Month: March 2018

B341 – NOTHING LIKE A ENGLISH SEA SIDE TOWN

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Saturday in norfolk are mostly about chilling out and just sleeping whenever possible and thats kind of what I’ve done. Yesterday we did the usual dog walk in the morning and then sat around watching films / rugby before heading out with Amy’s friend’s for a meal and stuff. its been the first time in like 6 months since amy has seen some of her friends so its was kind of like a mini reunion.

What I love about coming to norfolk is the kind of sea side town vibes you get, when we took amys dog dexter on the walk we took this path that takes you through a proper english caravan site, with all those static caravans, which this time of year look completely abandoned expect for those few dedicated caravan people, you then head into the sea side town of Sheringham which has some how survived this fate of so many other sea side towns around the country and is still booming, with local butchers and of course the arcade’s with those amazing basketball games and 2p machines but most of all you have to love the local pubs which feel like they have been there since the beginning of time. my favourite is the Welly and now they even have WIFI. who would have thought it.

Its kind of amazing what when you think about what has happened to sea side towns around the country in the past 15 years, a lot of them I feel like are making a come back and a pretty fast one at that, when you look at places like cromer, it must have lived on a knifes edge for a few years while its locals made the decision to move on or stay put and fight it out and try to keep cromer alive and to say that while walking round Cromer briefly yesterday new cafes are opening and smart restaurants are starting to appear. If I had some cash I would quickly buy some old flats overlooking the sea and in a few years I guarantee that those places will be worth a small fortune, especially in the holiday season. So everyone come to Norfolk and have a mini break, you wont regret it and probably wont break the bank doing it either.

Anyway heres some photos from yesterday.

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– dexter on a dog walk, I think someone needs a drink of water? –
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walking through a caravan site –
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– at one of my favourite places in the world, The Welly pub / Cromer –

 

 

B340 – Happy Friday 

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Yesterday after work it was all abit go go, I had to get from the studio back to my flat and pack ready for a weekend in Norfolk. I did manage to sit on my sofa if a bit while I’ll took my shoes off but was then back up and out the door heading for Liverpool Street station. 
But now we have made it here and really enjoying our Saturday sat surrounded by baby twins and a girlfriend who can’t leave them alone.  

My idea of the photos today was to just have some fun with my iPhone and camera on the way up to Norfolk, however the photos you see below are only from my iPhone as I want to show you my other camera photos later on this week. And I know I’ve said it before but I love the iPhone camera, it is so handy for just capturing moments on the fly. And yes the Samsung camera is amazing but for me the iPhone just does the job perfectly, I suppose in a way it’s like comparing a canon to a Nikon camera. 

In other news, I think the plan for today is just to relax and chill out before heading out later to Cromer and going to my favourite pub, the Welly. I’m even taking a day off from using my Laptop normally I would set up in a corner of the room somewhere and edit / write these posts on my laptop but today I’m just doing this from my phone and not thinking about life too much. My plan each day is always to write at least 300 words and I’m not even sure if this is 300 words but to be honest I’m not even going to check. I think it’s best if you just enjoy my photos and briefly read this. 

Anyway, hope everyone is having a good weekend. And enjoy these photos. 

– arriving in Norwich last night, happy Friday –
– the train on the way up, you know it’s been a busy week when your enjoying a 2 hour train journey –

– I wonder where he got his ballon from? –

B339 – PEOPLE DEEP IN CONVERSATION

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Firstly I just need to say that I have no idea how I’m going to get through the last 25 days of this photo blog challenge, about 100 days ago I was trying to think of a cool way to finish this, one idea I had was flying to somewhere like Mexico for the day or doing a big finale, but not my goal is just to complete 365 days. Days like today make that challenge harder than thats been for the past 339 days. I dont mean to go on about it but today has been especially hard because the whole day has been spent somewhere I cant photograph and then by the time I get home its 9:30pm. but I suppose thats there winners win right?

the past couple of days Ive been thinking of a new game plan, and ways that I can keep the photos creative and at a high standard, one idea Ive got is to make sure I take loads of photos on the weekend and then ration them out throughout the week. I know, thats not techincally three photos each day, but it still counts right? I think thats going to be my only way of getting through this without having to post terrible Iphone photos that lets be honest no one really wants to see.

If Ive learnt anything so far, it would have to be that I absolutely love photographing people and capturing moments between people mid conversation or if I can, while they day dream. So I think what ill do for todays photos is show you some other shots from Speakers corner, a place where people are deep in conversation with strangers about literally any topic.

I think this whole thing has become a group effort, if you keep reading the post and enjoying my photos. then maybe, just maybe we will come out the other side of this blog. right now Im scared that one day Ill just sleep for 60 hours non stop and miss few days. but until that day heres some cool photos of people deep in conversation.

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– I would love to know if this conversation was based around a Macdonalds coffee cup –
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– I dont think this man agrees with the statement made –
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– this guy was just happy with life –

B338 – HEATHROW 4 STARS – PREMIER INN

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Tonight Im sleeping in the new premier inn at Heathrow Terminal 4, im not going to any amazing country or evening flying abroad, this was just the closest hotel to where I need to be at 6:45am tomorrow morning. I’ve definitely shared with you guys before my love for a Premier inn, they do excatly what they say on the advert and to be honest they are pretty clean which is always a bonus when your on location. Some times you end up in those hotels where its best to sleep fully dressed and wearing some kind of face protection, but honestly Ive never had a stay like that in a Premier inn.

Back to this new hotel at Heathrow, I would have to give this one a 7/10, its got everything need in a short 12 hour hotel stay, we have a bar, a nice sized bed and a room that can fit all my stuff in. The bed sheets are clean and they have that nice tumble dryer smell. If you ever end up planning a trip which involves staying at this Premier Inn, do be neverous or even apprehensive just got with it and your guaranteed a good nights sleep.

The one thing that does catch me out each time at these places is the shower gel that they give you attached to the wall, Im not sure if anyone has used this stuff more than once, I say once because Im pretty sure everyone tries it once but quickly realised that its probably doing more damage than good when it comes to skin care. I would love to say that premier inn use a good quality wall attached shower gel but unfortunately that would be a lie, why don’t they just give out small bottles of shower gel instead? that would solve their biggest problem. sorry if this sounds like a moan but I quite regularly forget my shower gel and its never good being met but wall soap.

anyway, this is a solid 7/10 and I give it a 4 star quick trip rating another strong reason for staying here would be todo with the 24 hour costa coffee shop at reception. Perfect if you’ve got an early start or late arrival. this is my hotel review, I hope you like it.

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– This would have been a good photo if I used the right lens, but unfortunatly Im in bed now and have to be up in like 5 hours, so think this will just have todo –
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– I did how ever really like the embroiled sleepy moon picture on the side of my pillow –
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– this soap on the wall, I really dont like this stuff. does anyone use it and like?

 

 

 

B337 – I TOOK IT BECAUSE IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA

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When you have days like I did on Sunday where you go out and photograph a few different locations, its really easy to only show off your favourite selection of photos but I really think that its important for me to really go through my photos and concentrate on getting the most out of every single shot. I know that might sounds a bit like im thinking too much about what it is I have shot but for me to get better as a photographer I feel like if you dont go back through all your photos, look at the everything from settings, lighting, composition, focal point and even the location then I probably wont get better at photography. Its like Sunday, I went out and before I got to speakers corner I was literally just walking around being a tourist snapping away and not really thinking too much into it, just enjoying pressing the shutter and actually some of those photos I took Im really happy with.

If you look at the one of the pathway that has those LED lights on the ceiling, I really like the way if bouncing off the wet pavement and creating a really cool and funky atmosphere and that was just me noticing the lighting and deciding to take a picture just for the hell of it. I suppose thats all photography is really, just someone having an idea or seeing something other people would normally just walk past but instead of walking they stop to take a photo and just freeze that moment in time for no other reason that “they thought it looked good” and thats all Ive done really.

And as you can also probably tell I might have a bit of a weird love for london underground tube stair cases, they all seem to help create this really cool vibe that I dont seem to be able to find anywhere else. What i think makes them so cool, is when they have the copper banister running down the middle. I takes your eye to the back of the photo but at the same time you have these grubby side walls, that look like they could tell a story or too.

Anyway I hope you like my photos and please let me know what you think. I am really bad at replying to message but I do read them and when I get a second I will reply!

hope you all smash the pants off wednesday!

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– I wonder if they’re all looking at the same duck or fish? –
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– these lights, I think all tunnels like this should have their very own light show –
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– my love for tube station exits might be becoming a bit too weird  –

 

B336 – THE CREATIVE PEOPLE OF LONDON

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So its now like 10:30pm on monday night and im just laying in bed writing this post, since sunday Ive had the photos lined up that I wanted to post today but Im not sure on the words that should of with them.

Tonight Ive been out for some drinks with some friends, I should really say it was a company I do a bit of work for lates christmas party but I suppose their more just freinds, who sometimes give me money to pay my bills and stuff. but anyway it was nice to see each and every single one of them and it was annoying that I couldnt stay later but I need to get a decent nights sleep for an early start tomorrow, so im sorry I didnt see the night out till the end.

Anyway back to the photos, the other day while walking around hyde park I cam across this guy who was making some massive bubbles with some weird looking device and washing up liquid, and well because of my rekindled love for the 50mm 1.8f lens it was only right I put that focal length tot he test and see if I could capture a reflection within a bubble and to be honest I kind of think I managed todo that and one of the photos Im really happy with, I also wasn’t sure with what todo with the colours, you all know I love black and white photography and would love to only ever take black and white photos but I thought this time I would mix things up a bit and chuck some bright colours in there just to see what you think. Thats the whole reason this blog is here in the first place, to see what i like and what I don’t like. and you’ve kind of got to thank the city of London for being full of creative people who just think on a different scale!

Ill let you guys do the judging, do you prefer my black and white portrait shots or these kind of crazy colour shots (its ok to say both by the way).

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– my favourite shot from the day, look at the bird in the bubble –
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– its looks a lot easier than it actually is, wind was a nightmare –
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– the colours in these bubbles are amazing, they look like mini planets –

 

 

 

B335 – HOW LUCKY IT IS TO HAVE A PLACE LIKE THIS.

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Today I stumbled apon something I knew existed but didnt really ever think would be a good thing to attend. its something that our country should really be thankful for and millions of other countrys can only wish for, Im talking about the Sunday tradition of Speakers corner in Hyde park, dating back to the mid 1800s this is a place where anyone can come and talk about anything, as long as it is deemed lawful.

When you first approach Speakers corner the only think you see if people standing on small platforms and groups of people debating, they can literally debate anything they choose, nothing is off limits and thats quite an amazing thing. I heard people talking about how muslims and christians basically pray to the same god and someone else who compared religion to an orange and both gave really good answers. Now the good thing is you don’t have to agree to anything that is said there, but until you’ve heard someones full argument I don’t think you can say something at all. No one gets angry and irate they just debate they’re views.

if you actually think about it, today I saw a muslim reading from the Bible talking about why everyone is the same and actually sticking up for christians. If you actually think about that, wars have been started over this topic  and millions have died and now in hyde park you have a man freely speaking with no consequence. that is something to be proud of. and its done in the most british way imaginable, by agreeing to meet up in a park on a Sunday, and conduct ones self in a gentlemanly fashion.

Speaker Corner in Hyde park is the last place in the uk that someone can speak out about anything from the Government to modern views and old laws. Places like this used to be dotted all over the country but one by one they have all but disappeared and now we are left with this small spot in the Uk’s biggest city, where everyone has a voice and can always expect someone to listen. If you put yourself in the shoes of someone from say Middle east or Africa, how amazing would it be to come to England and discover a place like speaker’s corner and be able to talk and say everything that has been on your mind. and for that you got to think how lucky we actually are.

If you have nothing todo on a Sunday why no head down to Speakers Corner and just listen to what people think you and if you don’t agree tell them just expect to get a really good response from them.

Heres some photos from some intense debates. (I’ve uploaded 8 photos today because well I couldn’t choose just 3).

 

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– this was probably the biggest debate that day is was about the Quran –
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– he was just preaching about peace –
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– not sure what was happening here but it seemed to be intense –
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– talking about the connection between muslims and christians –
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– I think this guy was a regular, everyone seemed to know who he was –
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– this was my favourite guy, he was talking about how Nigera was the home of peace and the beginning of religion –

 

 

 

B334 – SO UNDERWELMING!!!

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So this is a post about something I thought would have worked out completely different. If you’ve ever been to my flat you would know that a lot of the time you seem to find cables and camera gear in the most random places, under the sofa, in the bed room and sometime even in the Bath room. Its not my fault its just what happens, no one know how is happens it just does. I think its Amy, she seems to be the one who finds most of the cables and gear so it must be her that leaves it around the flat.

Well today I woke up and went to the sofa, under a cushion to my disbelief there was a CF card, the said card is the same as the one that my camera uses. for those of you that dont know what a CF card is, they are basically bigger SD cards and its what my camera uses to record the images too. This got me exicted, could this CF card be from a few years ago and contain amazing photos that I completely forgot about? could it have evidence of a past flat party or maybe a christmas I forgot about? Well the answer is no where near as exciting as this, its a CF card I lost earlier this week and only really had some photos of a shower head from a hotel, a photo of my dog and some shots of the beast from the east. it coudnt of been more disheartening. I was really hoping for some amazing shots I hadn’t seen for years.

As this has really let me down I feel that I should still post these photos to show you what I went through this morning and to make up for it Im going to quickly jump in the shower and then head out and do my best to take some amazing photos in West London! thats my aim for today!

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– THIS IS MY DOG MOONEY AND SHE LIKES TO SLEEP –
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– this is my last photo from the beast of the east I promise –
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– a shower head in a hotel I stayed in a few week back. I took this picture to see if my 50mm lens still worked, not because I like showers –

 

 

B333 – THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN A VERY DIFFERENT BLOG POST

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Well I suppose its fair to say that I definitely all kicked off again yesterday right? that snow came out of no where and really started playing with peoples mentions, even Waterloo a train station that has around 250,000 people use it each day, decided that the prospect of snow on a Friday was too much and had no choice but to shut up shop. fair play though, I would probably do that if I knew i could. after all its Friday and I don’t use Waterloo station so I cant really rant about if, but if I did have to use Waterloo last night then it this would probably be a very different blog.

For a friday though it was pretty hectic in a non hectic kind of way, after working in east London and having quite a good finishing time, I then headed into town for a different gig and I have to admit I hadn’t done much research on but turnt out to be a pretty good laugh. Im not really sure if I can say what it was yet, so I might just leave that one for a few weeks and when its out in the open, Ill let you guys know and we can talk about it then. Sorry but thats just the way of the world.

I have got a killer plan today, today im basically doing a really Life admin day, including haircut, gym signing up, clothes shopping and some finances. Im then going to finish up by cooking a meal Ive never cooked before and sitting down to enjoy a good movie, I know that doesnt sound too fun, but I really want to start saving some money for a Leica and maybe going out drinking isnt the best thing for that. I really want to take some cool photos today so I might travel out when its dark and have some fun with the nifty 50mm lens. who knows.

Heres my photos from yesterday.

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– I love seeing bikes with snow on just one side, it looks really cool and abandoned –
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– before the gig, I stopped off for coffee at this really cool cafe in Soho, it was literally full of people speak Chinese and all they served where Marcha cakes –
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– see here are the Match cakes! if you ever walk around Soho and want a coffee / tea / matcha cake, you should stop here. Im not sure what the place is called, but you should try and find it! –

 

B332 – A PHONE CALL WITH ELON MUSK?

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Im going to start this post by saying, yes Norway’s  gets meters of snow each year, in fact last year their average was 337cm, the year before it was 276cm and the year before that is was 255cm and yes their country just accepts this and pulls out their skis and hits the slopes on the weekend. On the other hand England I cant even find the information, all I can find is that 23.7 days each year England gets snow or SLEET! thats obviously ignoring  place like the Cairngorms and other pretty high national parks and stuff. they do alright.

So excuse me daily mail and social media hogs if we get a little carried away by the prospect of the worst snow storm in 50 years hitting the uk. I think its pretty normal for  Doris and all the Soccer mums out there to start stocking up on milk and bread, because if their years on this planet have taught them anything, its that the UK really isn’t used to snow.

Sorry for the rant but I feel like it needed to be said, if only we could settle the debt on how to handle the snow with a big snow ball fight. maybe that would help Heathrow open their runways.

If you cant tell Ive just spent my third day on the sofa, I got sent home from work for being ill. So i came back and had a scroll of the internet and it got me thinking about how to handle the snow in the uk and to be honest I came up with this solution. Why don’t we just put more money into the NHS, think about it. why don’t we build our hospitals up so they can always cope with a 50 year storm all year round? instead or buying thousands of pounds of new snow gear and even more grit that might just turn out to be over kill next year, keep the stuff we got and then just make each council invest the emergency money in their hospitals, so they are more than equipped to handle anything all year round. then meaning they wont always be so stretched?

From there create something like dedicated snow roads, so when villages and towns get shut off  in the future, we’ve created a network of roads that the gritters and plowers  concentrate on. we could even go as far as putting signs up, like “this is a snow road”, create a lay by system if theres some pennies left over, so when it does snow, Jack and Jill can leave there cars on this dedicated Snow roads, at the top of the hills. so at 6am the next morning they can start their commute to work. and just to generally inform the people if there is a big snow storm or if its icy then these roads will be safe.

I tried to come up with a solution for air travel and trains but I think its fair to say that’s a losing battle. they do what they like and not even the pope could change that.

I also really think I need a call with Elon Musk  and Teresa May about how to make gritters a thing of the past. so please the British government or Telsa give me a call and lets grab a coffee, I don’t mind sharing some of my community changing ideas with you.

For now, people of Britain and the rest of the world, here are some photos of London looking gracious in the snow! (all photos taken on my Iphone at some point over the past few days).

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– black and white snow photos in london look so much better I think –
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– I should really buy a leica, imagine if this was taken on a leica –
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– probably my most photographed staircase, for some reason this staircase always takes a good photo –