Sheryl Elliott is a photographer living in the Katamatite area.
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“Photography is my life.”
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Katamatite resident Sheryl Elliott is known for her local photography, often at sporting and community events, preserving history through her lens.
Sheryl grew up in Katunga, her parents owned the milk bar on the highway, and she attended Numurkah high school.
She met her partner, Dave, working at Bega in Strathmerton and moved to Cobram around 18 years ago to be with him.
Shortly after, they bought a property just outside Katamatite, where she has lived ever since.
Sheryl said her parents bought her her first camera when she was seven years old, a small 126 film camera.
She remembers the first photos she ever took were at Wilsons Promontory National Park.
Sheryl Elliott’s photo of a tiger taken at Melbourne Zoo won first place in the animal section at the Lancefield Agricultural Show.
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Sheryl Elliott
“We used to camp down there, Mum used to take myself and her brother's family,” Sheryl said.
“I took photos of the tent, some of our walks on the beach and animals.
“As the years progressed, I started taking family photos and documenting historical stuff.”
Sheryl is mostly self-taught, having only done a few photography courses online. She doesn’t like to alter her photos much, preferring to keep them “as is”.
She said what she loved most about photography was “meeting people and going places”.
Sheryl has travelled a lot over the years, visiting many different places across the country and even visiting China, which she said she “loved photographing”.
Sports photography is another hobby of Sheryl’s, previously working for the Numurkah Leader — photographing the cricket, bowls, tennis and footy. She now take pictures of local games in Katamatite.
Sheryl Elliott's photo of a train taken at the Newport Steam Train Open Day won ‘Best in Section’ for homecrafts at the Lancefield Agricultural Show.
Photo by
Sheryl Elliott
Sheryl is particularly drawn to photographing historical events, recently photographing the Katamatite 150th celebrations, but she also enjoys capturing animals, cars and simply anything that “catches her eye”.
She also photographed the floods on Ulupna Island in 2022 and said, although it was a good experience, it was devastating to witness.
“It was devastating for everybody who had their farms and houses destroyed,” she said.
Sheryl witnessed the move from film to digital and said as a photographer, it was “really exciting”.
“It was so much better because it meant you could actually see what you were doing, and you didn’t waste so much film,” she said.
“It’s also so much quicker because it used to have to wait until they had been processed at the chemist, and that would take about a week.”
For Sheryl, photography is critical because it’s about “keeping memories”.
A photo taken by Sheryl Elliott at Ulupna Island.
“It’s holding history because it’s going to disappear if people don’t jot it down,” she said.
Sheryl has won several awards over the years for her photography, including first prize in the architecture photography section at the 2024 Victorian Agricultural Show in Shepparton, as well as the Debbie Comfort Memorial Award in both 2018 and 2024.
She has also achieved strong results at the Lancefield Agricultural Show, where she won best in section for homecrafts with a photograph of a train taken at the Newport Steam Train Open Day.
She also received best in the sport section for a photo taken at the 2024 Katamatite Rodeo, first place in the landscape section for a sunset image, and first place in the animal section for a photograph of a tiger taken at Melbourne Zoo.
For aspiring photographers, Sheryl’s advice is simple: “Practise, practise and practise.”
Sheryl has four kids, Jennifer, Felicity (deceased), Tracey and Stephanie (deceased), seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
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