Photography for non-profits 

Welcome to Greenwood Media. I'm Tom Greenwood. I produce photography for non-profits*
in Sydney, around Australia and across the Asia-Pacific.

*charities
NGOs
corporate foundations
educational institutions
government agencies 
research bodies

Non-profits use my work to advocate, educate, market and fund-raise. 

I see my role as capturing the human side of my clients and, more importantly, the human impact of their work.

Why choose Greenwood Media’s
photography for non-profits?

I pride myself on:

  • offering the whole package for clients

  • planning and preparing

  • making subjects feel at ease

  • seamlessly switching between stills and video

  • working fast but not hurrying

  • creating positive, emotive still and moving images that tell human stories. 

Tom is one of a kind. He’s got a wonderful photographic eye and an uncanny knack for capturing people as they really are – happy, struggling, hopeful, proud, shy, complex… human. He has a great amount of experience working in the developing world and it shows. Tom moves quietly and respectfully through village scenes, with an ability to quickly build trust and willingness to participate. In addition to the top-notch images, Tom is also a journalist who can simultaneously gather extended captions or stories, which is rare.

Jason Garman
Comms and Media Manager
Oxfam NZ

Case studies

My approach

THE BRIEF

When it comes to photography for non-profits, some clients have a crystal clear vision of what they require. Others know they need content but are less sure about the specifics. I help clients work out how to achieve the best end product, for the most reasonable investment.

PLANNING

I help work through questions such as:

How much time is required to shoot the required images?

What would be the best days/times to shoot?

Which locations might work best?

How many subjects are required? What age, gender, occupation etc?

How best to handle consent? Is verbal consent sufficient or is written consent necessary?

THE SHOOT

I ensure that the subjects are happy, willing and well-informed at every stage of the process – and leave feeling good about the session.

I’m always mindful that graphic designers love images with space; sections of images on which text or graphics can be placed. 

Designers also love a range of landscape and portrait formats for a variety of potential web and hard-copy uses (eg. horizontal webpage straps or portrait format report covers.

As a former journalist, I’m always happy to grab a few quotes or conduct interviews for case studies if required.

POST-PRODUCTION

I believe in tight editing. That means providing a broad selection of images. It doesn’t mean swamping the client with thousands of mediocre shots.

In terms of retouching, a polish will always improve an image but I work on the basis that a well-exposed image shouldn’t need too much work. Above all, I try to maintain a natural look. There’s nothing worse than an over-Photoshopped image (yuk!)

If the client requires, I caption images in metadata, covering the who, where, what and why.

In terms of format, most clients prefer retouched high-res jpeg files (plus low res duplicates for easy viewing). However, I’m also happy to provide unprocessed RAW files. 

TURN AROUND and DELIVERY 

I pride myself on flexibility, speedy delivery and meeting the needs of the client in terms of turnaround.

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