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B350 – NOTHING BEATS HOME

March 20, 2018March 20, 2018 joshfspearLeave a comment

Yesterday was one of those days where you just dig deep and keep on pushing till the end, it all started at 5:45am yesterday morning when we had to move kit from the hotel to location from there it was just about staying warm outside in elements. Its days like that which really make you appreciate you sofa, a kettle and sitting at home writing these posts. After driving back from Birmingham last night and not getting home till 9:30, it was nice to walk through the door and soup to be available for me to eat, so Amy cheers for that girl!

its now Tuesday morning and im just happy to be sat at my table drinking tea and writing this post, it feels like im having one of those day where I just sit at home chilling out, I am working today but its slightly more relaxed so i dont have to go into work too early. What is mad, is the fact that Ive only got 15 days left and how crazy it is that Ive managed to make it this far, and that I still haven’t planned anything for the final post, maybe thats what I will try and plan this weekend or something. but for the next hour and a half im just going to sit on my sofa and slowly get ready for work.

my photos from yesterday were all taken in the late stages of yesterday or a few moments ago before I had eaten my toast for breakfast, I need to thank red bull and a good supply of chocolate and snacks for just getting me through the drive home, also coming home to a really comfy bed last night which gave me a solid 10 hours sleep. I know this post might just sound like a blabbering on about work and stuff but in all honestly I have no other topics to talk about at the moment. so for that fact im sorry, just appreciate the fact that Iphones are a solid piece of kit for taking photos when your up against it.

B350-1-2 — – unloading this van last night was not great –

B350-1-3 — – breakfast this morning, while writing this post, hope it hasnt been a complete waste of your time and yep my toast is brunt, I probably need to buy a new toaster –

B343 – THINKING ABOUT THE NEXT BIG CHALLENGE…

March 13, 2018March 12, 2018 joshfspearLeave a comment

Ahh Monday, the one day of the week where those extra 5 minutes of snoozing the alarm make all the difference, especially when you have a 7:20am call time but the good thing about a call time that early is that you get to see London empty and not full of people. this morning I got to walk through the famous Brough market and it was completely empty, not even someone selling fruit or veg, it was just me. I wish I had more time to explore and that I could of pulled out my camera and spent 5 minutes just taking photos but as I said earlier, those extra 5 minutes of snoozing that alarm aren’t something that can be given up lightly.

For my photos today, I really wanted to show you some more snaps from the beach the yesterday but as im expecting a very busy week, so Ill drip feed you guys photos over the next 5 days, I hope thats ok.

After work today the plan was to go to the gym and spend an hour working out instead of an extra hour on the sofa watching tv, I know that might sound like some kind of terrible idea but my reason behind this is simple, if I want to carry on working 12 to 15 hour days (thats including my time writing these blog posts) then I really should start looking after my body by staying in shape. One thing that has made that decision the right one was the fact that in my second week of gym Ive just managed to run 5km without having a pain in my leg from ligament tear 9 months ago. That 5km run was something I had been thinking about in the back of my head for the past two days and then today I got on that running machine and made it happen, I couldn’t be happier and now Ive done the hardest part, which is basically me telling my brain that I can do this and that I just need to take it slowly. when you have an injury like that, you kind of get these weird thoughts that you shouldnt do it and that your injury has come back. All I can say is learn to actually listen to your body and not just that part of your head that is kind of scared something will happen again.

Straight after the run which by the way took me 34 minutes to run 5km, I was thinking about that goal of running an ultra marathon and I know this is something that probably maybe shouldn’t happen for a good two years, it is something I’m going to start thinking about again. my plan is to go on Saturday and get a sports massage and then speak to the running coach about how I might be able to reach the goal of a 100 mile race. I suppose if nothing else, its something for me to work towards.

Sorry in advance both Amy and my parents.

Heres some snaps, I hope you like them.

B343-1-2 — – norfolk beach, it literally goes on for miles –

B343-1-3 — – bank tube station this morning before rush hour had started –

B343-1-4 — – borough market, the best place for food in london, also where they filmed bridget jones and lock stock and two smoking barrels –

B319 – APPLE STOP BEING ANNOYING

February 17, 2018 joshfspearLeave a comment

The plan for todays post is to kind of do a recap of the week through photos that Ive taken on my iphone, post like these are actually pretty good todo because I seem to take loads of photos each day on my phone that I just completely forget about until I look back through the phone.

My normal workflow for posts is to dump all the photos on to my hard drive and then edit them in Lightroom before I even think about what Im going to write. From there I open up WordPress and start to think of a way of starting the post. Well today Ive ended up doing things a bit different, all because my phone needs to be updated, so now Im writing this without even decided what photos Ill use. Normally I would wait for my phone to update and then just go through the rhythm of posting but as today Im spending my day off getting up early and running about to get a bunch of done, like get my hair cut and also put a fence up. Thats something I also only found out about last night and something Ive never done before, so that should be interesting.

This week has really been about early starts, I think Ive been up out and out the house before 6am more times this week than any other week of my life. people will probably call me lazy but I like to think of that as a lucky statistic and something that will probably change from now on, I got a feeling that I have a lot more early starts coming my way.

Something that is also really annoying me that the moment is Apples Airdrop, its like a spoilt child and only wants to work when it choices. Like todo for instant, Im not about to send photos via airdrop to my laptop, and now its making me late. Why does Apple make products that only they can fix, they should just make Airdrop so you can search of your physical device. Not just wait for airdrop to find your device, Come on Tim Cook, what are you doing with you time at apple! stop making iphones every 6 months and start making your software better. give up on Apple Pages, no one like it, give up with Home pod, its just an overpriced speaker that you can only use with apples products. Apple you have really boiled my blood this morning and now made me late! Stop holding us all by the balls and creating amazing products, then just add some features which dont make it as good as it could be and then slowing us all done. Telsa just sent a car to in to space and you cant even create a piece of software that will allow my iphone to talk to my mac properly.

Sorry for the rant but Apple are in my bad books today. Here are some of my photos from the early mornings this week.

B319-1-2 — – Walking across London bridge in the rain was actually quite fun –

B319-1-3 — – this places makes me realise how old London actually is

B319-1 — – coming out of Charring cross before everyone else is even up

B311 – SUCH A GOOD PLACE TO PHOTOGRAPH.

February 9, 2018February 9, 2018 joshfspearLeave a comment

As I said in yesterdays blog my plan for today was to get out on my lunch break and take a walk along the canal near to where I’m working and I actually managed to drag myself away from the unlimited supply of chocolate bars and family sized packet of crisps to walk along this really cool stretch of water.

What I love about places like this, is just the way that they kind of create their own personality, everyone seems to be such a harsh environment for both people and animals, it all has that really brutalist feel to it and there is definitely something really photogenic about that. Its kind of crazy to think that these places actually have quite a lot of wide life if you think about it, if I was one of them I would definitely use my wings and fly to somewhere like hyde park or some other country park in a 20 mile radius of these victorian styled water ways.

Today I have also decided to write this post in the afternoon because this evening Amy has just booked up into a spinning class which basically means that tonight I will probably just want to come home and pass out. Its going to be our first ever spin class so I’m not really sure what I should expect but I do know is that things like spin class give your body a proper work out and thats something my body hasn’t really had since last year. As long as I can stay on the bike then I’m going to be happy, Ive heard these things can really work you out.

check out my photos from today, Im really happy with how they’ve turned out and to be honest I definitely want to take another trip around the canals of London and see what else I can photograph. these places are really kind of cool and interesting.

B311-1-3 — – if I was those birds I would probably want to head up to somewhere like the Lake district and swim in those lakes –

B311-1-4 — I really like photographing things made of this type of concrete they look so cool –

B294 – WHAT TODO NEXT?

January 23, 2018January 22, 2018 joshfspearLeave a comment

So I’ve got to get up pretty early tomorrow, so my plan is to get this post done the night before. Im also most certain if I leave it up to tomorrow morning then I guarantee that I wont get it done in time. The photos I took today were all about Landscape, I had to take the dog for a walk up to the local pet shop so decided that we would take a bit of extra time and get some photos from the top of the grove looking down on where my parents live. Whats so good about this time of year is the way that all the colours look faded and its just as if every where is kind of getting ready for the summer, its crazy that in a month this will all be green and summer will be round the corner. but this season is just as good as the summer season.

What ive realised about doing something like this is that everything is getting easier, I’m finding enough topics to photograph and the writing is definitely getting better. you guys probably cant see my writing improving as its still pretty terrible, but 294 days ago we would have been lucky if I could spell my full name correct on the first attempt.

As im getting closer to that big 300 day mark, Im starting to think about what I was like on day one and where I am today and how my camera the Canon 5d II has really been the best thing Ive ever brought, its not the newest camera out there but for a camera thats got over 110,000 shutter count it just refuses to give in and still surprises me how good it is, the cameras been knocked about, how with me on drunken pub crawls and had its fair share of close encounters with the floor. and yet it hasn’t let me down once, If you are thinking about learning with a camera, go about buy a 5d II, it wont let you down and has enough settings to help you to always improve as a photographer.

And now Ive reached that point where im starting to think about my next camera and what I should go for, as some of you are aware im on the waiting list of the new Leica, but theres a few other cameras that I cant decide between. I want a camera that I can film slow mo on just as well as I can take photos with, so maybe the Leica isnt my best option, maybe its time I got a Sony A7R or something. I suppose I wont know until im in the shop and have the cash.

Anyway, here are my photos from today. Enjoy

B294_02 — – the colours this time of year are so fun to photograph –

B294 — – right place at the right time, the sun was breaking through the clouds just as I got there –

B290 – CREDIT WHERE CREDITS DUE

January 19, 2018 joshfspearLeave a comment

Theres a lot of people out there that say they can cook and then go a head and put some super noodles in the microwave and then just add some posh spicy sauce of bowl then go ahead and call it a meal, we must all know a few people like this. Well a chum of mine is on the complete other end of the spectrum, the guy can cook. he goes by the name of Anders Hayward, and last night he pulled out a meal that I cant fault.

Last week he asked me what I wanted to eat and I though lets put his skills to the test, so I asked for Pork Belly, and well after 24 hours of marinating in some spices Ive never heard of he started cooking, he literally got the crackling perfect and smashing the presentation. One thing that shocked me was that it was his first time making Yorkshire puddlings and I think I can speak for half the nation when I say we all have had our fair share of Yorkshire pudding horror stories. So I was a bit worried they might go wrong, but I would definitely give him top marks for those too.

Im now back at my place and I think I need to apologise for this post being a fair few hours late, but I also drank last night meaning that I only lasted 19 days of Dry January, I was so close but so far I knew that the second half of the month would be harder but last night I just crumbled. I suppose all I can say is “Maybe next year”

At the moment Im also doing a project only involving Gopro’s and the filming capabilities, so if anyone out there is used to filming with Gopros and know how to make them look cinematic please let me know. Ive still go a few months to go till we start filming but it would be good to get ahead of the game.

Heres some photos of the food yesterday, enjoy.

B290-1 — – thats the kind of crackling we are talking about –

B290-1-2 — – a bit of a posh apple sauce smudge –

B290-1-3 — – it was a strong 8.9 out of ten I would say –

B274 – BACK IN LONDON AND COOKING UP A TREAT!

January 3, 2018January 2, 2018 joshfspear1 Comment

Before I get back into the main part of this post I’m going to give a bit of an overview on how today has gone. At 10am this morning Amy and myself woke up in our Amazing hotel room and instantly realised that we were both destroyed, I was ill and for some reason Amy’s legs wouldn’t work. Turns are both sick, me a bit more ill than her, but ill non the less. I think its just a case of us crashing, Christmas is normally a time of resting up but if anything its been the complete opposite, im not moaning about it, I’ve had the best two weeks.

The plan was originally to checkout of our hotel and going and have a look around Bristol and take in all the signs, well our plan quickly became to get on the first train we could and get back to the flat. Once we made it onto the train the next mission was to start editing the Go Pro video I made the other day, there’s no better way to make a train ride go quicker than to start editing a video, but well rendering took a bit longer than expect. The whole train ride really so I did manage to get a little sleep.

That leads me to the next part of my blog, what we did for dinner. We needed spice and a lot of it, when you’re ill nothing is better than spice, it cleans your nose and almost gives your body a kick start which is just what we need. Amy came up with the good idea of having a curry, making it from scratch and also learning a new recipe. If any of you are in need of a new dish and what to add a bit of spice in your life, then please feel free to give this recipe a go.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons oil

4 cloves garlic (crushed)

1 onion (Large, chopped)

3 red chili peppers (‘s, chopped)

4 teaspoons Madras Spice paste

1 tablespoon turmeric

2 tablespoons mango chutney

1 can coconut cream

1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce

1 tomato passata (large carton around 600ml)

1 bunch coriander (chopped)

4 tablespoons greek yogurt

2 chicken breasts (chopped)

Instructions

Step 1: In a large pan, heat the oil then fry the garlic, onions and chilli for about 5 minutes stirring regularly.

Step 2: Add the curry paste and turmeric and stir in.

Step 3: Add the mango chutney, coconut cream, sweet chilli sauce, passata, coriander, fenugreek and Greek yogurt and leave in a low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Step 4: While your curry simmers on a low heat, cook the chicken and once its white the whole way through dump it all into the pan with the rest of the curry

Step 5: let that all simmer till your 30-minute timer goes off, I decided to add an extra chill 10 minutes before the end of the timer just to add a little extra spice.

I managed to get two good sized meals out of it and some left overs. Thank you too the App Yummly and also http://www.jamandclottedcream.co.uk/ for the recipe, I’ve tweaked it a bit but I cant take full responsibly for this dish.

One last thing, my goal for this blog is to reach 500 subscribers, so if you are reading this and haven’t yet subscribed. Please can you subscribe and ill be sure to follow your post.

Heres my photos from today, I hope you like them! and im sorry if I keep moaning about being ill!

B274-1 — – trying to get the timeline rendered by the time the train pulled into paddington didnt happen, I literally had my laptop open on the tube –

B274-1-2 — – arriving back in Bethnal Green –

B274-1-5 — – the Curry apperently smelt amazing ( my nose is blocked so I didnt know)

B253 – MUSIC NOT FOR RENTAL !

December 13, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

Yesterday I watched an interview with Noel Gallagher, where he talked about streaming music and how now days music is for rental, where as music should be for sale. a Transaction between the artist and fan willing to part with money to buy the music and art that comes on the front cover, its a way of telling the real fans from the one time listeners. and I kind of agree with that, but I do have a Spotify account and I do use it daily, who doesn’t?

With my project I’m currently doing focusing on London’s music scene it would be wrong of me not to explore the world of record shops and the passion that goes into them, in todays market owning a record store is like putting two figures up to the internet and counting on those passionate music fans who will trek out to you store during a cold winters night to buy a record or CD, when they could just as easy stream it on Spotify then go an buy it off the Amazon App and have it at their house the next day.

But once you step into the a record store like the one I went to yesterday you soon realise why people do it, its an experience. your welcomed by thousands of actual objects all of which have a story, most have bumps of signs of wear but that just adds to the fact your standing in a musical archive flicking through all those years and years of history and culture. its this weird thing that makes you feel closer to the artist or band, your now physically scrolling through their work, trying to find that gem that no ones else has found yet, and not only are you not sure if its worth it but you cant listen to it till you get home.

My trip yesterday took me to Music and video exchange in Notting Hill, just by the Russian embassy, I wanted to go to some where out of central London, where the shop has no choice but to let the music do the talking. my first thoughts where to head into Soho or even Brick Lane but they would of been busy with people and most are pretty new shops, where as this one in Notting Hill is like stepping into a time portal and heading back 50 years.

If you have a chance go to your local Record store and just say Hi and listen to some music, I guarantee you’ll enjoy it and might even find something you weren’t expecting. I ended up buying a CD by The Manic Street Preachers and as I write this I’m listening to it, and trust me its a whole different way to experience music, before it was an automatic thing, just stream it on my phone and listen to hours of music going in one ear and out the other. Now its a physical thing and its something that has much more of an impact. Oh and I literally paid £1 for it! you cant even get a bottle of water at the shop next door for that!!!!!!

Heres my photos from inside the store, I hope you like them.

B253-1-3 — – this is Neil, he works in the store and is the vintage version of Google. he is your answer to any music related question –

B253-1-2 — – trying to find a gem inbetween all of this, its all about investing time to get the result you want –

B253-1-4 — – most people would walk past this store, but make the trip inside –

B245 – I GOT KICKED OUT

December 5, 2017December 5, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

Yesterday was a bit of a funny day, after I sat down to get all my work done I decided to go and to the apple store and have a bit of a geek out at a macbook pro and see what its like, as I do with any outing I took my camera. My idea for yesterday was to shop what shopping malls are like when christmas hits and normal middle age people turn into packs of wolves as they run around the shops trying to get presents.

Well after pulling out my camera and taking a photo I security guard taps me on the shoulder and basically says you cant take photos in stratford and escorts me to the door. the good news is I did manage to have a look at the new macbook pro, the bad news is I was planning on doing a few more things there, but I suppose they will just have to wait.

The other thing is all year ive been saying how much I want to take December and January off for christmas and to have a bit of break, now that time is actually here I’m like a week into not having constant work and already I’m getting a bit antsy. I know I should enjoy this time and just watch a few box sets and chill out, but for some reason my brain just wont stop. maybe I just need to make myself lay in front to the television and stop. Is it too early to start thinking about christmas? or should I still be trying to sort out work? I know I should enjoy my (f)un-empolyment while I can, but part of me is ready to get back out there and work again.

lets just see how this meeting goes this morning and make a decision after that.

Here are my photos from yesterday, I still have my picture from inside westfeilds. so here it is.

B245-1 — – one of the lasts photos i managed to take in westfeilds –

B245-1-4 — – the new light in the living room looks pretty cool –

B245-1-3 — – our attempt at a christmas tree –

B244 – THAT WAS A FIRST

December 4, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

This post is a bit late, I kind of over slept this morning and have only just work it, its like 11:30, its literally felt so good to sleep but I hate waking up at this time. Im going to try and get today back on track and get productive in what ever I do. Yesterday was a proper early start and when your drinking red bull at 8am you know the next day is going to be tough so I suppose its ok to sleep in till this time.

yesterday I worked on my first E-sports championship, thats basically where people battle it out on Iphone games, the worlds best at Clash Royals came together to complete for the grand prize of £150,000!!!!! thats people playing an Iphone game to win £150k! I never thought this would be the future, but computer games are now big business, I actually got really into it, I still haven’t downloaded the game but I think that could all change this afternoon.

the other thing that was pretty good about yesterday is I got to ride a bike down the cannel on my way home, its was an earlish finish and I was on my way at like 4:30, so the light wasn’t completely dark yet, when I could run I spent quite a lot of time on the cannel in the dark, either in the morning or at night, so it was good to be back on this path way. I really wanted to get a good shot of this place but unfortunatly I couldn’t get the camera still enough to slow the shutter down enough to grab all the light, but I still think I did an ok job.

My plan now is to take some amazing photos and really up my game for today, but before I can go out an play with my camera I’ve got a fair bit of paperwork to get through. hopefully I get everyone done my 4ish.

Here are my photos from yesterday.

B244-1 — – the area for the Clash Royal championship final –

B244-1-3 — – a shot looking down the cannel, look at the boris bike light! –