foundation of the kit. See it on Amazon
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM — Confirmed in his original CP Collectives interview as part of his core three-lens kit. A versatile mid-range zoom used for situations between the wide landscape work of the 16-35mm and the compressed, isolated framing of a telephoto. See it on Amazon
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM — Confirmed in his original interview, later upgraded. Photography Pursuits documents the upgrade: "He also uses the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS II USM for a different perspective as it has a much longer focal length" — confirming he moved from the f/4 version to the faster f/2.8 II version as his kit developed. This lens gives him the reach and compression for distant landscape elements, portrait work at a flattering working distance, and architectural details that the wide lenses cannot isolate. See it on Amazon
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM — Confirmed by Photography Pursuits as part of his kit, though used less frequently: "Although he doesn't use it often, since it is mainly for portrait photography, it is a great value lens at an affordable price point." A budget-friendly fast prime kept in the bag specifically for portrait opportunities that arise during his travels. See it on Amazon
Polarising filter — Confirmed in his original interview as a standard part of his working method: "I typically have a polariser attached to my wide angle lens, which helps considerably when shooting reflections, contrast and saturation." This is a significant detail given the centrality of saturated colour to his visual identity — the polariser is doing real work in the field before any post-processing begins.
Aerial: DJI Mavic 2 Pro
DJI Mavic 2 Pro — Confirmed by Photography Pursuits as his drone of choice for aerial photography: "For his drone shots, Jord uses the DJI Mavic 2 Pro." Aerial perspectives feature regularly in his travel and landscape work, particularly for capturing the scale of rice terraces, coastlines, and temple complexes that are difficult to convey from ground level.
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| DJI Mavic 2 Pro check price on Amazon |
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom — His primary and most consistently confirmed editing tool, referenced across every source examined, including his own website FAQ: "I predominantly use Adobe Lightroom to edit my photos." He has built a significant teaching business around his Lightroom workflow, publishing both desktop and mobile presets based on his personal editing style, and dedicating entire modules of his Travel Photography Accelerator course to Lightroom technique.
Adobe Photoshop — His confirmed secondary tool for more involved retouching: "coupled with Adobe Photoshop if I need to tidy up an image."
Topaz Labs DeNoise AI — Confirmed as part of his current workflow via his course materials, used for noise reduction in low-light and high-ISO images — a relevant tool for a travel photographer frequently shooting in dim interiors, temples, and dawn or dusk conditions.
Technique and Style
Jord Hammond's photography is defined by a single, consistently identifiable quality: a bold, saturated, colour-forward treatment of light that transforms ordinary travel scenes into vivid, immediately recognisable images. His own stated goal — that viewers should be able to identify a photograph as his on sight — has been substantially achieved through a consistent approach to colour grading, contrast, and dynamic range that he applies across an enormous geographic range of subjects.
His shooting method reflects the discipline of someone who has built a business around consistent output. He has described rising one to two hours before sunrise to ensure he is positioned at the right location for the best light — a habitual practice rather than an occasional effort. This commitment to golden hour and blue hour light is fundamental to the vivid, glowing quality of his landscape and cityscape images.
His polariser use in the field is a significant and underappreciated technical detail. Rather than relying entirely on post-processing to achieve his saturated look, he manages reflections and atmospheric haze optically before the image is even captured — meaning his celebrated colour treatment in Lightroom is building on an already optimised foundation rather than attempting to manufacture saturation that was not present in the original capture.
He works across an unusually broad range of subjects for a single coherent visual style: vast landscapes (rice terraces, volcanic peaks, coastal cliffs), dense urban environments, and intimate cultural moments (temple ceremonies, market scenes, portraits of local people he encounters during his travels). The consistency of his colour treatment across this range is what gives his overall body of work its identity, more than any single recurring subject or location.
His teaching philosophy — both in his own early career and in what he now teaches others — emphasises differentiation: "With the boom of social media, photography is quickly becoming an oversaturated market and the only way that you will get your name out there and ultimately get work is to be different." His own visual signature is the direct application of that advice.
How to Imitate His Style in Post-Processing
Hammond's aesthetic — vivid, high dynamic range, with rich shadow detail and saturated but controlled colour — is built primarily in Lightroom, but the same principles translate directly to Pixlr, an excellent and more accessible alternative for photographers who want to approach his look without a Lightroom subscription:
Recover shadow and highlight detail aggressively.
His images hold detail across an unusually wide dynamic range — bright skies and shaded foregrounds both readable in the same frame. In Pixlr's Shadows/Highlights tool, push both sliders toward recovery: lift the shadows significantly and pull back the highlights. This is the technical foundation of his entire look.
Boost saturation selectively, not globally.
A uniform saturation boost produces an artificial, oversaturated result. In Pixlr's HSL tool, identify the one or two dominant colours in your scene — the green of rice terraces, the orange of a temple roof, the blue of a coastline — and push those specific hues, leaving the rest of the palette closer to neutral.
Add a polariser effect in post if you didn't use one in the field.
If you weren't shooting with a physical polariser, you can approximate part of its effect in Pixlr by reducing the brightness of sky areas relative to the foreground using a graduated filter tool, and by reducing haze with the Dehaze or Clarity slider.
Shoot and edit for golden hour consistently.
His colour grading consistently reinforces the warm, low-angle quality of golden hour light, even in images not shot at that time. In Pixlr's Colour Grading tool, a subtle warm tint across the midtones — even in midday images — pushes the overall feel toward his signature glow.
How to Shoot Like Jord Hammond
Get up before the sun, every time.
His confirmed habit of waking one to two hours before sunrise is not occasional dedication — it is a standing practice. The light that defines his best images is only available for a narrow window each day, and that window requires being in position before it arrives, not rushing to catch the tail end of it.
Put a polariser on your wide lens and leave it there.
His confirmed habitual use of a polarising filter on his wide-angle lens for every shoot is one of the simplest, most replicable technical habits in this profile. It manages reflections, increases contrast, and intensifies natural colour saturation before you ever open editing software.
Build your kit around one workhorse wide lens.
His own estimate that 90% of his images are taken with the 16-35mm reflects a deliberate simplification: master one focal length range deeply rather than constantly switching between multiple lenses in the field. Know that lens's distortion characteristics, its sweet spot aperture, and its specific rendering before relying on it for the majority of your work.
Develop a consistent, recognisable colour treatment.
His stated goal — that a viewer should recognise his work on sight — is achieved through consistency in post-processing, not through technical novelty in the field. Build a Lightroom or Pixlr workflow that you apply with only minor adjustments across very different subjects and locations, so that your colour treatment becomes as identifiable as your composition.
Build your portfolio through value exchange before charging.
His own career began by offering free photoshoots to small companies in exchange for usable portfolio images. This is a practical, low-risk way to build a body of professional-quality work before any client is willing to pay for it.
Differentiate deliberately.
His advice to aspiring photographers — to actively seek a recognisable point of difference rather than simply improving technically — is a strategic insight as much as a creative one. In an oversaturated market, technical competence alone does not build an audience. A specific, identifiable visual signature does.
Legacy
Jord Hammond's significance is most accurately understood within the contemporary landscape of social-media-driven travel photography — a genre that did not meaningfully exist before Instagram, and in which he has built one of the more substantial and durable careers over the past decade.
His influence operates through two channels simultaneously: the photographs themselves, which have introduced a large international audience to destinations across Asia through a consistently identifiable visual style, and his education business, which has taught the specific techniques behind that style to thousands of students through the Travel Photography Accelerator and his preset packs.
His workshop programme — taking small groups of paying participants to Bali, Vietnam, India, Bhutan, and Oman — represents a significant evolution from solo content creator to a sustainable business built around shared access to the locations and techniques that built his reputation. This model, in which a successful photographer monetises both prints and direct instruction, has become increasingly common in travel photography, and Hammond is one of its more established and long-running practitioners.
Whatever the eventual historical assessment of social-media travel photography as a genre, Hammond's specific contribution — a consistent, deliberately cultivated colour aesthetic, a transparent and well-documented gear and workflow, and an education business built on genuinely explaining his own process — represents a model of professional sustainability that a significant number of working travel photographers have since adopted.
Conclusion
Jord Hammond began his career with a Canon EOS 6D and a core three-lens kit — the 16-35mm f/4L, 24-105mm f/4L, and 70-200mm f/4L — purchased while teaching English in China and travelling on weekends. He has since upgraded to a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, kept the 16-35mm as his primary lens for 90% of his work, and upgraded his telephoto to the faster 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II. He shoots with a polarising filter on his wide lens as standard practice, captures aerial perspectives with a DJI Mavic 2 Pro, and edits exclusively in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, supplemented by Topaz Labs DeNoise AI.
His career is a useful case study in how a consistent visual signature, a transparent and well-documented working process, and a willingness to teach what he knows can build a sustainable photography business in the social media era.
"If someone sees a photo for the first time and can say 'hey, that's definitely a photo by Jord' — I'd consider it a job well done."
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