Category: holiday

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? –

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 –

 

 

 

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! –

 

B331 – THE BEAST FROM THE EAST

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So earlier on as I spoke to my parents on Facetime, showing them the snow fall in Bethnal green and also updating them on how I was feeling, which by the way was a little better but still not great, I told my mum how much I wanted to go outside and take photos, she reminded me that it probably wasnt the best idea and all I would probably do is make myself more ill. But everyone knows that when your parents say the words “dont do it” your next move is to do the exact opposite, if I had listened to her then surely that would of made the past 24 years of havoc and mayhem completely pointless and thats not something Im about todo.

So I put a 5 minute timer on, took some more paracetamol, grabbed my jacket and headed down to Bethnal green road. Thats where the timer comes in, i didnt want to spend too much time outside for obvious reason but I needed to see what this snow storm looked like and how people were dealing with it. One of the best things I saw on my quick trip outside was when the lad on a boris bike cycling past me, going slower than a pederstian but do you know what? I was jealous, Jealous that he was grabbing this weather by the balls and taking a boris bike of a few laps, thats the kind of things I used todo! cycling in snow is a great way to pull some sick skids and have a good laugh at the same time, but for some reason that didnt even cross my mind, I’m not sure if its because Im not in the best shape at the moment or what, but thats a brilliant idea and next snow day I am 100% making a blog post about cycling in the snow.

Being sat here on the sofa for a few days now Ive been doing quite alot of thinking about my life style and kind of realising that I cant carry on working extra long days surviving off Haribo and Coffee, I really need to start looking after my temple and keep in shape not so I look good on a beach but more so I can carry on working and maintain the energy needed. thats why this weekend im doing what I never thought I would do and signing up for a gym, somewhere I can go twice a week and keep in shape, Im also going to go and get a sport massage and see if we can get this leg of mine sorted. for too long now Ive side tracked it, but not this weekend! this weekend is all about getting me strong enough so I don’t have to take sick days. I know that sounds weird but I actually really enjoy working.

Anyway heres some pictures of Bethnal Green Road in a snow storm.

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– this type of weather is pretty cool –
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– I love this guys determination! –
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– shes not letting a bit of weather stop her!

B329 – NEED TO ORGANISE YOUR PHOTOS AND VIDEOS? HERES SOME TIPS!

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So I have some news, Im pretty sure that im Ill but not like normal man flu ill. I feel like death. Right now its all about survival  and my body has decided that its probably best to shut up shop and get some good sleep. so thats what im going todo. Its pretty Ironic that I thought the last push when i passed the 300 day mark would be a walk in the park, oh how I was wrong. Im pretty sure that the next 46 days are going to be full on and pretty difficult to take three photos each day but im determined to power on and somehow make it to the end, right now though its all about just kicking this virus.

So the plan for today post Im going to dive deep into my photo archive and see what I can pull up from my early photography days, lets see what there is… my top tip is to archive everything, keep it logged because these photos and video are important content and some day youll want to look at it back and think about those cool moments. My photo archive is still pretty much all over the place but it is getting better, I have a rough understanding of where everything is and for me that is perfect. You dont need an excel spread sheet or anything too crazy. The secrete top tip is just to dump everything in files, you can call it anything you like. from “Birthday Party 2016” to “summer 2017 shots” and back them up onto two separate drives, keep everything in two places and youll be fine. Media Management is important and as long as you can figure your system out then that all that matters.

If your someone out there who knows that your media storage is terrible and all over the place drop me an email to joshfspear@icloud.com and lets come up with a way to organise it all and keep your files safe! trust me you will thank me later! no money needed just good Karma!

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this sheep looks how I wish I felt – 5 Aug’16 in the Lake District
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because everyone love Holland – 28th Sep 2016 at the Hague
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– and this place because I dont think anyone could sit here and not appreciate that window – Prada Museum -17 July 2016 – Province of Novara – Milan

 

B325 – 70 HOURS A WEEK

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Theres a few things that for me a blog post should consist of, they should be something thats easy to read, enjoyable and probably include some sort of useful advise and like a lot of posts that people read online, they are. they are normally full of facts, great pictures of the weather and someone fashionable standing in the foreground, looking like they’re drifting through life going from designer shops to first Class lounges, week after week.

If only I could tell that story, I wish this was a place where I could show on a off my life and keep the content factor at its best but I suppose that in a normal life and in a blog thats posted everyday, something you just have to expect defeat and move on. today is that day, I have had another early start and hadnt really stopped to think about this blog until I was stood in Tescos looking at the fridge section trying to decide if I was going to have chicken or fish for dinner. So I did what any other normal person would do and heeaded straight for the wine section, after a long day everything is better with a good bottle of wine. Thats when it came to me, why dont I just show all those amazing Bloggers and Vloggers out there, what working 70 hour weeks looks like and yes in one of my photos you can see a hole in my sock emerging. I suppose im like the working class blogger of the internet, and thats kind of something Im pretty proud of, Ive managed to somehow fit this posts into my day and to be honest Im not really sure how Ive managed to do it.

Well for all of you out there, I would of shown you a picture of how my dinner turned out, but I really want to get to bed and im sorry but right now thats my priority. please dont hate and and please come and visit again, your all amazing for even reading this far!

Heres my photos I hope you like them!

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– this is me with my feet up on the sofa, watching TV as I write this post –
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– I came home from work to see Amy powering through with work too. There must be something wrong with us, because we dont seem to stop –
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– Dinner is served, just add some Paprika, Cumming and thyme and your sorted –

 

B311 – SUCH A GOOD PLACE TO PHOTOGRAPH.

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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.

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

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I really like photographing things made of this type of concrete they look so cool –

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– low tide of the canal –

B307 – HELP THE HOMELESS – SECOND SHOT COFFEE

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Think I need to start this by saying that the meal was a success, I managed to get through it without an awkward moments and not a single drink split. So Ive come away feeling like it went well. Its now like 10pm on sunday and Im trying to write this and stay awake, Ive got to be up pretty early tomorrow and catch a train up north for the day, which I’m kind of looking forward to as its getting out of London for the day. As much as I love this city, I also love getting out and seeing parts of the UK, and tomorrow I get to see my old friend the Virgin Train economy coach.

With having a meal with some of Amy’s family that I haven’t met before, the plan for todays photos was to take them before we met everyone, so I didn’t have to worry about getting photos during and after the meal. Luckily my mind was in full creative mode and I managed to snaps some cool photos on the way to Wembley. My idea was also to use the Iphone as the 5d might have been a bit too big to bring along. I actually love the Iphone for taking photos, it makes life so much easier. the idea that I have a really good camera just a finger swipe up on a screen, has been a life saver for this blog and I don’t think I could have got this far without it. So for that Steve Jobs I thank you.

I hope everyone likes the photos today, my plan for this last stretch of the 365 daily posts is to really develop my writing and photo skills. I don’t have to get complacent and to see how much I can really improve, I think the trick is to read more and to concentrate to composition, put more thought into the direction of the writing and how it relates to the photos I take. Thats just my sunday night thinking, hope everyone had a good weekend. much love and all that!

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– Second shot coffe shop on Bethnal Green road, a coffee shop that helps the homeless. you can buy coffees and food for the homeless and they make sure they get to the right people. you also get the draw on the wall. Can you tell which drawing is mine? –
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– amy doing business on a sunday –
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– a shot from Wembley looking back on the train tracks from the bridge –

B301 – MONDAY NIGHT FOOD

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So yesterday was my first day of work and as a result I did the same thing as everyone else in London. I stopped off at Sainsburys and starred at the oven pizzas thinking that because its Monday I might as well go for it, well that maybe something I would have done in 2017 but its now 2018 and Im determined to cook as much as possible, nothing to crazy each night, not like some weird roast beef with home made horse radish, more like the dish I went for last night which was actually really easy and cheap.

for those of you at Ive talked to about cooking, you probably know that Ive been using the Yummly app, which is basically somewhere I am getting all my recipes from and last night was no exception. The meal I decided to cook was called “Summer In Winter Chicken” I like to call it – Pesto Creamy Chicken. And its actually really straight forward.

the ingredients were:

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

200 grams cherry tomatoes (pack)

3 tablespoons pesto

3 tablespoons crème fraîche (half fat is fine)

fresh basil (if you have it)

and then you literally just follow these simple steps and your done:

  1. Heat the oil in a frying pan, preferably non-stick. Add the chicken and fry without moving it until it takes on a bit of colour. Turn the chicken and cook on the other side. Continue cooking for 12-15 mins until the chicken is cooked through. Season all over with a little salt and pepper.
  2. Halve the tomatoes and throw them into the pan, stirring them around for a couple of minutes until they start to soften. Reduce the heat and stir in the pesto and crème fraîche until it makes a sauce. Scatter with a few basil leaves if you have them, then serve with rice and salad or mash and broccoli.

I left out the Broccoli, because I forgot and decided that I would have it wish some mash potato, which was just because I had some potatos in the fridge. If you cant be bothered to cook one night, give this dish a try.

Its now Tuesday morning and Im just getting ready for work and about to attack this day, I forgot how hard it is to photograph during the day when your working so maybe Ill just have todo loads more of my favourite food recipes, otherwise we could start to run into some stressful evening chucking fairy lights round Amys check and taking some photos of her.

Heres my photos from yesterday. Enjoy

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– the walk to works isnt that bad really –
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– this is mid cook, pesto and creme freche now involved –
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– doesnt look that good, but it did the job –

B299 – FOOD ENVY?!!? IS IT A REAL THING?

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Yesterday was a proper good little Saturday, it was one of those days which is kind of full of stuff, after a good meeting in Richmond yesterday morning, i was then back to where I belong in lovely east London, to get ready for a kind of date night with the bird (Amy).

When you have to travel across London only using public transport you start to see how cool looking the underground actually is, when I used to think of things I would like to photograph and places, I would always think of places like New Yorks Subway or some weird jungle in Asia. but really if you just look around London and your kind of immediate environment then there is actually quite a lot to photograph. I dont have to travel 5000 miles to find something cool, I mean I wouldn’t mind travelling 5000 miles to take some photographs, but Im also happy to explore London more and get photos of things I use everyday. Thats a kind of insight into my thinking this morning, tomorrow it will probably change, but for now thats whats going through my head.

I have to say as well, date night was a success. We went for a meal at Burger and Lobster, which is kind of this chain restaurant in London, I definitely had food envy over Amy. I always seem to get food envy on date night, its like I just always order wrong. Amy had the lobster roll and I went for the Lobster Burger and it just wasn’t in the same league as Amy’s Lobster roll. does anyone know if Food envy is a psychological thing or if some times we just order wrong? that is my 2018 question.

After a really fun meal, we then went on to meet her brother and brothers girl friend for a drink before we ended up in some Gay club in Soho, not too sure what happened there, but those were the cards we were dealt so we just had to go with it and boogie on down!

Its now sunday and by far the best day of the week, theres quite a lot planned today so looking forward to seeing how the day pans out!

here are my photos from yesterday, enjoy.

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– I really wish Maplin’s was still open, could of done with getting a few things –
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– I just like this photo, taken on Brick Lane, one of the coolest streets in London
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– stopping to take a photo on the underground is something I havent really done before. Normally I just try to get through those places as quick as possible –