MARK GRAY Photography Courses Adelaide

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Mark Gray was born in Melbourne, Victoria on February 20th, 1981 to parents with Latvian, English and Irish heritage.

Mark's primary schooling was undertaken at Bennettswood Primary School in Box Hill South. He then attended Camberwell High School for one year before relocating to Donvale Christian College where he developed a keen interest in graphic design. For his final year of secondary college Mark moved to Box Hill Senior Secondary which offered a highly specialised course in Graphic Design and the Arts.

Brought up in a Baptist family, Mark attended Wattle Park Chapel and became a Christian in his early teenage years.

During Mark’s mid-late teenage years his artistic side began to show, spending many hours painting graffiti art along railway lines and any blank walls he could find. Unfortunately, graffiti artists were viewed as criminals during this time and he had many run-ins with the law. Thankfully times have changed and graffiti now receives the respect it deserves as an art form with many collectors paying thousands of dollars for pieces to hang on their walls. Mark’s experience with graffiti art gave him an excellent introduction to working with colours effectively and composition techniques which came in handy later in life when he first picked up a camera.

After graduating from secondary school at the age of 18, Mark undertook a Diploma of Multimedia at Swinburne Tafe in Wantirna and learnt quickly that he wanted to become a Web Designer. During his time at Swinburne, Mark developed a keen interest in underground electronic music and started working part-time as a DJ at various pubs and night clubs around Melbourne; this continued into his early 20s.

On completion of his Diploma at the age of 19, Mark found full-time employment as a junior web designer. Over the following 7 years he became an expert in website design and internet marketing, slowly climbing the industry ladder to eventually become a web manager overseeing a number of junior staff. His design work certainly contributed to gaining an even better understanding of working with colours effectively and composition techniques.

During his years working as a DJ and web designer Mark slowly strayed from his Christian faith and became deeply involved in the dark, underground electronic music scene in Melbourne. Pretty soon he was living a wild, out of control lifestyle that was heading for disaster.

In September 2002, a life-changing event occurred when Mark was severely assaulted outside a nightclub. Amongst other injuries, he received a fractured skull above his left eye socket. An area of his skull about the size of a 50 cent piece had been cracked inwards, finishing up only millimetres from his brain. Thankfully, plastic surgeons were able to pop the damaged bone back out of his head and permanently secure it in place with 7 titanium plates. A couple of millimetres more and Mark wouldn't be here today, or worse still he could have received brain damage and ended up in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

Mark was extremely grateful for the second chance he had received and made a promise to God that he would clean up his act and make something worthwhile of his life.

In 2003, Mark met and started dating Suzy Baryczka; who soon became his wife. During the early stages of their relationship they both discovered a love of travelling, often leaving Melbourne to spend long weekends in bed and breakfasts at Apollo Bay or The Grampians. It was during one of these trips to Apollo Bay that Mark first witnessed a truly incredible sunrise and his love affair with landscape photography began.  

Mark had attempted to capture the sunrise with their new digital point and shoot camera but became extremely frustrated because it simply couldn’t do it justice. He soon decided that he wanted upgrade his camera and learn the skills required to accurately record those amazing moments in time. Particularly so that he could share them with the rest of the world.

It wasn’t long after this that Mark realised landscape photography was his one true passion. He sacrificed his extensive social life and dedicated all his spare time to pushing his own boundaries and learning everything required to capture those incredible moments. His background in graffiti and design certainly gave him a head start with composition techniques however the technical side of photography was something very foreign to him. He spent many hours reading photography books, researching information online and using basic trial and error in the field until he mastered the techniques required to capture technically perfect landscape photograph's.

Overtly ambitious, it was only 6 months later in 2005 when Mark decided to have a go at selling his work. While still working full-time as a web designer and with only a handful of prints in his portfolio, he established his first photography business ‘Australian Landscapes’ and setup a website using his existing web skills. His first clients included a number of family members, friends and even his next door neighbour.

As Mark’s photography skills progressed, so did his business and he soon changed the name to ‘Mark Gray Fine Art Landscape Photography’.  After experiencing significant sales growth for the following 3 years, he finally made the break from his day job as a web manager and became a professional landscape photographer.

In 2008, Mark began offering 1 and 3 day photography workshops to other aspiring landscape photographers.  They were an instant success and Mark quickly discovered that he also enjoys teaching photographers.

In late 2020, Mark and his family left Victoria and permanently relocated to the beautiful Sunshine Coast in Queensland.

Nowadays, Mark now releases the majority of his photographs as collectable limited edition prints, some selling for up to $60,000. He has also expanded his product range to include a wide variety of retail merchandise. His workshops regularly book out many months in advance and are attended by photographers from all over the world.