The River Taff - Sam Phipps

This time we’re in the River Taff with Sam Phipps for a personal project.

You may recognise Sam from his creative, family run, Branding & Graphic Design Studio; I Am Sam Creative.

Sam’s a Good dude. He has a great ethos - “Design for good”.

You can see this spanning across I Am Sam Creative’s portfolio, from big names to smaller endeavours.

Not only a respected business owner, Sam is also a dedicated family man.

So any spare time is spent in the river.

And I can see why.

The hustle and bustle of the city is within throwing distance, yet, down in the water… it’s serene. Splashes from jumping fish provide only brief interruption.

Sam by nature is horizontal, he always has this cool, calm and collected vibe to him.

Seeing him in the water provided a good explanation for this.

His method of fly fishing was incredibly meditative. Watching the water, gentle movements & focus.

It’s evident that Sam really admires and respects the river by choosing to be a part of it as opposed to sitting beside it.

You’ll see from the latter images how true this is.

Kneeling down, watching his catch resting after being released back into the water, you can feel there’s care and appreciation present.

As Sam’s catch swam back upstream, blue hour was well upon us, signalling our time to head home.

Ed Harrison's Veg Garden - Passing Down Knowledge

How you doing bud?

We’re back at Ed’s veg patch for this post.

This time with Olin Beau in tow

I’ve harped on in previous blogs and instagram posts about how special this place is and how much I admire Ed’s dedication to growing veg with nature in mind.

With this visit, Ed wanted to document the planting of new seeds and invited Olin to join us.

Olin loves a work day, he see’s it as one big adventure. Put a camera in his hand and he’s happy as Larry. Annoyingly, he gets better angles because he’s short.

Pairing a work day with these two was a match made in heaven. Since the Covid video call era, Olin’s loved “Uncle Ed” or “Cled” as he pronounces it.

So naturally, when we arrived, Olin sacked off his camera and insisted on hurling his blue glider round whilst Ed would hoot and holler with every flight.

Ed has this incredible ability to hold your attention whilst communicating.

Whether it’s engaging online, pen on paper or conversation, there is a steadfast confidence to his voice. One that inspires a (IMO) better world.

With that, once Ed started showing Olin around the veg patch, it was evident he had him excited about everything that was ready to harvest.

In my five years of being his dad, I have tried endlessly to get Olin messy. Muddy hands, grassy knees, sandy toes - not interested.

Five minutes with Ed, he’s pulling up leeks, legging it through woodland and weaving branches.

Anyway, I’ve done enough talking for now. I’ll let the images do the rest.

A x

Visit Wales - Oxwich Bay

We’re at Oxwich bay this time, just a stones throw from Swansea.

The story for this round of filming was a couple walking their dog on the beach, stopping off for a quick sauna session then filling their faces full of deliciousness cooked up by Chef Hywel Griffiths at The Beach House.

Bringing The Outside In - The Goodwash Company

Towards the end of 2023 The Goodwash Company approached me for their Christmas campaign. It’d been in talks for a while, but it was finally go time.

This time it was different, the concept of the campaign was headed by members of Saatchi & Saatchi.

The brief, Bringing The Outside In.

To celebrate the change in season and give a nod to the festive tradition of festooning our homes.

Now if you know me, you’ll know I struggle with Christmas. I say struggle, I fuckin hate it.

Every year the “festive season” seems to start earlier with Mariah Carey on the radio and bright red boerboels’ hanging from anything with an edge.

Call me a scrooge, but I cant deny that the whole thing never sits right with me, it feels too forced.

Christmas to me is about family, more specifically, my family. Time spent as a child laying on my grandparents living room floor just listening to the adults talk. It was always peaceful, no rowdiness, no stress, no arguing. Just plenty of food and something on the tele as background noise. Throw in a dog walk and maybe a few games and I’d be wildly happy. The nostalgia of being a kid surrounded by family and feeling warm and safe.

This isn’t a thing for me anymore, I’ve had to accept I’ll never experience anything like that since my Dad and Grandad passed.

So with all that said, I wanted to create a story that went against everything Christmas is expected to be. As an act of solitude for those who feel the same as me. No cashmere jumpers, no abundant gift piles, no shiny boerboels’ and no expected “standard”.

I wanted to focus on what matters to me. Those I love, slowing down, being grateful to spend a small moment of time with one another. To celebrate making your own traditions. To enjoy what you can and just look after yourself.

Cue Spot & Charlie, two close friends of Goodwash.

Nestled amongst the trees, a stones throw away from Cardigan, they are the responsible for the secluded getaways and art gallery that fall under the name Sea & Slate.

They would be our models for this campaign. And boy were we lucky to have such warm hearted beauts to photograph.

Enjoy

A x

Visit Wales - TV Ad

Struck gold on this one.

Courtesy again of my good friend Josh, who is responsible for all my Visit Wales work.

This felt like it was getting “official”.

Back before Christmas I spent three days in Port Meirion and the surrounding areas. Film crew. Lighting crew. Sound Crew. Drone pilots. Actors. Chefs. Steam Trains. Kayakers. Mountains.

It was busy. It rained a lot. I slept in a castle.

When I saw the ad hit the tv screen, it finally hit home that I’d worked alongside some of the best in the industry. Shooting stills to accompany an amazing Ad that shows off how awesome the place we call home is.

Wild.

Below are a few of my favourites from the three days away. It doesn’t cover half the amount I shot, but they link to the advert.

The Ad is linked also, if you’ve a keen eye, you may spot some of the cyclists from my previous post.

A x

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