Paul and Enya's wedding

Last weekend I flew up to Brisbane to photograph Paul and Enya's wedding. Paul is an old friend from Laos and Enya, perhaps the bubbliest person you could hope to meet, is from Shanghai (although given her Aussie twang you could be fooled into thinking she was born-and-bred).  

The weekend had a distinctly Chinese flavour with a lion dance, complete with deafening firecrackers, at the couple's house-warming the night before the wedding. The day itself was a dream to photograph:  some lovely - if challenging - light, a beautiful location in Brisbane's New Farm Park and Powerhouse, and a suitably joyful couple. Enya's outfit was stunning, topped off with eye-lashes that looked like they might become airborne at any moment.

Sydney Mardi Gras 2010

Dykes on bikes, bears, Osama putting the ‘fun’ back into fundamentalism, a vast army of gay surf life-savers... all par for the course at Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
This was my first gay Mardi Gras. Clearly it once had a little more edge, but with the battles largely won - especially in gay-friendly Sydney - the focus is more on good clean camping it up rather than administering hardcore political spankings. Indeed, the police, armed forces, church leaders and the government of New South Wales each had floats. At times it seemed more of a celebration of ‘the establishment’ than of a once-frowned upon minority. The Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, a well-known supporter of gay rights, promoted herself with gusto from the back of a soft-top.

In hindsight I should have got myself a press pass. This wouldn’t have been difficult by the number of point and shoot-operating photogs weaving their way through the parade. As it was, I was squeezed against a barrier, snapping what came my way. I used the opportunity to test out the Canon 35mm f1.4 lens.  Given the crowds I didn’t want to carry a huge kit and in order to capture the ambience I avoided flash. The section of street I was on was murky and I was very glad of the super-wide aperture, although at times I missed the zoom. See more pics here.

Timor L'Este with Oxfam

A little over a month ago I travelled to East Timor with a team from Oxfam Australia to document its projects there, my third visit in as many years. I absolutely love Timor - both East and West. It is dazzlingly beautiful and manages to cram arid hillsides, lush forest and alpine peaks between two pristine coastlines. While life there continues to be tough - most communities are completely cut off from roads, markets and services during the months of the rainy season - people are nothing if not resilient.

Here is a selection of shots taken for Oxfam:

http://www.photoshelter.com/c/tomgreenwoodphoto/gallery/Oxfam-in-East-Timor/G0000QFZfAQ5xg5A


Oxfam in East Timor - Images by Tom Greenwood

A new antipodean dawn

* - Images by Tom Greenwood

Hallo. Is anybody there? This is my first post of my first blog. And what better way to begin than with a healthy dollop of self-promotion? So here is a link to my new website, which in turn trumpets my launch as a Sydney-based photographer. So it's all very exciting. If you look at the site you may notice that not many images feature Sydney or Australia. In fact, not a single one. But that is about to change. Bring on the lucky country!