Life Through The Lens - With AC Creative

In this episode, we welcome Photographer Adam from 'AC Creative' to dive into some of the most recent questions shaping the local creative scene here in Wrexham. From navigating the challenges of freelance work to building a strong personal brand and the power of a collective community here in Wrexham, we explore real conversations that matter to emerging creatives and established professionals alike.

In this podcast we discuss key topics including the importance of storytelling and connection in content creation, and practical tips for developing your own unique style. Alongside this, Adam gives us an insight into his own journey as a Photographer, and the journey he has taken since setting up his own business and the passion he has for telling a story through his work, having a creative eye for each shot, and even making Cat noises to bring a smile during his work!!

Whether you're a filmmaker, designer, musician, or just passionate about creativity in Wrexham and beyond, this episode offers honest insights, relatable experiences, and actionable advice to help you move forward in your creative journey.

Tune in for an authentic conversation that celebrates creativity, collaboration, and the power of local voices.

Links to Adams Socials

Social media
Facebook - AC Creative
Instagram - iamacreative
LinkedIn - AC Creative
TikTok - iamacreative

Website
www.acphotocreative.co.uk

 Email 
Hello@acphotocreative.co.uk

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Professor, what can I get the difference in progress? People, the shaping, the differences in multiple. Fantastic local differences will be many energy fantasy. Such as one process for the journal and many, many more. Today's guest is somebody from somebody who's been capturing the energy of the fantasy and stories behind local brands, events, and communities through his lens. From working with businesses to documenting live events, his work is all about creating visuals that don't just look good, but actually mean something. I'm really pleased to welcome Adam from AC Creative to the podcast. Hey, how are you doing? How are we doing, mate? Thanks. Great to have you on, and uh, how are you doing?

SPEAKER_04 0:51

I'm alright, yeah, I'm not bad. I'm calf mates, which is good.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

Always gotta bring the coffee. Always always gotta be there. Definitely. You're a big fan of coffee.

SPEAKER_04 0:59

I would say that's an understatement, but yes, I'm a big fan of coffee.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

So, Adam, tell our listeners a little bit more about you personally and AC Creative.

SPEAKER_04 1:07

So, me personally, um, I've always been creative, hence the name AC Creative for the business. Um, I think it stems from when I was a kid, so sort of I always was drawing or I was always making things. Um I used to be obsessed with like toy cars and toy fire engines, which sequentially kind of kind of carries on to what I'm doing now. Um but I used to take like toy fire engines and make scenarios with like accidents and things like that, and then I would kind of photograph it on my nan's cheap, like disposable camera and things like that. So there was always something doing. Um and then sort of like I kind of tried to adapt that creative more. So I was always encouraged as a kid to kind of push it more by my mum and by my uncle. Um shout out to Uncle Ken, he was a big influence in my life, big influence on my life. Um and then yeah, I kind of like just sort of started experimenting a bit more, really, and then went through school, kind of, you know, left school with no real qualifications, wasn't really encouraged to kind of do anything. Um, and then I took a dive into the chefing industry.

SPEAKER_03 2:24

Really?

SPEAKER_04 2:24

So I went to I went to call, I went to college and did IT for a few years, and then that wasn't really working, and then I thought, let's let's see something else. So I was working in the village bakery at the time. Um I came home one day and ended up breaking my shoulder um due to a mountain biking accident. Um it wasn't even a mountain bike, it was a ditch, and I fell in it. So um I had like 16 weeks off and then kind of left. Didn't know what to do. Um started getting obsessed with cooking programs, um, went back to work, um, got sacked. Um and then I kind of took a dive into like maybe chefing is something that I could do.

SPEAKER_03 3:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:09

So long story short, I did chefing for five years uh professionally, um, ended up working as a head chef in Clay's golf club. Yeah. Um got sacked from there.

SPEAKER_00 3:21

Is there a pattern emerging?

SPEAKER_04 3:23

Well, I mean, the reason I got sacked is because of the the event we did was something out of faulty towers. It was you couldn't have written everything gone wrong. There was no gas, somebody fell down the stairs and broke their leg. Oh my god. You couldn't have written it. So left that and then was unemployed for sort of two, three years, not knowing what to do. Um, the job centre kept pushing, kind of the chef in industry, and it wasn't really doing anything. Um, but then fast forward to now, I got given a camera by my uncle, um, who I said has been a big influence of my life. Um he's a creator himself, he sort of films and takes photos, and he used to work for BDH, and I was mentioning that too before. Um gave me a camera, and it was like, oh, okay, let's let's give this a go. Because unfortunately, when I was a kid, I would like I'd do things and then I kind of stop and then wouldn't continue them.

SPEAKER_02 4:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 4:15

But the photography seemed to I just got that bug, and I was like, oh, hang on a minute. So then I'm taking photos of like flowers and kind of the stuff that you do when you first starting out. And I thought, could I turn this into a job? So approached the uh the job centre again, and uh unfortunately they were a bit like you know, maybe that's not the right time, maybe you need to look it back at the chef, and I was like, no, I really want to do this, yeah. Anyway, so we got we got funding um and we got a business plan together through uh a company that were kind of like sister to the job centre. Um that was 2018, and then COVID hit. Yeah, so COVID kind of just knocked it, and we didn't know what to do. I didn't know how it was gonna turn out or anything, but I was slowly building my portfolio, just taking photos on my phone and on the camera. And then COVID left, and then yeah, we're now what seven years in doing AC Creative, and it's just I look back at it and I think how have I achieved that? You know, so I I think to like go from leaving school with nothing to now running a business, it's it proves that anybody can do anything. If you really stick to it and really put your mind to it, I think anybody can do anything.

SPEAKER_01 5:32

Did you sorry, did you go to university or college or anything to study?

SPEAKER_04 5:37

I didn't, I was I was I was sort of self-taught, and then my uncle taught me a lot, and then we had a family friend, Richard, um, who helped me shoot my first wedding, which again was like, I'm gonna shoot a wedding? Like, how does that work? But yeah, no, completely self-taught and kind of you know, YouTube and learning off different people, and then obviously when you start to learn photography, you start to meet other photographers. So I met a couple of friends who are now like really good friends. Um, but yeah, no, it was uh yeah, it's completely self self-taught really.

SPEAKER_00 6:09

So just to um jump in for anybody who is unfamiliar with what AC Creative is, would you be able to explain to our listeners is it uh yourself, freelance, yes, collaboration?

SPEAKER_04 6:20

It's myself, it's um so freelance. Um I do have a lovely mother that does help. So she does sort of like the admin side of things, and I do the creative side of things. Um but yeah, I'm a commercial and event photographer, um, but we also do um corporate, we do food, done a lot of events. Um and it's kind of just we're a very easy-going business, so we're not the type of people that are gonna rock up in a suit, we're gonna rock up in a baseball car, coffee in hand, as proven. And um we're a very sort of chilled, but we deliver a very professional service. So we may look very relaxed, but we're very professional, and I have very high standards to what I do really. Um but in a nutshell, yeah, we we sort of work with brands, we work with local businesses, work with charities. That's kind of the work that we do really. Brilliant.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

Which which do you prefer working with?

SPEAKER_04 7:21

Um I love doing brand shoots and product shoots because you don't you don't have anybody, so you want to do this kind of your own thing, but I really love doing events because I've always found that so for instance we did work for um uh Health Wales, I think it was, or I can't remember, it was Health Wales, I think. And um there was like eight speakers, but they wanted photos of every single speaker. And I said to him, I said, I said, that's great, but I said, your best photos are gonna come from the audience and from the people watching. And it was on quite a not a touchy subject, but it was on quite a subject that was sort of close to people's hearts, so we were quite strict in what we could what we could photograph and what we could talk about. But it ended up being some of the most powerful images we've ever shot.

SPEAKER_01 8:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:16

Because we focused on that crowd and that audience because let's face it, who wants to look at eight, you know, speakers of like 15 photos of eight speakers? You're just not gonna want to, are you? Um so I found that that was that was the best way to do it, with with events, especially. Um, but yeah, events I'd say was my my favorite, I think.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

How do you sorry to chime in? Um how do you balance um managing the difference of maybe as a photographer, part of what you do is understanding what an audience wants. So in that uh circumstance, you knew what deliverable, what outcome would be most appealing to an audience. How do you balance when that doesn't connect with the expectation of what the event organizer or the client thinks they want? If if you ever disagree over what you think is going to have a better impact?

SPEAKER_04 9:08

I think what I tend to do is I tend to sort of like I shoot what they want, obviously, the client. So we've we've had clients in the past that are very specific on so we did a brand shoot for a um a company that were making hoodies. They wanted everything on a white background, and I said, that's good for your e-commerce stuff. But I said if you really want to make those photos pop and have that impact, I think we need a human element to it. So we need like an arm in it, or we need like an environmental portrait, and I think it's trying to allow the client to see the vision that I've got in my head, because that's why they've they've hired us because we know what we're doing. Um, I think that's I think that's for me. I think it's trying to explain and sort of show the client what we can do, and we will do like a bit of a test shoot as well. So we'll we'll shoot like a few photos and then do like a very quick edit and show them what the vision is we've got on our head. Um and sometimes with brands, we will do like a brand board. So we will sit down with clients and we'll sort of showcase what colours you know they're gonna have and things like that. So I think that's for me, that's that's the way I think.

SPEAKER_01 10:17

Brilliant. What do you say makes your approach different from just someone that turns up and takes photographs?

SPEAKER_04 10:23

I think I think for me it's I mean, one thing for me is I again not to sound big an head, but I think I've got a very approachable personality. And I think to me, it's it's turning up and sort of engaging more with the clients, so really finding out about what they want. I don't want to just, as you said, turn up to a shoe, click the shut button, and then walk away, you know. So when we did the um the Joey Jones um event at Hotel Wrexham the other week, again, there were speakers, but to me it's that engagement from the fans. So they're there to honour the life and the legacy of Joey Jones. I want to showcase that through an event. Because going back to, you know, no one wants to look at 15 photos of somebody just stood there with a microphone. Yeah, they want to see those laughing moments. So we had a couple of moments where people were shaking hands or they were hugging, and even if it's just close-ups of like hands holding or somebody's arm around somebody's shoulder, to me, that's more impactful, I think, than just somebody stood there with a microphone. I think for me. So they call that reaction shots. Yeah, kind of, yeah, that's what I would say, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:30

Um, a lot of your clients have mentioned how you take the time to get to know them and people before that you shoot. So, why do you think that is so important to you?

SPEAKER_04 11:38

I think you've got to have that engagement with the client before you start. I think you've got to. I've heard horror stories in the past where photographers or creators have just turned up at a shoot and said, right, this is what we're doing, this is what we're gonna shoot. And then they kind of don't engage with the client or they don't kind of get to know them. I always like to have a pre-meeting with my clients, I always like to have a coffee, preferably in person if I can, because I want to know that kind of camaraderie between them. Um, we always have a bit of banter on shoots, we always do. Um, one of my little tricks is we had um we had a uh client that really didn't want to smile in photos, so started me outing. I mean, it was random, but they really got natural. So, like you guys have started laughing now, it was that reaction, and we got those kind of photos. But I feel like my approach is very comfortable. I feel like people can come and ask me anything they want to do uh within the shoe. We don't really have like strict rules on a shoe. We're quite, we're quite easygoing, to be honest.

SPEAKER_00 12:41

What what are you looking for in those special moments that people talk about in your reviews?

SPEAKER_04 12:46

I think it's uh it's something that somebody can go away with. So I think it's you know, if I if I can create a photo that someone's gonna go, you know, in 10 years' time, look back at it and think, I remember that moment exactly. That's that's what I want to deliver to every single client that we ever work with. Whether it's just you know, a shoot of like, I don't know, a can or a a product or it's an event or it's a seminar or something. I want the client to be able to walk away from that shoot and think, we've got some images that are timeless and we can look back on them as well.

SPEAKER_01 13:22

Do you go into an event then with like a strict plan, or do you use more of your kind of instincts?

SPEAKER_04 13:28

I I tend to use my instincts a lot. Um, I tend to I tend to not really go in with a shot list. Like I well, tell a lie, I do have like a standard shot list that I do with events, so I always make sure that I'm capturing the speakers or I'm capturing the keynote speakers and things like that. But generally, as a rule, it's sort of run and gun. So we did um we did an event a couple of years ago for the Holocaust event that was on in T Pow a few years ago. Yeah. So a lot of it was speakers, but then I thought, again, no one's gonna want to see lots of pictures with microphones. So because we had some very sombre moments and we had lots of like very dim lighting candles, I focused on that. Yeah, because then they're more powerful photos. Um, same with the knife angel. So when we had the knife angel come to Wrexham, yeah, um, the brief was obviously get the photos of the knife angel, but then we had a lot of police attendance, we had paramedics in attendance. So there's one shot that I remember getting where it's the knife angel's completely blurred out, and it's just the police logo on the back of the guy's top, and it's raining, and it's one of the best photos I've ever taken. It's I look at it every time and I think, wow, that's quite an impactful image. Yeah, it's things like that, really. So I always look for those little details, really, I think.

SPEAKER_00 14:42

Yeah. I think what people who would you say people that don't naturally have a photographer's eye think photography is about capturing an image, whereas to you, you seem to feel much more keenly that photography is capturing moments. I think it is, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:56

And I think it's telling a story. Yeah. Um, so even again with the Joey Jones thing, um, we had David Fairclow, ex-Liverpool player cloth. I'm probably gonna get his name wrong anyway. But he's an ex-Liverpool player, and he was signing um a photo for a guy. But the series of images that we took were just four little images. So it was him leaning over, him smiling, him signing the actual print, and then him walking away. But those four photos have told a story more than just, you know, him stood there, really, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 15:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 15:30

Um but yeah, I like to tell stories with my with my photos.

SPEAKER_00 15:35

And with the the client list that you have being so varied, you've worked with cafes, creative councils, community projects. You're talking about this the sombre events that you were doing with the T Pile over the Holocaust. How do you adapt your own personal style to such a varied range of clients?

SPEAKER_04 15:51

I think it's I think I'm very good at just adapting in general. I think I think I can go to an event or I can go see a client and think this is what's gonna help. And I I think weirdly as well, because I've got um slight neurodivergent problems or issues, or I don't know what your word is. Um I I kind of see things differently, really. So I I kind of like I'm able to adapt into different scenarios, really. Um and I think that's key as well. I think being you know a creative, I think you've you've got to be able to think on your feet a lot more. You've you've really got to be able to go into a situation and read, read the room or read the events, yeah, and kind of think this is what this is what I need to do. That's for me, I think that's what it is.

SPEAKER_01 16:38

Yeah, fantastic. How important do you think it is for you to understand a brand before you shoot it for a client?

SPEAKER_04 16:44

I think for me, I think it's doing the research. So I think it's it's looking at their website, it's looking at their colour palette, it's looking what their previous photos have looked like. Um so we worked with a company called uh Sophia Davenport. They do sort of high-end um art prints and tea towels and and linen and stuff like that. And their photos before were great, but they didn't really have that impact. And I think it's having that meeting and having that rapport with that client. So you'll sit down and you'll really get to know their brand and really get to know their business. Um, because I would never want to go into a shoot and not really know what is, you know, what they do, or so if there's any way I can kind of research the brand or research the thing before I will really go in and like draw up a kind of like a plan, so like a like a brand board, really, um, and kind of work with brands like that.

SPEAKER_01 17:41

Yeah. I know you mentioned about making people feel comfortable and meowing. Yep. As well. Do you have any other noises other than meowing?

SPEAKER_04 17:50

No, but I probably will do like really random things just to kind of get people to react, really. Um, and just have a bit of banter and just, you know, I I don't want ever people to think, you know, for instance, if I was taking headshots, I don't want people to just think they're gonna stand against a white wall or a plain background and just, you know, I want to have that bit of camaraderie and a bit of a, you know, and again, I I probably shouldn't, but I use my own personality and my own person as a bit of a thing. So obviously I've got some health issues. So when I stand up, I creak and I ache. But I mean, I am 38 now, so I mean, you know, I am getting old, but again, I'm like, oh, you know, I'm getting old, and like I'll use that as a bit of a thing, and it it sort of helps kind of break that tension a bit, really. I think.

SPEAKER_01 18:37

I think personality is a big, big trait to building that connection, that responsibility for what you're doing, and making the client feel kind of welcomed and and trusting as well, yeah, for someone that's coming into their business and taking photographs. Exactly, yeah, you know, expanding the business, hopefully, within that. What would you say makes a good creative collaboration with that that kind of client?

SPEAKER_04 18:59

Um I think it's it's understanding and it's it's spitballing each other's ideas. So I think it's you've got to be able to adapt. You can't be like a one-way train. You've got to be able to kind of think, well, let's let's see their vision. If it works, let's try that. But if not, let's try and go around that corner and see what else we can do, and or maybe take that original concept and sort of like just slightly twist it and see like what else we can do with it. So we did um we did a shoot with um Northwest Fire and Rescue probably about two, three months ago. So they had um Green Watch um shout out to Andy Williams, ex-May, Gary, my brother. Um, so we did we did a shoot, and I thought going into it, what am I gonna do? So most people think, you know, you just take the photos of the firefighters, that's it. No, we got the aerial platform out. We had the aerial platform out, we had the engines like all lined up properly. We had the aerial platform above, and I was like, this is like I'm doing this, I'm photographing this.

SPEAKER_01 20:01

Yeah, especially you've got to think about your professionalism in that capacity as well as your own kind of personal interest. Yeah. And kind of excitement. I mean, I was like a little kid in a catch.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

We're all fire engines as like and while we're talking about collaboration, um, you have uh high strong testimonials of like your ongoing client relationships. How do you think that those long-term partnerships develop? How do you maintain it?

SPEAKER_04 20:24

I think it's just it's I I always like that when you do the shoot with the client, I don't see that as the end. Even if they don't hire us again, it's not the end of that relationship. I think it's about keeping going. So I had a client from about four or five years ago that I still talk to now regularly. We haven't worked together since, but we still talk regularly. And I think it's about just sort of still engaging. So whether that's you know, liking their stuff on Instagram or Facebook or kind of speaking to them on LinkedIn, I think it's about keeping that that relationship going, I think really, and kind of hoping they'd hire you again, but also having that, you know, you're still there. You know, you've not just taken the photo and gone. Yeah, you know, you're still part of that that thing with them.

SPEAKER_00 21:10

So do you do you prefer those jobs that end up being sort of a one-off, or do you prefer the ones where you build an ongoing relationship and you have sort of multiple projects together?

SPEAKER_04 21:18

I think, yeah, I prefer that I prefer the second one because again, it's not sound greedy, but it's more money. It's more money, um, but it's also it's showcasing their brand, it's working together again. So even though the stuff of the fire service is voluntarily, it's it's ongoing.

SPEAKER_00 21:35

And I guess you get to really get into the meat at that point, and you get to work on it a lot.

SPEAKER_04 21:40

And the first the first time I went down, it was we were in the Moss Valley, and it was they were doing water extraction, so they were doing water pumping out on the um the aerial platform, and that just started as an Instagram message. It was an Instagram message to one of the firefighters, and now we've built up a really good friendship, and I'm regularly down the fire. They've now become like a family to me. So it's you know, and I've got to see a different side of that as well, really. Um so yeah, I think I think building relationships for me is is really key. I'd rather have them as a good friend instead of just like a one-off.

SPEAKER_00 22:17

You you've worked with a lot of these local organizations like the fire that you've referred to and um your local events. What does Wrexham in particular mean to your work?

SPEAKER_04 22:25

I think for me it's I mean, I know that obviously, you know, certain Hollywood stars have obviously helped you know, send it into the stratosphere, but I think it's about it showcasing what Wrexham has. You know, there's so many good businesses, organizations, charities within Wrexham, you know, and I I it really upsets me when I see people on social media ripping into Wrexham. I hate it. And as much as I want to get involved, and I'm like keyboard warrior, I was like, I can't, I've got to think about my business integrity, gotta think about my personal thing, and I can't. But I think for me it's it's showcasing what Wrexham has. Um so I don't know if you've seen the recent Flame Baster Um Chris Roberts series on BBC I player. So he's a chef and he did like yeah, yeah, yeah. So we did the Wrexham episode. I didn't realise like how much of a foodie impact we have in Wrexham. In fact, we've got amazing tap ass. We've got was that the restaurant by the Paris? Lisbon, I think it's called didn't even know that existed. I knew it was there, I know so, but yeah, I think it's it's showcasing what Wrexham has. And we have, we've got, you know, we've got some amazing, amazing things in Wrexham.

SPEAKER_01 23:36

Very much so. I think from a creative point of view, there's so much happening in tapping into what you said about the football, it's really brought the attention onto Wrexham. And not only that, we've got obviously the long list for the City of Culture bids in 2029. So there's a lot happening, and from a creative point of view, from myself, obviously, in Creative Wrexham and the events that we've drawn through, that the the eyes are on Wrexham fully. It is, yeah. And there's a huge amount of talent here. And obviously, I met you through a couple of events and knowing you through that. So it's certainly shaping the growth of Wrexham. So it's good to see there's a lot of collaboration and investment that's coming back into Wrexham. So talking about that, like how important do you think it is to grow that creative community for yourself? Obviously, working independently.

SPEAKER_04 24:20

Yeah, I think it's incredibly important. I think to have that relationship with other creators and not so much just you know, photographers, but artists, musicians. You know, we've got some amazing painters in Rex, and clearly with all the you know the murals going on in town and stuff, and it's to have that and being showncase on a world stage is amazing. But I think, yeah, to collaborate with different creatives is it's amazing. It is.

SPEAKER_01 24:46

I've seen a lot of the work with is it Pencil Craftsman? Yes, who's been going around Rex and painting a lot of the artwork, which is fantastic to see.

SPEAKER_04 24:53

And I think there's Sophia Leadhill as well, she does a lot of stuff. Um, and I know there's a couple of new murals coming in, I think, as well.

SPEAKER_00 25:01

And isn't it interesting from how you know what you said at the start, you know, the the sort of inception, the genesis of your creativity being centered around painting and being centered around fewer. And those two things are things that you can really sort of help measure um the growth and status of a town or a city, yeah, you know, is what sort of restaurants they have, what sort of art do they have. Yeah. And Wrexham is sort of starting to really explode and grow up in showcasing that.

SPEAKER_04 25:26

And I didn't even realise that where um where Argyle Street is where the archway is, there used to be a um like an exhibition there many, many, many years ago, and they're trying to bring that back. But and the history behind Wrexham, you know, the amount of history that we've got here, it's not just so much the Wrexham brewery or anything, but we've got a lot of medieval history, we've got a lot of industrial history, and it's you're always finding something new. Always finding something new, and I think that's what's good about Wrexham, it's bringing it to that world stage. Um, my mate was walking down Times Square and he was wearing a Wrexham shirt, and someone was like, Oh, Wrexham! Yeah, I was like, That's in the middle of New York, like how is that, you know?

SPEAKER_00 26:06

Yeah, I was on holiday in Thailand and uh my waiter was from Myanmar and said, Where are you guys from? And we said, Oh, we're from North Wales, and they went, Wrexham? And we went, Yes. And we couldn't believe that we were talking about Wrexham in Thailand to someone from Myanmar.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

Gone into a global, global stage, as well as having the the UNESCO heritage sites, yes, the aqueducts, yeah. Um, and a few other places around like Langotlin as well.

SPEAKER_04 26:32

So but even like the the um is it the U trees in Gressford? Like they're really famous, really famous. And I think they're part of is it the Seven Wonders or some sort of Wales? I think they're part of, I think. I know the the Paris churches, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:44

And the bridge in Langothlin, and you've got one of the oldest trees in the country, it's uh just outside Glencario.

SPEAKER_01 26:50

It's crazy, isn't it? Really? Yeah, it's crazy. What would you say has been the hardest part of building AC creative for you, really? I think it's standing out.

SPEAKER_04 27:01

I think it is. And as much as I love work of other creators and other photographers, you've almost got to be a little bit selfish and you've kind of got to go, I need to be better than this person, I need to be better than that person. And it's it's not for a case of saying I'm the big I am, but I think you've gotta just you've gotta grow and you've got to work hard, you've really gotta push it. So even when there's days where I think we were talking earlier off where we were saying like there's days where you really struggle, yeah, you've still got to turn up and do it.

SPEAKER_01 27:30

Yeah, and you know, I I suffer from health issues now, but I'm still turning up every day and I'm still grafting and grinding and and plus you're not just a photographer, you're also doing your kind of editing, you're doing your your brand marketing, you're doing your visual captures for social media.

SPEAKER_04 27:46

And I think that's the hardest thing as well. I think when people think, you know, we just we're photographers, yeah, we're not, we're everything. And weirdly, actually, that comes nicely on to a bit of content I want to do this week. So I've got um a video coming out this week uh for content for um you know Meet the Team. It's me. Yeah, it's it's everybody, it's it's everybody. And my mother. No, my mum's great, she um she's really she used to be she's an ex-project manager for HMRC, so she's very good at shouting at people and very good at getting people in line. So when it came to weddings, perfect. Yeah, perfect, but yeah, I think it's it's doing everything, and it is, you know, and it is about marketing it as well, you know, and and finding the right style. Because when I first started, like, you know, I went for like my logo, it was like the classic, like, you know, camera lens and the whole sweepy lines. And yeah, I look at it and I think, what the hell was I doing? And now it's a more streamlined, sort of modern looking brand, really. And although self-taught still, yeah, and still self-taught, but then again, I look at it and think, oh, I could tweak that, and I'm like, no, Adam, don't. It's it's it's good as it is, don't touch it. Yeah, but I think it's having tools, so you know, I'm a big advocate of I use ChatGPT. I do use ChatGPT. Um, I think AI is really good. Um but I use it more for content creation because I suffer with dyslexia and dyscalcular, I use it to help me write my content, but then I will tweak it to make it more my style, really. Um but I think it is, yeah, it's it's about being sort of self self-driven, really. I think.

SPEAKER_00 29:24

It's one of those when anyone that's listening to this that is a a creative, it'll all be stuff that people will be nodding their heads along to. Everybody knows that you don't get holiday pay, really. You know, you know, your your work isn't just turning up and clocking in and clocking out, you know, you are working all hours of the day, all hours of the night.

SPEAKER_01 29:42

I mean Emily's not getting paid for this.

SPEAKER_00 29:44

So But you you know, everyone in the creative industries sort of knows what it is to be a creative regardless of your discipline. Yeah. It's a very similar sort of thing. Whereas anybody else that's it, I guess it's making people that aren't in the creative industries understand the difference in your sort of workload, in your strategy. Yeah. Yeah. Um because I guess a lot of the people that you're going to be working with, clients, especially in uh brands, are going to be much more corporate. Um and so it's uh a very different collaboration because it's a collaboration of two completely different styles and different backgrounds and work approaches, um, which I guess make it a bit more challenging than when you're just collaborating with another uh creative.

SPEAKER_04 30:27

Yeah. I mean, the work we did for Kellogg's um a couple of years ago, so we we'd shot their new Crave serial. So we did like um sort of behind-the-scenes photos, really, um, and we did team shots. But again, going into that like corporate industry, never done it before. I don't have to lie, I was crapping myself. When I when I walked into that job, I was like, I am way out of my debt for this, yeah. And even even the the process of getting into the plant was like put little booties on your feet, little hard hats, and I'm like, what I'm gonna do is tell me there's some photographs of that as well. Unfortunately, there's not no my behind-the-scenes photographer didn't take any. Um, but just to be on that like work floor and thinking, I mean Kellogg's and working with Kellogg's, it's like crazy. Yeah, it is it is crazy, really.

SPEAKER_00 31:18

What do you think? Um, of all the challenges you've had in in your business, what do you think was the hardest part of the initial stage of setting up AC Creative?

SPEAKER_04 31:26

I think it was it was getting known and it was getting clients to come in. So luckily, my very ever first job I ever had was um a lovely couple called Tam and Sandra. Um, and my friend Melissa, who'd hired me, basically they were they were getting remarried. So they were getting married. That was my first ever job was a wedding, and it was for 250 quid, and it was a 12-hour day shoot. I'd never shot a wedding before in my life. Um, I was like, how do I do it? So this is I brought a a family friend on to come and help me. But you know what? It was a learning curve. Yeah, it was a real In at the deep end.

SPEAKER_03 32:06

Oh, it was and then a funny little story.

SPEAKER_04 32:10

We we did a wedding, the very last wedding we ever did. Um obviously I won't tell you the couple's name, but I shot it with a really good friend of mine, Ethan Gilbert, who's another photographer, um, and he was sort of like my second cameraman. Um, they'd booked the wedding pre-COVID. Um, we'd met the bride and groom once. Um, we got to the wedding. This was like two years later. I actually couldn't remember what the bride looked like. I really couldn't. There was a woman walking around in a dressing gown with a tan, and I was like, I think that's the bride, but I don't know. So we we did that. We um the groom kept getting his wife's name wrong on purpose. It's like a friends moment. Yeah, the best man kept kind of getting me and Ethan drunk. He was trying to put us with shots, he was trying to get us drunk. Um they then wanted to do a toast with Jaegermeister, and that wasn't in the brief. They then, and even then, we had people in the family photos that didn't want to be in the family photos, and they were like, Can we not take photos? And I'm like, Goodness, what do we do? And then basically the the kicker was at the end, they were like, I said, we're gonna stage first dance, we're gonna stage your first dance because it's just easier, we can get out of your hair, and that's that's one little trick we had in the wedding thing, is we would stage the first dance so we could go. Yeah, that's what we did. Um probably gonna get shouted at now, but I don't care. I don't do weddings anymore, so it's fine. Um but yeah, basically we'd um they they wanted money back at the end because apparently we hadn't got certain family members in. But we always had somebody wrangle family members because we don't know who they are, you know. We don't know who Uncle Dave is and Auntie Joe is, yeah, you know, so we always had somebody wrangle people, um, and because they didn't get them, we we missed out on family members and then they asked for you know the money got the book.

SPEAKER_00 34:04

But would you say that's the most chaotic or unpredictable shoot you've ever done, or is there any more you can think of? These are the juicy stories, aren't they?

SPEAKER_04 34:10

I think that that's definitely up there. Um touch wood, I haven't had any more. I haven't any more. They've all been pretty, pretty good, to be honest. Um, oh no, no, no, there is one. There is one. Uh we did a shoot with the company again, can't name them. Um they didn't really give us a brief. They kind of said, do what you want. So we did what we'd want and we shot, you know. They didn't like a single photo. Oh wow. Didn't like a single photo. But what I didn't realise, they brought me in as like a test shoot, and they basically said it was like an interview. And I was like, You're interviewing me for a photo shoot. I was like, okay, that's never happened before. And um, I'd put someone up on socials to say, like, you know, we're collaborating, didn't mention them. Again, they were like, you know, why are you putting us on social? This is not gonna happen.

SPEAKER_01 35:04

What kind of happens then in that situation when you've taken photographs for a client, you've had a brief, you've had that meeting, but then the client doesn't like any of the photographs. What happens?

SPEAKER_04 35:13

Um realistically, we so we don't we don't refund them because obviously we've got a contract with them um that is a non-refundable deposit. Um, and obviously they don't pay the final part of the bill, but they don't we don't pay the deposit back. We walk away from the shoot, basically. Wow. So we kind of just walk away. Um and we kind of say it's obviously not gonna work.

SPEAKER_00 35:34

If if you get to say uh the story that you mentioned with the wedding, where obviously you you have done the work, you've been there all day, you've done the shoot, um, do they in their refusing maybe to pay the final instalment or if they paid everything?

SPEAKER_04 35:47

Uh they paid everything, but they wanted a refund. Oh, okay. So they wanted half a refund. So after some back and too, and I I ended up giving them sort of a quarter of the money back. But then that was the kind of that was the final nail in the cough, and I was like, I don't want to do weddings anymore. I don't but then weirdly, I still get tagged in weddings. I still get tagged in in post on Facebook asking for weddings and and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 36:10

Um there's been a lot of change in that industry as well from a creative point of view where photography's gone to content photography. Yes, and Instagram kind of content, especially. Yeah. And I know a friend of mine who does that specifically is just does content creation for weddings. Yeah. For Instagram and and not just traditional photography anymore.

SPEAKER_04 36:28

There's a photographer I know in Wrexham, Danny Harry, who does weddings, and her stuff is like more magazine style weddings, and that's what it is, and it looks like it could be very editorial. And I think, I think she's gone on shoots before where they're sort of like they're staged weddings or staged bride and grooms, I think, which she would kind of happen in this.

SPEAKER_00 36:47

I f I find the whole wedding photography industry absolutely um fascinating because you do because it's such an individual thing to a person, their own creative style, you could get something that is super uh romantic and cinematic aesthetic. You get your general wedding photos, which all have a similar sort of, you know, the posed shots, and you get a lot of people that want sort of candid documentary, a bit more, you know, uh uh cinematic photography. And you also get this one that you're you just mentioned. I'd only seen this recently where it's almost like editorial fashion magazine photos really over posed, but not in that sort of stiff way that you would imagine, but in a really high fashion way. I'd never seen that before until recently. And there's even styles fascinating.

SPEAKER_04 37:31

There's even styles where like bride and groom will completely blur to the photo or one little thing will be in focus, and it's it's quite clever how they do it. We, when we did weddings, we were very candid, we were very documentary styled. Yeah, that's that's what I preferred doing. We all I think even on the brief, it sort of said, like, we'll be at your wedding, but we won't be at your wedding. Like you won't, you even though I'm a big guy, like we wouldn't, they wouldn't see us. Uh we'd kind of just shoot really just a bit of a fun question for me, really.

SPEAKER_01 37:59

If you could shoot any of I know you've said you've done going from playing with uh fire trucks and then you became a photographer for a fire comedy. Um if you could shoot any event or a brand in the world, what would it be? What would be your favourite?

SPEAKER_00 38:15

No ceiling, anything, anything blue sky.

SPEAKER_04 38:18

I think I think I'd love to do um behind the scenes work on a major Hollywood production.

SPEAKER_00 38:23

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 38:24

I'd love to do obviously documentary photography. I'd love to shadow somebody in like a war zone or something like for some reason. I've always found war photography very interesting because I think I love the documentary style photography, but I think for me it's it's it's scary. I wouldn't want to do it, obviously. It would be very scary to do it. I wouldn't recommend it. We've got camera, but I'm like, why the shot's shaky? Well, I'm in a war zone, it's not exactly what it's doing. But I think for me, I think shooting like major Hollywood productions, I think even working with I know it's a long shot, but work with a football club or work with you know, some or even shoot celebrity portraits, that would be that would be amazing. I think.

SPEAKER_00 39:06

Do you know from working on um from working on television sets, um one of the the jobs that I thought was easily the most interesting role was the role of the photographer. Yeah. So when um I worked, I did a work on a television production for HBO and the it's like a city. It's such a big production, it's like a city. Any you have people there that are make you know, their job is to make coffee, to make breakfast, and you know, whole teams of catering departments and you know, anything, any job you could find in a university or a town, you can find on a film set. Yeah, and because they're so vast. And the photographer gets to actually be involved in all of it. They're the one person that gets to be involved in almost every department because their whole job is to document everything. Yeah. And so they're getting right up in every department, and they're not really having to pick, you know, set things up and pack things down, they're just there to document. Whereas so much of what happens on a TV set, you know, as you know, says is building and takedown. You know, uh only a small portion of it is filming, a lot a large portion of it is you know, construction. It's you know, um, and I I was yeah, very, very jealous and always fascinated with um the photographer for HBO because he just looked like he was having the best time on the whole set.

SPEAKER_04 40:15

I think for me it's like it's like when you look at some of the classic behind-the-scenes scenes from like movies and you know, there's some there's some great ones from the set of aliens on the set of shining. Yeah, just to be able to capture those moments I'm watching history be made. Yeah, no, you are, and it's you know, I watched a documentary the other day on Aliens, and like Aliens is one of the best sequels ever made. Period. Don't care what anyone says. Um, but to see those like set photos like The Alien Queen being made, and I'm like, that is movie history in the making. That is, that's somebody documenting that. Another one for me, I think, would be gig photography. I would love to shoot some major bands. So I'm I'm a metal head at heart, so to be able to shoot someone like Slipknot or kind of Sleep Token would be an absolute dream. Shoot stuff like that would be but again, I think the backstage stuff would be more interesting, the actual gig photos.

SPEAKER_03 41:09

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:10

I think it's it tells more of a story, really.

SPEAKER_01 41:12

Yeah, yeah. There's certainly a lot of work, especially with going back to what you said about Wrexham. They're obviously recruiting at the moment because the expansion of the you know the stadium. So there's always possibilities to get into that industry as well. As well as I've done a bit of kind of band videography, and I've worked with um the rocking chair in in Wrexham and did a bit of kind of work with them for several bands. So there's a lot to get into, obviously, getting into a different avenue of well, main principle photography, really, for you. But there's so much opportunity in Wrexham. There is just going back to what we said before when you were talking about getting involved with more music, yeah, as well. Focus Whales obviously is another big event in it.

SPEAKER_04 41:51

Yeah, so I did focus whales about three, four years ago when Lucy Sprague was headlining. Yeah. Um, and we had Don Lett's as well. So got to photograph them, and again, it's it's an opportunity, but unfortunately, I don't know half the bands at play. I don't, I like I kind of look at the line, but I'm like, I don't know any of these bands. I think that's sometimes the beauty of the cards. I think it is, yeah. I think it is, to be honest, because then you could possibly take a photo that could, you know, elevate that band to like another level, really. And I think of some of the great photos that Brent, who works with the old Central Station crew, some of the photos he's taken of bands in the past.

SPEAKER_03 42:28

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 42:29

So, you know, the fact that we've had neck deep here, and obviously Wrexham lads, but I mean, you know, to have photographed some of the big bands that have played Central over the past.

SPEAKER_01 42:38

We've got ocean colour scene here. I know, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 42:41

I actually tried to get a press pass, and apparently they were all gone. I was like, ah, it's good.

SPEAKER_01 42:46

I know myself and Emily have worked with Focus Whales here at the university and did a bit of work outside as well in Wrexham, but it's a fantastic event. And the bands that we've met and made friends with have become kind of long-term friends. Yeah. And some of them are returning again this year. So it's nice to see them returning for Focus Whales again after a couple of years away. Um, but I love the fact that these bands are from all over the world in Australia, Mongolia. We had a Mongolian death metal band here once, which was quite interesting. Nearly blew half the amps.

SPEAKER_00 43:17

The um the wonderful creative circle of do you remember the band from New York that I had mutual friends with? Yes. Because he was a photographer and he'd photograph them.

SPEAKER_02 43:26

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_00 43:26

So that's how far photography goes.

SPEAKER_01 43:31

What advice would you give, Adam, to someone starting out in photography or creative work? I mean, you've had quite an expansive kind of start to photography from a hobby to now building this as a business. So if somebody was wanting to do that themselves, what would advice would you give them?

SPEAKER_04 43:45

I think it's you've just got to go for it. I think you've gotta you've gotta do it. You've got to have passion for it, you've got to have drive. And I think you've really got to weigh out if it's something you want to do, you know, all the time. You know, I think I I but I think it's it's It's really about just going for it. Saying, you know, if you've got a passion for something, don't do it. Don't go, it might work, it might not. You don't know until you try it, you know. I didn't think, you know, as I said, I left school with nothing and I'm now running a business. And I'd love to be able to go back to my old school and sort of talk to them, but the groves doesn't exist anymore. But I, you know, I'd love to be able to instill that in you know future generations. But yeah, I think it's it's just about it's go for it.

SPEAKER_00 44:30

With that in mind, what what comes next? We've talked about your how fast and rapid that growth in your start was. What comes next? What's what do you see in the next five, ten years for AC Creative?

SPEAKER_04 44:41

I think I mean ideally, I would love to grow the business to where I can have employees. So I would love to be able to have you know a team of photographers that we can go out and shoot with. Um I'd love to have an office, like an actual AC creative office and a studio. I think for me it's just it's developing still, you know. I'm learning every day, you know. As I said, this is the first podcast I've ever done. It's slightly nerve-wracking, but I know that we're not that bad.

SPEAKER_00 45:08

Hopefully, you don't feel the same way now.

SPEAKER_04 45:09

I feel quite calm now. Yeah. But I think, yeah, for me it's it's growing the business and it's really getting out there. And you know, the dream is to get on that global stage, to be the go-to photographer, you know. Not only, you know, in this area, but you know, expanding, really, I think.

SPEAKER_01 45:27

Definitely. And it's a it's a very competitive market, and everybody is vying for the same kind of work. And yeah. I was gonna ask about your your kind of area of work. Is it primarily Wrexham or do you expand out um to local areas?

SPEAKER_04 45:39

We tend to go as far as sort of Shropshire and Cheshire, really. Um we've had a couple of jobs up the North Wales coast. Again, working with um that job was actually quite fun. That was um a company called Sport Wales that does a lot of um kind of avocation sports with you know people with disabilities and younger kids and stuff. But we got to photograph two Olympians that had been in the Commonwealth Games, and it was like that's crazy. Yeah, but yeah, we kind of yeah, so as far as like Shropshire, Cheshire, I'd love to expand into Manchester. London would be an absolutely amazing thing. But to be honest, like I think for me, Wrexham's always gonna be at home. Wrexham's always gonna be that place, but it's gonna be exhausted, I think, soon. Until more companies come in and more kind of things happen within Wrexham, I need to branch out and sort of you know, push, push more really.

SPEAKER_00 46:29

With that in mind, sort of, you know, branching out and with everything we've talked about, all the different types and styles of photography you do, or like types of different styles of clients that you have, what is the one thing, regardless of what the photo is, what is the one thing that you think makes a good photo? Whether you're doing it for a brand, whether you're doing it for a person, whether you're doing it for what's the one thing that you think you need to have in your photo to make it a good photo?

SPEAKER_04 46:53

I think it's I mean, for one, being it in focus. But I think I think for me it's it's being able to tell a story, I think. Whether that's a piece of clothing or a piece of food, if you if you can portray that as a story to somebody, I think that's the main thing, really. I think.

SPEAKER_00 47:11

So if that's if that's your key thing in a photo, what to you on a personal level is your your favourite photo of all time? Not necessarily when you've taken like a historic photo, or is there a photo that that's always really moved you or there's there's a couple that come to mind.

SPEAKER_04 47:26

So the classic ones that Robert Kappa shot on the Normandy Beaches, love, love those photos. But I think for me it's it's actually it's the recent Artemis 2 shots. I mean, I they are mic drop moments. Yeah, I kind of I looked at them, I thought, right, well, I might as well put my camera down now and never shoot again.

SPEAKER_01 47:43

I was just like Did they film those on an iPhone or shoot them on an iPhone?

SPEAKER_04 47:47

Some of it was shot on an iPhone, but I think some of it was shot on like a like a professional camera, but those photos are just mind-blowing. Yeah, mind blowing. And unfortunately, I think a lot of us, as and you might know this as well, as creative both yourself, you have a lot of imposter syndrome. So you'll the worst thing is you'll go on Instagram and I looked at those Artemis 2 photos and I was like, how have I never shot stuff like that? But again, it's not about yes, don't get me wrong, gear is important, but it is about having an eye, I think, as well.

SPEAKER_01 48:17

It's about you know I think our next call will be into NASA then to get you on the next uh rocket.

SPEAKER_04 48:24

Well, I didn't realise there's a there's a spaceport in Gladidal. They're all about launching rockets from like Snowdonia. Yeah, there's there's launching rockets from Snowdonia area, apparently. Yeah, when I was in Explore, they were talking about it. Apparently, there's a spaceport there, and I'm like interesting.

SPEAKER_01 48:41

That's very random, that isn't it.

SPEAKER_04 48:42

How does that work?

SPEAKER_01 48:43

I know talking about what what Emmy said before about what's next for you. I know we've talked you know a while ago about what you're doing now, and you've moved a little bit away from kind of photography and you go into a bit of a directing kind of story-based kind of idea.

SPEAKER_04 48:57

So I'd done um so it was uh I think on Instagram um about three, four months ago now, um, Minera Studios, and they were at basically for the Centinu of the Stu in Rose, so it was the 100th anniversary, and they were looking for filmmakers to put together a short film. So you write a short story, and then if you got picked, you get to turn it into a film. I never thought in a million years I'd ever direct a film. I toyed the idea of submitting the story. I ended up submitting it. I had an email back from Ruby and Dean, yeah, and um saying, yeah, we'd we'd like to we've we've picked your story as well as two of the filmmakers, and we'd like to make it into a film. That's awesome. So yeah, September, they're gonna be showing the film in the student. Um it's called it's called the I think it's the lamp that never went out. So it's about the minor history of Wrexham, but it's cool little I don't want to spoil it too much. Yeah, but it's um no, that was crazy. But we were again we were talking earlier about how I'd love to direct a horror film. Yes, because I'm obsessed with horror and I would love to direct a horror film, but we were talking about how there's not enough in North Wales, not just as a location, but as like a setting. So I'd love to do like a ghost story based in North Wales about North Wales or something like that, some sort of paranormal film, um, kind of Blair Witch, but North Wales style, something like that.

SPEAKER_01 50:26

Yeah, but there's there's not a lot of stories that we were talking about this before, where I think it was Reese Evans that said that he wants more stories about Wales rather than Wales being just a location for shooting. And I think it's we were talking about like Owen Glendor and and stories around that. And there's there's a there's a market there, I think. So there is a bit of a collaboration indeed.

SPEAKER_00 50:49

The desires there for sure. I think um that's one of the things that I hear cropping up quite a lot is is uh particularly a desire for horror as a genre around here. Uh there's a lot of people that have an interest for it.

SPEAKER_04 51:00

And I think and I think there has been a couple of Welsh horror films made, isn't there? Um but no, I'd love to do a horror film. Love to do it.

SPEAKER_01 51:08

Call it Werewolf in Wrexham.

SPEAKER_00 51:10

Manifest, manifest, this is what we're gonna do next. Um, so for uh anyone listening, where can people find out more information about you?

SPEAKER_04 51:18

So that was creative. We're on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and they're all um well, Instagram is I am AC Creative, uh, the rest is um AC Creative, and then TikTok is I amaccreative website. We are ac.photocreative.co.uk and you'll find portfolio work on there.

SPEAKER_03 51:40

Fantastic.

SPEAKER_04 51:40

Um we're trying to build more of the TikTok thing, so we're trying to do more funny on TikTok. I am branched out because obviously, you know, I've got the bug for filmmaking now, so do a little bit more. Um, but yeah, that's where they can find us. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 51:52

Can people reach out to you directly via Instagram or how do they get into it?

SPEAKER_04 51:55

Um via Instagram um on our website, we've got a direct link where we can talk to people as well, so that'll be fab. But even if it's just to grab a coffee, just give me an email and we'll we'll grab a coffee.

SPEAKER_01 52:07

Fantastic. Adam, it's been a pleasure having you here today. Hopefully you're not feeling as nervous now.

SPEAKER_04 52:12

No, I'll probably listen back and think, oh, I could have said that. Why did I say that?

SPEAKER_01 52:16

But no, it's been great having you here for today. Thank you for joining us um for creating Brexit and the podcast again. And hopefully we'll have you back again telling us about your next step into Hollywood or into space. But yeah, good luck with everything. Thanks for coming.

SPEAKER_04 52:32

Oh cheers, guys. Thank you.