Walking home from work yesterday and I saw this crazy helicopter flying over Bethnal Green, I only really noticed it because of how low it was flying and what it had on the side. Does anyone know what helicopter it is? Other than that I saw to Asian people taking wedding photos out side of a bills restaurant which was a bit weird but different strokes for different folks.
– what is this? I would love to fly in this –
One thing I’m learning about street photography is that you have to be there in the moment and not worry about taking photos of people in plan sight, other wise you’ll never get the shot, some times you’ve just got to go balls to the wall.
– “make sure you get the menu in the shot” –
At the moment my main camera I’m using is a Sony WX350 which isnt the best point and shoot but it’s a lot easier than taking a canon 5d with a 24-105mm lens which is basically the same size as a small child. – this was me just playing around with the lights on the tube –
As you can see this camera does hold up ok and for the price you can’t complain, this was literally a camera I brought for a small project I had with a mate and not really intended to use it for the blog thing I’m doing, so I suppose it’s doing the job but if you were to put it next to a fuji x100f or Leica M it would look like one of those old Motorola flip phones.
for the next 5 days Im going to concentrate on taking photos of people around London, its something that I’ve wanted todo for a long time and something I want to get better at. Street photography is big in London and probably to most popular type of photography around here, so I think its time I give it a proper try. At the moment, Im a big fan of black and white street photos I think they just add something else to the photo, so for now I’m probably going to concentrate on that, but well see where it ends up.
Heres some photos I took yesterday on my lunch break and after work having pizza in the park. have a look at ’em and tell me what you think.
– business on top, fitness on the bottom (running in a shirt) –– just going to meet my mates –– looks intense –
The whole point of this posting three new photos a day, is really to try out different techniques and just figure out what i enjoy taking photos of. so the other day Amy and me went to the park in the afternoon when the sun was low and tried out taking photos of someone just standing there and see how it played out. to be honest Im pretty happy with the results.
normally I only edit in Lightroom, but for these photos decided to start off in LR but then export to photoshop and see if I could get a different look and improve the stills. Photoshop is one of those programs that people spend years learning and I have experience with it, but now want to understand more about the software, and the best way todo that is to practise every day.
– trying to use the sun to add something else to these photos –– she’s a bit out of focus but I think it works –– you cant go wrong in black and white –
if you’ve ever been to brick lane and not tried the chicken wings you’ve gotta re-think your next trip. theres only one place to get the wings from and thats Orange Buffalo, some people would argue that the original sauce is better than the woof woof, but for me its Woof Woof with a side of blue cheese sauce the whole way! they’re a bit spicy but that just adds to the incredible taste.
If you get there between 12 – 3pm you can get the lunch time deal, chips, wings and blue cheese sauce all of £7.50! and trust me they give you enough food!
our orders
me: woof woof sauces wings, chips, blue cheese sauce and a bottle of water
Amy: Half and Half wings – Woof woof and original sauce wings, chips, blue cheese sauce and a can of coke.
Amy definitely did the right thing and get half and half, I was kind of jealous. but once your three wings deep I didnt really think about that any more.
– this place just by brick lane –– amys and mine wings –– the end result –
So on Saturday night there was engagement party for two absolute legends, Megan and Scarlett. I don’t really remember that much from the night, everything gets a bit hazy after the beer pong with some weird moonshine drink. but you guys really through a banger, I don’t actually have a picture of you two from the night but you both looks a million dollars it was a sick sick party and great Saturday night! here some of the only acceptable pictures I have!
Ive got to add that the man the myth the legend Jamie Best made an appearance, and with his new tattoo powered on like a trooper. much love Jamie don’t be a stranger!
– what do you think frank would say –– proper smiles –– Amy Chappell 01/07/2017 “josh behave!” –
waking up to a hyper 3 year old has got to be one the best things, when it happens only now again. But thats what happened today, I woke you at my parents house and was met by a energized three year old that goes by the name of FLO. after some standard hungover activites like throwing up and feeling sorry for myself. I was king of ready to start playing, but as soon as we pulled out the camera she was happy to take some snaps and bang my lens of the floor. After showing her how to take a photo and then letting her lose, she soon worked it out and we were taking pictures of my little ponies in no time.
Thank you canon for building a Flo proof camera!
Heres some of her snaps!
– this is her telling me what todo –– my little ponies giving it some sass –– Mooney (my dog) and the pony in full sunday mode –
Probably a lot of you know im a bike fan of 2 wheels, not motor bikes they scare me but bicycles and all things pedal power, as someone living in london i’m used the walking out of a shop of pub to notice my bike lock on the floor and my bike gone. to me thats the lowest of the low, steeling someones bike. but this post is not about that, is post is about the sad and familiar site of bikes abandoned, chained to a lamp post or bike rack. something thats been rubber side down across hundreds of miles, it might of been a commuters new years eve resolution or even just a spontaneous purchase, but one thing no can disagree its the best way to see a city.
with 32% of all londoners cycling, thats around 4.2 million people! that means theres got to be at least 5 million bikes in London, thats amazing, but with that goes up the amount of bike abandoned which is sad! these could be the perfect traveling tools for people to get around. so people fi your reading this, dont abandoned your bike on the side of the road, take it to one of the bike hospitals for a new life!
right lets start by saying im no cocktail expert or even really a cocktail drinker, i like a beer, but when I saw the new cocktail bar on Bethnal Green Road the Coupette, i thought I should give it a review. before it was a cocktail bar this place was a proper east end pub, full of locals that had been drinking there since beer was invited, the pub even had a sign out side that read “No Travellers allow in this pub”, but added great character and a down to earth feel. it was just something that set Bethnal Green apart from its neighbour SHOREDITCH a now expensive trendy extension of Liverpool Street.
well Charrlotte and myself went into this trendy new bar Coupette and give it a try and see if it was something to rave about, it wasnt our cup of tea. I dont like to slag someone off or put down something that the owner has put a lot of work into but it just feels like shoreditch is taking over this weird and wonderful street of bethnal green. where the homeless issue is quite literally a big problem, the road is also filled with cheap £1 shops and a cash converter, it has a community sprite which is rare for a zone 2 part of london, but its what set Bethnal Green apart, and an expensive cocktail bar really isn’t doing anything apart from dispersing a community and popular local business which seemed to survive the Shoreditch effect till now.
Anyway enough of the ranting heres our views of the bar.
Look:
Josh – 7/10 – the bar has an old feel but has used new furniture, which doesnt fit the vibe, they also sit you down like your going to eat, but then you don’t. I did like the menu’s they were really cool, but again the lighting didn’t help, it was that funny yellow tint.
Charlotte – 6/10 – its like they have spent a lot of time on the front of the bar and then ran out of money as they got to the back, it lacks an atmosphere and seems very portentous, which bethnal green definitely is not.
Coupette: 2 cocktails – £20.25 including service charge (£9 each)
And again we arent anyone who could give you an educated assessment on the cocktails (mine was good, it had chocolate in it) we are just two people who love bethnal green road and enjoy a drink, and dont want to see all the great local people of this area have to leave. We started talking to some other people in a bar down the road after charlotte noticed they where in the coupette, they were locals and said they felt underdress in the cocktail bar, “it was full of suits, which is not what bethnal green is about” . to finish it just feels like another rich vs poor battle was one by an ex-Savoy Cocktail maker and a local pub was lost.
Heres some pictures of the bar.
– The entrance –– it was earlish and still a new Establishment, so you cant expect it to be rammed -the actual bar was pretty cool –
theres no better wake up call and to be reminded that your back in london than english rain, its the “I dont need a jacket today” attitude that catches you out the most and the sudden down pour that seems to last a few hours but long enough for you to be sat at your desk with wet jeans for the whole day! but I suppose I cant complain because I saw a guy standing in the que for the sainsburys check out with a metro news paper still balanced on his head to protect him for the sudden down pours that happen inside Sainsburys every now and again, it doesnt sound that funny as I write this, but if you were there…
Any way heres my snaps from today. I’m trying a few new things out, to see what works, what does work, changing the format, adding a watermark trying to work on finding a nice typography that I can use consistently and mainly the style of my photos, what I focus on when i’m in London and what I focus on when Im in new countries. so please let me know what you like and what you think is absolutely crap.
– this is kind of a smart / cheap way of advertising – – its like the old people are walking towards the light – – I found palm trees in tower hamlets, its almost like being on holiday –
Nothing absolutely nothing beats breakfast on the side of the motorway in mainland Europe. the One euro espresso that comes in that weird brown plastic cup is probably the best coffee you can get your hands on, that with a ham and cheese baguette is the best meal you can have, breakfast, lunch or dinner it really doesn’t matter. I recommend it to any!
Thats exactly what amy and me did the other day, we said screw it to the croissant, fruit and coffee machine, we grabbed a spicey salami & cheese baguette at the local auto grill and a coffee to wake us up, not only did they warm it up for us but they also gave us cutlery, well a spoon to stir sugar into an espresso, but cutlery is still cutlery. they even sold big versions of junk food, from 5 litre bottles of popcorn to massive tubes of pringles. its was almost dreamy.
– Never drive past one of these without stopping – – I know it doesn’t look a lot but this place is does the best food – – these packs of pringles aren’t messing around –
joshfspear.com 