american football

B365 – I CANT BELIEVE I MADE IT!

April 4, 2018April 4, 2018 joshfspear5 Comments

Well, its finally here, blog post 365 and it feels a bit weird. For the 90% of my facebook friends that have had to put up with these posts each day and who are just not interested, don’t worry its over. But for those that have read these and showed a small amount of interest, this is for you.

Its over, Ive managed to post 3 photos a day for 365 days and now Im thinking back at the days all those times where I’d given up precious sleep or I’ve been rushing around writing from my phone and its all built up to this moment trying to get these post done. Now, 150,000 words later, 2TB’s of photos and countless hours walking around trying to make each day interesting and worthy are over.

It all started from a conversation with Amy on a weekend away, that turned into me basically going full steam ahead everyday for the past year and in turn has been one of the craziest years or my life, I’ve worked all around the world, including two months in America and China, completely ruined my leg and had to basically learn to walk again, now living with Amy (my girlfriend), completely done up our flat and now working on some really cool projects and productions that I’m pretty proud of.

For todays post I was trying to think of a cool way to end it, like set off loads of fireworks or fly to some amazing beach and finish with a cocktail and some sun burn, but to be honest looking back at the year, the only way to end is to really show 25 of my favourite photos from the 1200 that I’ve posted. Photos that might over wise be forgotten about and disappear into the depths of my hard drive. I’m now sat on my Lunch break at work scrolling through photos and laughing at all the stuff that’s gone on, from coming home after 18 hours a work with nothing to photograph so running down stairs and buying some fruit to cut open and photograph to seeing someone sunbath on Shoreditch high-street drinking beer in just a pair of hot pants or even that time I flew back from Victoria, Canada on a dodgy plane that had no in flight entertainment so for 15 hours I taped my iPhone to the seat in front of me and watched weird low budget films the whole way, just after I had been in the path of Hurrican Irma and witnessed what state of emergency meant in North Carolina.

This blog has been one of the best things I’ve ever done and if it wasn’t for Amy saying “you should start a photo blog” then we wouldn’t be here today and I probably wouldn’t have the confidence or even writing ability and photography skills I have today. Im by no means an expert but I like to think from where I was last year, I’m much better. So thank you Amy for putting up with the words “I gotta do my photos” to helping me figure out tough posts and just generally putting up with the daily stress of being with me. Your alright you are and I owe you big time.

Looking back at my writing a year ago I have no idea how I even managed to send an email let alone put together an interesting paragraph, but this past year I’ve written around 150,000 words with a minimum daily count of 300 words, its not just given me confidence in my writing ability, its also helped me talk to people and just going with my gut instinct, then having the confidence to see a task through till the end. That’s something I didn’t realise I didn’t have till I’ve started thinking about my next steps and how confident I am about what I want todo next. In the words of my good friend Anders “I’m no Neurosurgeon, but Ill give it ago”.

This photo challenge might be over and the stress of posting everyday is now in the past but I promise this wont be my last post, I’ve sat down this past month and thought of ways to carry on and what direction I should move in and to be honest what I have in the pipe line is something that I’m even more excited about and can’t wait to share with you all. But right now, its time to get some sleep and just enjoy the fact that I’ve managed to see this all the way through to the end. Not even the Chinese government or countless timezones and flight delays were able to stop me.

So one last time.

Here’s my photos from today. Enjoy.

B365-1-5 — – this is how i plan on spending the next 2 weeks, before I start putting work in on the next project. I will still blog but just not daily –

B365-1-4 — – doing my final walk around bethnal green taking photos for the blog this evening, it kind of felt a bit like a victory lap –

B365-1-6 — – I will always take street photos and try to capture cool moments where ever I am –

Before you see my favourite 25, I just want to say thank you too the 13,500 readers from 119 countries that have read my daily blog, not all hero’s wear capes.

On to the next challenge and a new direction for joshfspear.com

Peace out and thank you for sticking with me through the terrible grammar and countless spelling mistakes!

B0002-1-2 — – it was at this post that the idea for the blog was created, Bleinheim Palace –

– playing with the gopro after amy picked me up from the pub, thanks mush –

B321-1-4 — – walking through hyde park early morning is something I wish I could do more often –

B035-1 — – london has been the perfect city for this photo challenge, thank you to all the grumpy people that dressed up as storm troopers or sun bath on highstreets, you have made this blog a million times better –

B036-1-3 — – the day I found out my leg was ruined and I wouldnt be able to run the ultra marathon or walk for that matter –

B320-1-2 — – moving in with this one, so happy we have done the most of our ikea shopping tick list, please no more –

B083-1-4 — – explore italy, she has some how managed to put up with my constant photo taking –

B119-1-3 — – its always good to see stuff like this on your way home –

B305-1 — – this dog still is one of my favourite dogs ive come across –

B331-1-5 — – in four years of living in Bethnal Green, this year I saw the most snow ive ever seen in london –

B010-3 — – Norfolk sea side is one of my favourite places to photograph, the colours always come out perfect –

B101-1 — – this image was the first one I had taken shooting in RAW, and my god it was worth the switch from JPEG even is the files are bigger

B104_A-1 — – I am looking forward to the summer again and getting more colour in my photos

B111-1-3 — – this is one of my favourite photos from the past year, right time, right place i suppose –

B126-1-5 — -again, right place right time, the sea gull literally dived down and stole her fish and chips –

B170 (1 of 1)-3 — – seeing people jamming on the guitars in St.Louis was pretty cool, hopefully Ill get to go back there soon –

B176 (1 of 1) — – seeing a deer walk down the street in Victoria, Canada. Luckily I had a 70-200mm lens on my camera at the time –

B177 (1 of 1)-2 — – water planes on the river in Victoria, a place that I would love to explore when im not working –

B179-1-2 — – 15 hour flight, using my phone at a TV. that was an experiance I wouldn’t do again in a hurry –

B193 (1 of 1)-2 — – walking round New York, this photo was taken somewhere near the brooklyn bridge –

B209 (1 of 1) — – flying out of New York –

B233-1 — – the view from my room in Shang hai, that place is like no where else ive been –

B246-1-2 — – christmas on Bond street, these two were well into the christmas sprite –

flo-1-3 — – flo doing what flo does best, cause havoc –

– our drive to the flat in Italy, the Amalfi coast is somewhere I would love to go again –

Peace out everyone, its been fun.

Much love,

Joshfspear

B315 – SOMETHING THAT WILL STICK WITH ME FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE –

February 13, 2018February 12, 2018 joshfspear11 Comments

I’m not really too sure how to start this, its something that I doubt will ever happen to me again, for those of you that have been reading these posts of the past few months would know that back in November, a homeless man stopped me in the street and asked me for £10 so he could get a hostel for 5 days, he then told me that for two weeks a hostel is £20. I decided to walk him to the closest cash point and withdraw £20, I didn’t know his name, background or if he would just spend the money on crack. all I had was his word that he just wanted to get a roof over his head and a chance to get back on his feet, if I was him then I would want someone like me to give me a chance.

well after a long 12 hour day a work and feel pretty stressed on the way home, I literally hadnt thought about what I was going to write about or do, this shabby looking man on Bethnal green road stops me and says “excuse me” I assumed it was someone begging for money, he quickly stopped me and told me that he remembers me and just wanted to say thanks and that he now has a door key!!!!! they homeless man I gave £20 four months ago now lives in a house and is getting his life back on track, and just saw me and wanted to thank me. A stranger gave someone in need £20 and that has gone on to help him turn his life around and get off the streets. to me that is incredible, I literally cant think of the words to describe it.

Seeing wayne tonight has really made me think about how we can effect peoples lives and that someone like me who let off fart bombs at school and spent most of my life doing stupid stuff has actually just had a direct effect on someones life and given a complete stranger hope and a second chance!!!

I asked wayne if I could take a photo of him but he was to worried and thought that his family might see it, I completely understand if I was wayne then that would have been my answer. I just hope that wayne carries on getting his life back on track and is someday proud to be photographed!

Wayne if for some reason you read this, I wish I got your phone number or email address! if you do please drop me a message and lets talk! my photos from today don’t really matter, its more about the bigger picture I suppose. thank you wayne for stopping me tonight, its going to stick me with for a long time!

B315-1 — – looking out the flat this morning was pretty cool –

B315-1-2 — – the only reason waking up early is fun, you get to see sky’s like this –

B315-1-3 — – heading back to the city after shooting all day –

B265 – WHAT A YEAR

December 25, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

Merry Christmas everyone and a happy new year! its literally the perfect day, as well as it being christmas its also my last 100 days of posting. I’ve made it to the final stretch. as its also the end of the year and also my last 100 days I thought I would show you some photos that Ive taken these past 265 days.

Its probably been one of the best years Ive had, not only have I been working pretty much non stop but Ive also been to some places that I never thought I would go to, I’ve spent 2 months in America and now have a working visa of the states, which i’ve wanted for ages, Ive also been to Canada, china and a few places in Europe. so its been pretty exciting. Amy also asked me out at the beginning of the year, and next year she should be moving into my flat, well thats the plan anyway. who would have thought I would been living with a girlfriend. its crazy and I suppose when you do that your kind of becoming an adult and having responsibilities, which in away is quite cool.

this blog has to be one of the best things Ive done, its literally taught me how to write and in given me confidence to try new things and just work harder to get what I want, and also when I write emails now theres a lot less spelling mistakes, its never good when you write emails and its grammatically incorrect or just doesn’t make any sense but because of the sheer amount of writing I do now I learnt a lot of new words and can spell so much better, I think anyway.

I think this blog has been good because a lot of the time its easy to think up ideas and then even easier to think up excuses why you cant do them and this has really made me just forget the excuses and just go with my gut and try to get the job done. thats why next year ive got a few plans lined up for this blog and also things that I want to try and do work wise. im planning on getting a second job i think just to help pay for all the things I need todo and the adventures / holidays im going on. Its time to up my game and smash 2018 out of the park!

Thank you 2017 its been a pleasure!

oh and sorry my blog didn’t have any photos on it yesterday, i literally have no idea how that happened. WordPress was just having a bad day I think.

b081-1-1 — – amy and me exploring the town of Ratio on the Amalfi coast –

b208-1-of-1 — – I also went to my first american high school football game right, this was like 10 minutes away from Harvard University –

b257-1-3 — – a picture of Soho in London, I quite like this photo. Might have to get it made into a print –

b261-1-4 — – the shot from the Barbican last week, im just happy with this photo and really like the way the man is –

b056-1 — – this guy was definitely a highlight –

B209 – IM NOT IN A GOOD WAY

October 30, 2017October 30, 2017 joshfspear4 Comments

Its sunday, a day where most people are sitting at home watching a movie and looking forward to a week of work. while I have made the fatal error of accidentally eating Avacado, something I am really really allergic too, it literally brings me to my knees over night and takes me out of the game for a few days. there nothing I can do apart from sleep and rest. Its currently 8pm and im in bed, trying to get this post done.

my plan for todays post has gone completely out of the window, I wanted to talk about this old hill near our location which was were the revolutionary war was basically start and also were the army kept there Gun power. if you want to know more, here some links to the history for anyone who wants to know more.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerville,_Massachusetts

http://www.muldermedia.com/prospecthill/history.html

http://www.unionsquareneighbors.com/prospect-hill.html

so really cool stuff, but all that really happened to day was I did some work and moaned the whole day that I felt unwell. I like everyone to know what I am going through and feel my pain, im not really a suffer in silence kind of guy. That doesn’t mean this is just Man flu, this is a medical condition that must be treated with the highest respect. The clocks are also going back tonight so hopefully the extra hours sleep will work in my favour.

back to my photos the plan for today now is to show some photos I took on my Iphone over the last couple of days, I of course have to include the photo from my flight over New York a few days ago and some other cool photos from Massachusetts.

if anyone is allergic to Avacado too and knows any top tips for getting rid of this please please let me know. I’m scared to google it because the webdoctors always make me feel like a limbs going to fall off when I google something.

Hope you like my photos.

B209 (1 of 1)-3 — – someville, Massachusetts on my trip today to find something to sort me out –

B209 (1 of 1)-2 — – this was the ceiling in the car rental place at Boston Airport, looks pretty cool –

B208 – MY FIRST HIGH SCHOOL AMERICAN FOOTBALL GAME DAY! GO SOMERVILLE!

October 29, 2017October 29, 2017 joshfspear5 Comments

My normal routine for the past two months for getting these daily posts up and online, has revolved around getting back to my hotel between 20:00 and 2200. From there I jump in the shower for roughly 15 minutes before laying in bed and doing my daily post, it normally takes me about one hour to complete and in that time, I edit my photos, write a minimum of 300 words and then schedule the post to go up at 10am GMT. That’s always my plan, but tonight I’ve decided that for once I’m going to head out get some dinner and write the post while eating dinner. so its not the same thing each day, mix it up a little and stop myself from basically getting bored.

I’m sat in this place which is abit like Wachacca meets your local kebab shop, its called Chicken and Rice and its in this town called Medford, Massachusetts. Im eating what can only be linked to a Lamb Doner in a Salad, but its pretty good so I cant complain.

My photos today are from the other night on my adventure to Harvard, on the way back I was driving along this highway, when I saw a bunch of floodlights and hunderds of cars all parked up along the road. It was a high school basketball game, something Ive always wanted to see. Somerville High vs Triton Regional. One thing you learn as a teenager about sports is how big the Americans go for high school and collage sports , they literally treat it like a team in the premier league. It was like a two thousand seater stand and everyone was there, it seemed like they were just genuine fans. Nothing like the UK where you might get one dad and a few mums turn up to watch their little boys play. This was the whole families, friends and genuine high school football fans.

It felt like an event, there was an atmosphere and people were genuinely involved in the game. It was just how I imagined it to be, teams were going hard against each other and they even had those coaches with the talkback systems on, getting angry when a mistake was made by a player.

The final score was 27 – 9 to Somerville high, my new favourite high school football team and really the only one I know about.

Here are the three photos I took from the little de-tour post Harvard Adventure.

B208 (1 of 1)-3 — – I bet these players get such a rush from playing in front of such a crowd –

B208 (1 of 1)-2 — – i wonder if they could throw me that high –

B208 (1 of 1)-4 — – Somerville where on the offensive and the crowd were loving it –