It’s not every day I get to photograph people “in puris naturalibus”, so I knew this assignment from the get go would be interesting. Add some very low & mixed source lighting & I knew it would be more than interesting. Shot on assignment for AAP.

(Edit: The above pic was run by ABC News online as the “Top Shot” of the day

The event is part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival. And yes, everyone except me, Jeff Turnbull from AAP, and William West from AFP, was naked. The event was held at Bebida Cafe in Smith Street, Fitzroy. Many thanks to event organiser Natalie Bak (above), for access that allowed me to make such amazing images.

Last week I spent a few days in the Victorian snow fields for Getty Images, covering the search and rescue of Tim Holding, a Victorian Minister and Member of State Parliament, who’d failed to return from a solo hike on Mt. Feathertop.

SES rescuers return from the mountain.

A team of rescuers leave for the ascent up the mountain.

Conditions at the top of Mt. Hotham were similar to that at the top of Mt. Feathertop.

Revealed. This missing MP is found at last.

Strapped into the helicopter ambulance for the ride back to Melbourne.

Happy to be back in Melbourne the day after being found.

Six months ago on February 7, 2009, Australia’s worst natural disaster occurred, with the black Saturday Bushfires claiming the lives of 173 people. Last weekend, I returned to the Kinglake area to cover some events for Getty Images that focused on the physical rebuilding of the area.

Temporary housing at Kinglake.

Residents at the Remake Kinglake, community consultation event.

Land for sale at Kinglake.

Not enough can be said of the selfless bravery of the volunteer CFA firefighters who, have in many instances, been victims of the fires themselves. One word perhaps describes them best. Heroes. The firefighter below symbolises that heroism for me.

A Country Fire Authority volunteer returns to the Alexandra Staging Ground from a 12 hour shift fighting the Kilmore East fire, Alexandra, in north-central Victoria, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009. (AAP Image/Raoul Wegat)