This video is from a recent shoot for Eibach Suspension in Germany which involved flying out to the Eibach factory to photograph a number of cars and then driving the new Eibach pimped Volkswagen Sirocco back to the UK. This gig was a lot of fun and the guys at Eibach really looked after us during our visit – thanks guys!

Some of the shots:

I’ve been lucky enough to be approached by a number of brands within the industry with offers of using their gear, this is a wonderful position to be in and something I’m hugely grateful for. But right from the get-go I want to say that I’m in nobodies pocket and that I will only use gear that I genuinely like, so any reccomendations I make are legit.

I’ve been sitting on this mini review for a while now so that I’ve had the chance to thoroughly test this bag. So far I’ve shot five commissions using this thing to haul my gear around instead of my usual Lowepro Vertex 300 AW, both in the UK and abroad. Read the rest of this entry »

What do you do when it’s p*ssing it down on the day of your shoot? Cancel? Shoot indoors? Do the ‘go-away-rain’ dance?

Well if you’re working with a champ of a model like Cymone, then you go for a rainy walk in the park – obviously!

This month I had the time consuming (but rewarding) task of finding, decorating and moving in to a new, bigger office. I’ve always run the business from home and it got to the stage where I was running out of space so I’ve signed a lease on a great new space just a ten minute ride from my house. I’ve been decorating and furnishing the place with the expert assistance of my Grandfather and today is officially the first day working from the new bat cave.

Because everything has been up in the air I’ve not had a chance to post this any earlier, so apologies for that – but here are a few new Adam Swords: BTS videos from a couple of shoots I did for MBUK last month.

I’m a big mountain bike and BMX fan and I consume a lot of these edits that the riders put together and upload to the usual video sharing sites - I just came across this video and I thought it compared well to photography. I’m sure a lot of you saw when Danny MacAskill came out of nowhere and showed the world what could be done differently on a trials bike. This video isn’t like any other I’ve seen, yet it contains all of the usual elements – a talented rider, a BMX, some skate park and some street…so what makes it stand out from the rest?

Well what this has (or should I say Tim Knoll has) is the mindset to take his art form to a higher level. The things he’s doing with his BMX aren’t just technically good and new and exciting and different to what everybody else is doing, but also the creativity in the movements surpass that of the usual BMX street videos.

It’s never been easier to pick up a half decent DSLR from the high street and call yourself a photographer, so there are a zillion other people out there with the same tools as you. In order to stand out from the crowd you’ve gotta think of ways to utilise those tools differently (like Tim and his BMX) to create a personal style that’s new and unique – looking to constantly push your technical ability and seek to expand your creative vision. If your photos aren’t standing out from the rest of the pack, like this video stands out, then you’ve got to ask why and what you can do to change that.

Happy Sunday.

This was a real fun shoot, done as personal work to add to my portfolio. It’s also the first proper BTS (behind the scenes) video I’ve done and I enjoyed it a lot so intend to do more on other shoots.
Let me know what you think in the comments and if you want to be kept in the loop, then you can follow me on Twitter.

I’ve had my TT1 trigger by Pocketwizard for about twelve months now and in that time I’ve probably used it three times. Mainly because I keep forgetting to turn the bloody thing off after I’ve used it and the battery is dead by the time I next come to shoot. Since I bought it I’ve also got my hands on a Canon 5D Mark II, which is what I used to shoot in Portugal. I didn’t take the TT1 with me on the trip (because the battery was flat) and I couldn’t help but miss the 250th sync speed that my 40D offers when shooting in the glorious sunshine of the Algarve. I mostly got around that by shooting available light which was a new experience for me when it comes to shooting bikes as previously I’d say 95% of my MTB and BMX shots would have been lit with strobes in some way.

Anyway, today I had a scout around the interwebular network to find out how fast my 5D could sync with the Mini TT1 sat on it’s head. I’m not sure if I’m just looking in the wrong places, but there seemed to be very little information on what settings yielded the best results (I guess because it’s so dependent on what strobes you’re using). Anyway, this is my effort to change that – at least for you guys who shoot with Nikon SB24’s… Read the rest of this entry »

I got back from Portugal just under two weeks ago and I seem to have lucked out and brought the nice weather back the UK with me. The trip was part business, part pleasure as I was there with two of my buddies Phil Auckland and Daniel ‘Plain Lazy’ Mann for a bit of R&R (riding and relaxation) as well as shooting new promo material for Phil’s sponsor Identiti Bikes. The photo above is the view from our apartment in Lagos, which is about an hour west from Faro. We were away for ten days in total and we only had a couple of days of cloud, the rest was T-shirts and shorts weather and we even took a dip in the ocean mid week. Read the rest of this entry »

This is the gear I’m taking with me for today’s shoot with the *drools* Audi R8:

(Make sure to click through and watch it in HD)

Keep an eye on Twitter for updates throughout the day.

For the last week I’ve been in Dubai for the Gulf Photo Plus workshops working with David Hobby, helping teach students how to use small flashes when shooting portraits. I’m very grateful to David as strobist.com was an invaluable resource to me when I was learning how to light. The workshop lasted two days and the students were all great, learning fast and making some kick ass pictures.

Every time I visit Dubai it feels different, last year because of the recession it seemed very quiet and the building work had almost come to a standstill. This year things seem to have picked up and there was no end of lavish cars mooching around.

Each time I’ve been to Dubai my schedule was so full that I didn’t get a chance to explore the city as much as I’d wanted so this year I was adamant that I’d get out more and see what there was. I’ve always wanted to go skiing at “Ski Dubai” and unfortunately missed out this year as on the second day of the trip my elbow decided to sprout a strange lump which grew to spectacular size and was immensely painful so I spent the rest of the week on antibiotics pissed off that I wouldn’t get to ski in the desert.

I did however manage to sneak around the top of an unfinished sky scraper taking photos with Vincent and David. We snuck around for a while trying to find access to the roof but ended up having to bluff our way past construction workers to grab a few shots out of a dusty window. We only had a little while there until one of them approached us to see what we were doing and we decided to leave when he pulled out his phone and started calling for his boss. I took a few notes from David about making killer HDR photos and came up with this exquisitely toned beauty of him…

Profesh HDR.

I also accidentally ended up at the most hilarious/horrendous bar I’ve ever been to with Drew Gurian and Joey L. We were looking for local bars on Thursday evening and asked a taxi driver to take us somewhere that wouldn’t have an expensive cover and would accept Drew’s sandals. As it so happened, the only places like that in Dubai are pretty seedy – needless to say we only stayed for the free beer that our entry price covered, but it was an experience nonetheless.

On the last evening I went with Zack, Vince, Drew, Marcus and Dan to the old part of Dubai where a lot of the Pakistani population live. We went to watch their traditional wrestling which is basically two guys in a sandy parking lot that throw each other around. I wish I could tell you how you win and what the rules are, but it really wasn’t clear at all.

It was almost more interesting taking photographs of the people in the three-thousand strong crowd that had come to watch, you can see a small section of them below but they actually carry on all the way round behind me in a huge circle with just the two wrestlers in the middle.

I always leave GPP with a head full of ideas (and usually a wallet full of air…bloody Profoto reps!) and this year is no exception, as I said in an earlier tweet…the future’s bright.

If you want to see more photos from my trip, check out the gallery on my Facebook page.

Peace out!

(Huge thanks to Karyn and Russell who very kindly put me up for the week. Karyn is a make-up artist and comes very highly recommended, if you’re looking for an MUA in Dubai she’s your girl.)

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Keep up to date: @AdamSwords on Twitter
Behind the scenes: Adam on Facebook