Mark Rayner
Mark Rayner is a Queenslandbased photographer and the founder of Trekabout Photography Workshops. With over 40 years behind the lens, Mark specialises in bird photography, landscape, astro, macro and nature in general. Mark, ably assisted by his partner, Dorianne McGillivray - an accomplished photographer in her own right -runs field-based workshops across Australia and internationally.
In Australia, his workshops span the country’s most photogenic regions. Locally in Southeast Queensland, you’ll shoot isolated sand dunes and shorebirds on K’gari (FRASER ISLAND) and amazing reptiles and frogs of private carers and collectors.
Beyond SEQ, Mark leads tours to the ancient ramparts of the Flinders Ranges, the baobab-studded gorges and tidal vistas of the Kimberley, highcountry snow gums and alpine light in the Victorian High Country, and the red dirt, big skies, and desert wildlife of Outback Queensland. Each location is timed for peak conditions — wildflowers, bird life, autumn colour, or dark sky astro.
Internationally, Mark guides small group photo tours to Costa Rica for quetzals and hummingbirds, Brazil’s Pantanal for jaguars and macaws, Africa for big game and birds, Indonesia for orangutans and Komodas, New Zealand for alpine and coastal wilderness, and America for its wild landscapes, bears and raptors.
Bird and wildlife photography is core to his work. Around Southeast Queensland, many migratory waders and shorebirds can be found such as Whimbrels, Black-necked Storks, and Curlews whilst Rainbow Bee eaters, Sacred and Azure Kingfishers, White-bellied Sea eagle King Parrots and Brahminy Kites are always around. Further afield, he teaches approach and fieldcraft for brolgas, finches and parrots in Outback Queensland, Wedgetails and parrots in the Flinders Ranges, black cockatoos in the Kimberley, and Flame Robins in the Victorian High Country to name just a few.
His teaching covers the fieldcraft most people miss: reading behaviour, tracking action, managing light in deep rainforest or harsh outback glare, and long lens technique for sharp results. Mark teaches observation and patience, always putting the subject and landscape first.
When he’s not on tour, Mark is scouting new locations, in a hide before sunrise, or editing after a morning chasing sacred Kingfishers. He believes the best images come when technical skill meets genuine connection to place and wildlife.
Based in Woodford, QLD.
