Nick Rains - Photographer

Hi, I'm Nick Rains and this is me in the photos above - out and about in Australia with my cameras.

This is one of the reasons I love this job - I get to go the some of the remotest places in this huge country, far away from the busy cities and into a place where you can quite literally roll out a swag, light a fire and sleep under the stars.

Through my Rainspirit Gallery in Brisbane, as well as this website, my prints now grace the walls of homes and offices in 25 different countries around the world. Being widely published is very satisfying but having your work appreciated for its own qualities is probably the ultimate goal for any serious photographer.



I started off in photography almost straight out of Swansea University in South Wales where I studied Zoology. I picked up the basics by going out and using film, oh, and reading photography books as well. I didn't do any formal training until a few years later when I did a 2 year Tech course on studio and commercial photography.

Commercial photography was well paid and reasonably interesting but I soon got more interested in travel photography so, like many others were starting to do, I shouldered a backpack and headed off into Asia and Australia.



I ended up in Australia and was soon working for Canon during the 1986 America's Cup in Fremantle. This was where I met all the top international photographers and magazine editors who were all very helpful to a young photographer starting out in serious international work.

I had a ball during the 12 months I spent in Perth, my work was published in Sports Illustrated, London Times, Paris Match, Stern and many other well known publications. I worked for Time Magazine for a while as an assistant and learned a whole load of stuff about what professional photography is all about.

Of course my Visa finally ran out and I headed back to England. My new contacts stood me in good stead and this period was when I fully developed my landscape photography by undertaking extended trips into Germany, Turkey, Italy, France, and Spain shooting for the stock photography market.

Finally I decided to move back to Australia for good in 1990 and have been shooting this fabulous country ever since. I have travelled almost half a million kilometers in that time and have been to just about every major place on interest. In fact the only major places I have yet to visit are Cape York and the central deserts of WA.



Over the years I have worked for the Australian Tourism Commission, Tourism NSW, Penguin Books, Readers Digest Books, Shell Petroleum, BBC TV, Sports Illustated, World Heritage Commission, Australian Geographic plus many more.

I hope you enjoy my images as much as I enjoyed creating them.

Best Wishes

Nick Rains 2006