We Are Warwickshire is a short film series shot and directed by myself over the last ten months. What started as a low key, small body of personal work has snowballed and gained the attention of TV and radio, businesses and advertising agencies across the UK and even members of parliament.

I’m blown away by the reception it’s had and have found it to be the most fulfilling project I’ve worked on to date.

Hit the jump for all six films, plus my interviews about the We Are Warwickshire series on BBC Radio and in The Leamington Courier.

The films showcase some of the unique and fascinating independently owned businesses across Warwickshire. I wanted to give the smaller, local businesses the visibility that they deserve, but seldom get when overshadowed by the larger chains. I met so many inspiring people while filming the series and had my eyes opened to what talent we’re surrounded by, right on our doorstep.

Click here for the Leamington Courier newspaper article.

THE PREMIERE
The films were premiered on Thursday 18th April at The Wild Boar in Warwick, entry was free and we even had free beer from the Slaughterhouse Micro Brewery, free Tapas from Catalan and free chip butties with freshly baked bread from Crustum Bakery.

It was important for me that these videos weren’t a commercial venture and whilst I didn’t charge any of the businesses for making their films, I certainly wasn’t expecting the hospitality and support I received in return.

The turnout was incredible with standing room only by the time we rolled the first film. Afterwards everybody stayed until closing time, drinking and chatting, meeting new people and making new connections. Seeing local indy businesses hooking up with others and discussing opportunities to work together was absolutely fantastic and exactly what I’d hoped the films would achieve, as well as boosting their visibility to new customers.

In the weeks since the premiere I’ve been to see everyone involved and each one said they’ve had new business and enquiries off the back of the films. To quote Borat: “Great success!!”

As an ongoing personal project, I’ll continue adding more films to the series as part of a longer term investment in promoting local businesses and cultivating the local community.

A huge thanks goes out to James, Paul, Brett and Luke for their hard work shooting second cameras, recording audio and lugging camera bags around too!

THE FILMS

Brazen Ink Tattoo Parlour – Warwick

The Orangery Flower Shop – Kenilworth

Crustum Bakery – Kenilworth

The Slaughterhouse Micro Brewery – Warwick

TheBikeYard Bike Shop – Leamington Spa

Catalan Tapas – Warwick

Hit the jump for more photos and a behind the scenes video…

I’d been asking around if anybody knew of some great locations to shoot a group of friends indoors. As it happened, a friend of a friend owns a beautiful apartment just down the road from my house that was perfect for this shoot and was happy to let me in for the day – thanks Jamie!

Film #3 the We Are Warwickshire series features Crustum Bakery in Kenilworth and the owner Nick.

Installed in to a shop big enough to touch both walls with your outstretched arms, this little artisan bakery is a beautiful place and Nick is the one-man-band behind it. My alarm was set for 3.00am to get there for when Nick starts baking at 4.00am and once I smelled that fresh bread being baked it was all worth while!

In the Crimbo Limbo I had a call from Rik at Monster Tuning to ask if I could shoot a last minute promo video for their stand at Autosport in January. He said they had a Land Rover Discovery Monster Truck and an 8-wheel-drive (Yes 8!) Land Rover Defender that they wanted to get muddy for the camera. So the day after boxing day I headed over to deepest darkest Telford to film this little teaser…

Now I knew we’d be doing a bit of off roading and given the torrential rain, I thought it might be a bit muddy here and there. But nothing could have prepared me for the quagmire that awaited my box fresh trainers. Reminder to self:next time mud is mentioned, wear wellies.

Here’s how my GoPro looked after a lap of the course:

If you’re at Autosport this year, keep an eye out for the video on the Monster Tuning stand.

I’ve been one of Lowepro’s “Loweprofessionals” for a while now, which means that every now and again they’ll ask for my opinion on one or two of their products to help with their R&D process. Before I go any further I want to make it clear that I’m not on their payroll and I’m not obliged to give a glowing review of their products. The opinions expressed below are my own, they’re honest and true…disclaimer over.

Hit the jump for the video and my thoughts on the S&F Series.

Most recently I was asked to try out the Street & Field Series – a modular carrying system comprising of a technical vest, waist belt and a tonne of interchangeable pouches. Great for keeping your gear on you whilst shooting and also for using as a SWAT Team fancy dress outfit at the weekend.

I’d seen this system used by press photographers and journalists before, but my first hands on experience with it was last year whilst shooting an advertising campaign for Honda Motorcycles. We had unrestricted pit access with the Honda World Superbike team at Imola and I knew that having bags full of gear laying around the garage wouldn’t be an option. Using the S&F series there meant that we could operate at full capacity with the smallest footprint possible so as not to get in the way of the pit crew.

Fast forward to October this year and I found myself planning a shoot in the slightly less glamorous Forest of Dean with a buddy of mine, pro 4x racer Nathan ‘Natedog’ Parsons.
I knew it was going to be muddy as hell and as we were on the new downhill course there wouldn’t be many places for me to dump my bike and backpack as we made our way down. So it was a great opportunity to test out the S&F series again in a more extreme environment.

What struck me straight away about the S&F series is how comfortable it is to wear, even when heavily loaded with pouches. Because the technical belt clips to the vest, the whole set up feels very well balanced and the weight is distributed nicely between the two. I was able to move freely and as the pouches can be attached anywhere on the vest and belt I made sure I had everything where I wanted within easy reach. The pouches themselves are sturdily made and would offer reasonable protection should they take a knock or be dropped when not attached to the belt.

My favourite accessory is the Lens Exchange, It works as a second pair of hands when you’re changing lenses on the move. It has two lens compartments – one contains the lens you’re carrying and the other is empty. When you remove the lens from the body, you pop it in the empty compartment and then pull out the other. As you zip up the pouch the two compartments concertina together and it turns into a regular looking padded lens pouch. It’s a godsend when you’re out in the woods and can’t put lenses down or hand them to an assistant.

Talking of assistants, because the vest and belt can be worn separately I’ll often share them between myself and James – my right hand man. If he’s capturing audio or B roll footage he’ll often use the vest with a couple of small pouches, whilst I use the belt with a lens exchange and utility pouches. Another handy bit of kit we use often is the Audio Utility bag, which has room to hang headphones, store a shotgun mic and keep XLR cables organised.

The S&F series is an extremely versatile solution for carrying your camera gear – whether it be the convenience of having lenses and accessories to hand or the ensuring you maintain a small footprint on location, the vest, belt and pouches work well as an alternative to a backpack. There’s still a lot of situations where I’d grab my Flipside or roller case instead but I think that’s the key here, that it’s an alternative and not a replacement.

If you have any specific questions about the S&F series, leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you with my thoughts.

Here’s some of the shots from the shoot:

Film #2 in the We Are Warwickshire series features Gabrielle and The Orangery flower shop in Kenilworth.

This little boutique flower shop caught my eye when it opened in the centre of Kenilworth almost three years ago for it’s eclectic mix of ornaments and flowers. Kenilworth isn’t a town renowned for it’s stylish shops so it’s always nice to see businesses like Gabrielle’s bucking the trend.

If you’ve been reading the blog recently you’ll know that I was commissioned by Honda Motorcycles as the director of photography for the short film documenting the Honda Epic Tour.

Well I’m pleased to say that the film is now online and I’m absolutely stoked with how it’s turned out. The editing and post was done by the guys at Kream who did a fantastic job and the final product showcases the sights, sounds, emotions and atmosphere of the tour as vividly as I remember them.

Brazen Ink // We Are Warwickshire from Adam Swords on Vimeo.

I’ve been looking for a personal project to sink my teeth in to for a while now and I wanted to shoot something different from bikes and cars. I travel a lot with my work and have the opportunity to shoot in wonderful locations around the world so it seemed fitting in this instance to look closer to home. A few years ago I spoke to David Hobby about his HoCo360 project and loved the idea of giving back to the local community through photography/film. I began looking for interesting independently owned, boutique businesses in the Warwickshire area and realised there would be a lot of opportunity to make some beautiful little films featuring them.

What you see here is #1 in the series titled “We Are Warwickshire”, featuring Brazen Ink Tattoo Parlour in Warwick. Owned by Trey Burnside who is also the tattooist, Brazen Ink is a quirky little parlour on the outskirts of town.

Just came across this video on Vimeo. Love it.

Cagliari, Sardinia > Rome, Italy
Distance: 280 miles

The beginning of the end, today we would arrive in Rome – having completed almost two-and-a-half thousand miles over eight days. Feeling refreshed after a good night’s sleep at sea, it was all hands on deck to prepare the bikes ready for our final push in to the capital city.

We had about three hundred kilometres to cover along the coastal road which would lead us to Rome. Myself and Adam Roberts jumped on to the back of Roberto and Charlie’s bikes as we exited Naples.

I was super impressed with everybody as they navigated the ridiculous traffic as an eleven strong unit. The local driving etiquette seemed to be, ride or drive as aggressively as you can and if you were slowed down in any way, beep your horn furiously while shouting like a mad man/woman. It was terrifying but a hell of a lot of fun as well.

Safely out of the city and in to the countryside we had a small motorway stint before we hit the coastal road. Having had no breakfast on the boat I was longing for us to stop at every mozzarella and pizza place we passed. Although some of the areas we rode through reminded of a third world country, full of rundown buildings and covered in graffiti – Roberto assured me that despite the dilapidated appearance, I wouldn’t be able to find a bad pizza joint there if I tried.

We ended up stopping about thirty minutes up the road at a mozzarella shop/deli and we were served the most amazing caprese salad I’ve ever had in my life. I also bought half a kilo of the most tasty and amazing olives I’ve ever had in my life to bring back home.

Refuelled and ready for the last hundred kilometres we hit the road, now in our flattering high vis vests to pick us out in Rome traffic.

Roberto took the lead as our Roman team member and we made our way in to the city through the financial district until in the distance, the Basillica could be seen high above the cityscape.

As we passed under the aquaduct we officially passed in to the old part of Rome and famous and familiar landmarks began to pop up left right and centre.

As we weaved through the traffic (which was far easier than Naples) we came out on a long straight road, at the end of which lay the monument which would mark the end of our trip – The Coliseum.

As we approached, horns tooting and cheering from beneath our helmets, passersby stopped and watched us pull in to the side of the road and hop off the bikes – high fives and hugs all around. Everybody was elated to have completed the Epic Tour and even though I’ve not ridden the route, I have spent a whole lot of hours and experienced the journeys and shared their elation.

In eight days we’ve gone from a group of strangers from across Europe to a group of friends sharing an amazing experience together. There have been language barriers between most of us, but through the universal language of motorbikes we share a common passion and that has allowed us to thoroughly enjoy each other’s company on this journey across ten countries, to the top of the highest mountains and across oceans. I feel very proud to have been a part of this trip and am very much looking forward to taking my CBR600 to some of the roads we’ve ridden over the past week and try them out for myself.

I’m going to sign off now, we’re about to go to our wrap dinner in a swanky “concept” restaurant in the old part of the city. Time to go and spend time with my new friends.

Ciao!