PORTRAIT

Tom Glendinning

'The Hopfather' Wye Valley Brewery by Tom Glendinning

Wye Valley Brewery contacted me after finding my Herefordshire Landscapes series, to discuss ideas for new content for their upcoming anniversary beer and new calendar. I was pretty excited, I am quite a fan of their work.

An initial plan was for landscapes along with a few portraits to compare the current Hopfather (Vernon Amor) in their new brewery to photographs of the founder (Peter Amor), when he started out brewing in the back of the Barrels in Hereford.

After a conversation with the marketing team this beautifully spiralled somewhat out of control…

What resulted was a full set of portraits and staged action shots, portraying the WVB team as the family run and tight knit business that they are, with a mafiso edge…

The anniversary beer is called ‘The Hopfather’ after all.

These were made into a calendar, can be found all about their distribution area on dripmats and I also discovered their brilliant, movie style advert recently:

Below: Some of the team swiftly load the branded getaway mini - strictly overseen by Abbie, in the name of a drama playing out inside their photographers head.

Despite how grim everyone looks this is possibly the most fun shoot I have ever made. Enormous thanks to the whole incredible team for being so game to act out my ludicrous Godfather themed ideas “..so Scouse, you’ve just brutally murdered this chap right, he’ll be on the floor covered in fake blood and I want you to shower off in the emergency chemical shower...”  

Thanks to Peter Glendinning for getting involved with great suggestions and supplying the essential hop backdrop, as well as for all his work in creating the hop varieties of the future (Jester starring in the ad above being one). Extra special thanks to marketing Abbie Gadd and Isobel Heywood for all their incredible input, organisation and assistance.

Also of course to Peter and Vernon, for looking the part so completely “... look really grim, perhaps dour is a better word - yes perfect hold that face” and for creating really amazing beer as well.

As usual you also can view the whole set on Flickr

Lionheart Promo Poster Art by Tom Glendinning

This shoot was for a very old friend Matt Milne (check out his IMDB), who is working on the proposal for a film to document and dramatise the true British boxing story of George Groves vs Carl Froch.

He called me in to provide the photographic base for the mock-up poster artwork, to be taken to Lionsgate along with the script and movie ideas for their appraisal. 

Matt chose the metaphor of facing up to the unrelenting surf and an enormous wave to conjure in popular imagination the feeling of insurmountable odds. However, the impression we wanted to achieve was a gritty, determined and prepared attitude to facing the inevitable. Or more accurately a choice made to stand and fight - win or be broken. 

The shoot was done (purposefully) on a dismal miserly day on Rhossili beach in Wales. Matt was in the cold hard surf and bitter wind for 2 hours to get the stills and film we wanted.

Then we went surfing...

 

The final poster was created based on the photography by graphic  and designer Oliver Gillard of Gage Graphics - check out his work.

As usual you also can view the whole set on Flickr

Crete Location Portraits by Tom Glendinning

A series of posts now following a family holiday in Crete.  First up - location portraiture:

View the whole set on Flickr

I felt that whenever I was with family or friends any portraits were so opportunistic that I never had the chance to make the most of really amazing locations. 

On many of the walks and explores on this trip I used a posed portrait as the focal point in a street scene or landscape to bring it scale, depth and relatability. 

This way of blending architectural or landscape techniques with controlled portraiture is a great deal of fun and I think generated more purposeful and representative photos of the time we had, the people and the places, than if I had only photographed what was immediately happening with no creative intervention.

A landscape photographer who largely inspired in me love for this approach is Bastian - A German landscape photographer who features in many of his own (polaroid & tilt-shift) images. See his outstanding work here.

2014.08.13 MItchell Taylor Workshop Portraits by Tom Glendinning

This portrait shoot was for MTW, the award winning architecture practice I worked at before leaving for freelancehood. An incredible team - I miss working with them! It was fun coming at them from a photographic angle for the first time though. The shoot was in the dojo of Stillpoint - a health, wellbeing and activity centre on Walcot Street in Bath - to this day one of my favourite projects of theirs.

As usual you also can view this set on Flickr

As always cutting criticism and comments via email (tomglendinning.photography@gmail.com) or 

facebook

, are hugely helpful and welcome.

If you don't like something then please, tell me - Also try to articulate why, it is tremendously useful to have constructive, critical feedback. You can view my full portfolio, contact and pricing information on my WEBSITE -

tomglendinning.co.uk

5-1410_MTW_SolosB&W-TGP-TGP

Rob Mitchell

3-1410_MTW_SolosB&W-TGP-TGP

Kris Eley

9-1410_MTW_SolosB&W-TGP-TGP

Simon Gould

8-1410_MTW_Groups-TGP

The Gang

2014.02.06/12 Crafting Melodies by Tom Glendinning

Crafting Melodies Product Craft Stall
1-Crafting Melodies Products
8-Crafting Melodies Products
10-Crafting Melodies Products
15-Crafting Melodies Products
18-Crafting Melodies Products
19-Crafting Melodies Products
2-Crafting_Melodies-Portrait
12-Crafting_Melodies-Portrait
7-Crafting_Melodies-Portrait
8-Crafting_Melodies-Portrait
9-Crafting_Melodies-Portrait
5-Crafting_Melodies-Portrait
15-Crafting_Melodies-Portrait
17-Crafting_Melodies-Portrait
18-Crafting_Melodies-Portrait
20-Crafting_Melodies-Portrait

Crafting Melodies. 

PRODUCTS & PORTRAITS

It’s been a fairly quiet month so far, with more networking and contact-finding than commissions. However some fun points before todays post:

>

 I’ve started working as an assistant with 

Colin Hawkins

, an excellent local photographer, through contact with his primary assist, 

Laurie Lapworth

.

The first job was a brief for a BBC show on animal’s sleeping habits.

Bristol Zoo. Dark. Wind. Lions. Presenter. Holding heavy lighting rigs at full extension. Tremendous fun - more please!

>

 GoPro is a-go. I have plundered the savings for a 

GoPro Hero3+

. It will be used for filming adventurous antics but also to supplement sport photography coverage. Watch this space for moving pictures!

Watch my favourite inspirational video so far: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVcV9ItdZ8w 

Crafting Melodies

This project was done for some Bath Spa Uni students taking music management courses for their enterprise module. They have set up a series of music related crafted products for sale and needed professional photography of Products, Portrait Profiles and Backgrounds for their 

website

. Shoots were with speedlites on location in a University music studio and at Burdall’s Yard in Bath.