Category: travel

B295 – IT WAS A NICE DAY ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.

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Today we had my grandad’s funeral, its days like this which aren’t always the easiest things to include in this photo blog thing, but I suppose its just what happened today and I have to write something to go along with the photos. Firstly I think you’ve got to give my nan credit where credits due, it was a pretty good day and she definitely pulled it out the bag with regards to the organising, it must have been a pretty hard emotionally to sort out but she did it with flying colours.

My plan for today was not to photograph any of the actually funeral that probably wouldn’t of been ok, but my dad asked me to grab some photos of the wake so that was my opportunity to grab some nice shots. One of the highlights has to have been the Portuguese cream Tarts which were Grandads’ favourites, so that being the case I got a good photo of my nan and dad having a little toast with a cream cake. Its those moments that I like to remember from the days like today.

What you have to like about funerals is they are kind of highlight packages of someones life, people come together and talk about all those good moments and times that have defined the kind of life that was lived. Today we heard old friends and close family talk in such a nice and genuine way about how he had shaped their lives and how proud friends of 30 or 40 years were to have known him from his work ethic to how he and my nan raised three children. He always wanted the best for all of them and had the determination and structure to make sure that they grew into respected adults and in turn gave my dad, aunty and uncle the tools needed to kind of shape all the gran children into the people we are today, so I think I can say from all of us “kids” cheers gramps. Oh and thanks for the pocket watch.

I wish you could have seen us all grow into adults and join us on this weird journey that people call life, but that wasn’t the case. You were loved by many and will be missed by us all.

Peace out.

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– cheers with a Portuguese Cream Tarts –
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– Not sure what Phoebe was saying but i’m sure Michele got the jist of it –
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– its only right that when in the New Forest you get a photo with a horse –
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– not sure who this lady was but she wanted a photo with the red lion, I was happy to make that happen –

 

B293 – I NEED TODO BETTER

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Having a bit of a lazy Monday morning today, its like 12 O’ clock and I’m still in bed. I am doing work but I’m still holed up refusing to get up. I think this kind of behaviour is fine as long as I’m still getting stuff done, you don’t need to be out of bed at 7am and cracking on right? some days you can do what needs to be done laying flat in a warm bed, I put it down to the perks of Freelance life.

Today I’m going back to some thing I haven’t done for like 100 days, that is the Iphone challenge, what i do it look through my Iphone to see what photos I might have on there that I can use for todays post, I also try to see a good photo and then just take it on my Iphone quickly to store it up for when I have days like these. As Im still at my parents house I want to try and get out later and give mooney (my dog) a good old walk, go out into the country side and see whats going on. maybe try and get some cool landscape photos, I know that its better to get up really early for that kind of thing, but I’ve missed the boat on that one now, so I suppose Ill just have to go this afternoon before it gets dark.

I think how I have to move forward with this blog is the day before I need to give my self a goal for the next day, like right tomorrow I’m going to photograph people or tomorrow is all about Landscape. that is probably the best way to move forward, so each day Ive got the goals and I know what i need todo, because right now Im not thinking about the next day till it gets here and I realise Ive missed an opportunity or something. Maybe Im getting to complacent, time I stepped my game up a bit more.

Thats my conclusion from today, here are my photos, enjoy!

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– this is a photo of the long walk ways at Bank station, its like human rabbit holes down there –
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– bristol train station at the beginning of the year –
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– that time I was at the British Library –

 

B291 – LUMIERE LONDON 2018

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Every now and again something happens and you quickly realise that you haven’t or cant do a job or an idea half as good as you would like to, basically missed an opportunity. Thats literally how I feel about my photos yesterday.

Basically this all started when i walked out of Oxford Street Tube station on my way to a pub in Soho. When I came out of the exit I was met by this like of 40ft multi coloured moon type art installation, it was the Lumiere London Festival. This is basically a free festival around London where at night these crazy art installations are set up that basically help people to get through the hardest month of the year, January. Seeing the captial lite up by neon lights and crazy ideas is a dream and a perfect scenario for someone like me how enjoys taking photos.

well obviously the weekend that they decided to do this was the one time I had left the house without a camera and then the next day leaving London, so the only photos I managed to take were on my Iphone. Ive now spent the morning looking through instagram at all the cool installations that people have seen and jealous that I haven’t used this kind of thing to my advantage! I suppose Ill just have to wait till next year!

It does make me think though how cool is London that they just decide to throw out some cool free festival that adds a sense of humour and art to this city. Well done Mr Sadiq Khan, I think this kind of stuff should happen 365 days a year.

In other news Im still backing up hard drives to a master drive, it appears Ive got a lot of photos and videos that are spread across 4 hard drives, so now I’m trying to consolidate all that down to a RAID. this is what Saturday mornings are about!

Heres my photos from the installation at Oxford street yesterday.

If you are in London this weekend and want to know more about this, check out the link below it will explain all!

http://www.cityam.com/278942/lumiere-london-everything-you-need-know-weekends-festival

There is also an App which will help you track down the right places to go and see.  https://www.visitlondon.com/lumiere/plan-your-visit/app#YGvDj81UcOWc6fMx.97

Im jealous of everyone who goes and gets involved!

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– this thing should be here all year round –
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– I wish I had my 5d, could of taken some really cool shots –
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– my attempted to photograph people taking a photo of the moon –

 

 

B290 – CREDIT WHERE CREDITS DUE

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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.

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– thats the kind of crackling we are talking about –
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– a bit of a posh apple sauce smudge –
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– it was a strong 8.9 out of ten I would say –

 

B289 – AM I A FRAUD?

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Im not too sure on something, if I take photos on a digital camera and then edit them on Photoshop to make them look vintage is that being a bit of a fraud? I’ve just learnt this new technique and Im not sure if it makes me look like my film photo skills are better than they are, because as a lot of people know my 35mm skills are terrible. it probably doesn’t matter, because well I suppose I can do what I like.

The other day I took a trip over the Ridely Road Market to have a bit of a walk around and take some photos, shooting in places like this can be really hard because no one there wants to have there photo taken, so if they see my with my camera walking around taking photos they start to get a bit edgy, so the plan is to walk around quickly and just snap and move.

Ridley road market is a pretty cool place to go though because its like one of the last really working class markets that i can think of which is kind of central, that and Peticoat lane market, that place is on my list so maybe Ill have a little trip over there and take some photos. the only problem is that my camera is maybe a bit too big to take to these place, it maybe draws to much attention, what I might do is just go with my iphone and do like some iphone photos. I haven’t really done that in a while so maybe its time to get the phone out again.

got a pretty fun Thursday, meeting someone to talk through some ideas I have for a video thats going to get made later in the year and off to my mates house for a three course meal, hes trying to up his cooking skills so going to cook me some Pork belly. Should be a fun Thursday. Still going strong on Dry January!!!

 

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– that vintage look is something I really like at the moment –
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– maybe I just need to bite the bullet and buy a film camera –
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– it definitely adds some effect to this daily blog –

B286 – INSTAGRAM AND THE WORLD OF INSTA-PHOTOS

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Yesterday was Sunday and on Sunday I met up was out and about taking photos for someone who had put a post out looking for a photographer to collaborate with. It was literally the first time Ive ever said yes to something like this and to be honest it was actually pretty fun, the “instagramer” I met up with was this girl whos just moved to london from Brodeaux in France. and as Im really trying to shoot more people and portrait style photos it was perfect.

Trying to choose a location in London has to be one of the funniest parts about a shoot, I

love brainstorming locations and trying to find the location that best suites an idea of style, my choice of location yesterday was going to be the Barbican Centre, Aline wanted to shoot somewhere with tall building and an urban feel and in really the Barbican is perfect for that. It also has quite a lot of water and I like to shoot near water. At the moment my think with portrait photos is that they look a million times better if you incorporate an element into them like water or fire. I would love to include fire into a photo, so please anyone ready this that might be able to breath fire, please let me know!!!

I think from now on I’m going to try and concentrate this blog to photographing people as much as possible. from shop owners to dancers, I really want to cover the whole spectrum of people. theres like 6 million people in London, so if I cant find people to photograph, I must be doing something wrong.

Also sorry this post is last, I got a bit carried away editing the photos from yesterday. it took a bit longer than I expected. Im now not too sure what my plan is going to be today, I definetly think I should pick up my camera and head out for a few hours, maybe Ill have a shower and think up some cool ideas.

Heres some photos from yesterday, I hope you like them.

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– @alineadjemian go give her a follow –
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– the barbican is probably one of my favourite places in London –
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– Im learning so much about instagram photos at the moment, its not as simple as you might think –

B285 – THE BIG GUYS BIRTHDAY

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Yesterday was the big man’s aka my dads 60th birthday party / gathering thing at their house. which was a really good day, the whole side of his family were showed up including his mum, brother and sister, so it was kind of a Spear party. but as I’m doing dry January I was sticking to the cups of tea and occasional orange juice, but even still it was good to see the family that I haven’t really seen in a few years.

I idea behind yesterday was that because he’s reached the grand old age of 60 that for his birthday he should get 60 presents to open, yep thats 60 presents. so the everyone chipped in and had to bring either 15 or 13 presents each, im not sure what the exact number of presents need to each person but I just knew I need to get 13. what was really good is that everyone got  loads of different stuff from bonsi tree seeds to my brilliant gift of 13 bottles of his favourite water. It goes without saying that the best part of the day hands down has to go to the cake, and that was all thanks to my sister who pulled it out of the bag and amazingly got someone else to make it. but nether the less, the cake was like 6 layers of pure chocolate heaven, I kind of wish that I brought some back with me last night, it would of been perfect for breakfast this morning.

This morning Amy and me are back at the flat and up kind of early, im off to take some photos for someone, and Amy’s got a pretty busy day too. but as long as we manage to fit a roast dinner in there at some point ill be happy.

Heres my photos from today, I hope you like them!

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– now thats what you call a cake –
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– the big guy aka Ganrad –
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– Nanny B and the kids –
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– 60 presents, look how good those bottle of waters look –
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-Nanny B and Richard and lynne + Mathew –
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– Nanny B again, Mathew and the little monster that we all call Florence –

B283 – NOT AGAIN!!!!!

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its now Friday and its mid day, im writing this post after one of those mornings that I think has destroyed me and also taken a big stress of my shoulders. It all started at like 7am this morning, I woke up and was kind of excited to get outside and start running again, not going fast or trying to beat my record but just to ran in the mornings around Victoria Park, its that time of day when its still a bit chilly but it feels fresh and everything think is just starting to wake up.

well that exactly that time and at exactly 0.62 miles into my run, I realised that my leg is still not fixed. I tried to carry on for another hundred meters but then remembered that I should listen to my body not that part of my head that tells me to man up and carry on. It was at that point that I decided its time to stop sit on a park bench and google groin stretches. I tried them all, and nothing it still hurts. so I’m pretty much back to square one, only this time I’m not on crutches.

I admitted defeat, and slowly walked home. where I ran a hot bath and tried to think of a way to sort this mess out, after a quick phone call to my mum and maybe a little tear, I decided to have a nap. I had officially been chewed up and spat out by life. Exercising to me is that one thing that no matter what your situation is it will always tell you the truth about your self, and make you work harder. not for money or a promotion but just to do better than what I did last time. thats whats most annoying about this situation, I create goals in my head for running, and now I cant reach them. I need to go back to the drawing board and figure out how I can get there. My main goal in running is to run an Ultra Marathon, I want to reach that target of running an 70 to 100 mile race and was kind of hoping in the back of my head that could be a 2019 thing. but now I really need to think about my body and options.

Sorry this post is a bit of my plabbering on and sorry if I sound like a hypochondriac recently, I just want to blame that all on the worst month of the year. January. It wouldnt have been write if there was some sort of sloppy post, and this is just going to be it.

heres some more photos from that gig the other day, its worth the post and I like them.

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– looking forward to getting back to their next gig –
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– playing the guitar with a index finger wrap up cant be that easy –
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– Tayne Band, give them a listen –

B282 – ABOUT LAST NIGHT

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I kind of fell like my idea of posting these each day at 10am has completely gone out the window so far for 2018. but todays post is late again, not because I was laying in bed asleep, but mainly because I’ve been sat here editing photos from last night and time just ended up getting away from me.

Last night I was at a gig over in Camden at a kind of famous venue, The Lock Tavern. If youve ever been to the round house, then the chances are you would of walked past this venue. its a small pub on the left hand side of the round if your walking up from camden high street. Its a venue that is so easy to walk past, its literally on the corner of the road and just looks like any normal pub, but if you were to walk upstairs is a completely different vibe and always seems to have really interesting bands playing.

Through the powers of instagram and email, for the past few months Ive been speaking with a band called Tayne, the are a kind of an experimental, noise, pop genre that kind of make up there own rules which makes them so much better. One minute there setting up and getting ready to play, next the lead singer Matt Sutton has taken his shoes and top off, and they are absolutely slashing the guitar and syncs. Its refreshing to hear a band just get up there and do exactly what they want, no holding back. Its a shame that all I can do to show you what last night was like is post up here some photos, they play pretty heavy music but it all seems to work out, nothing is about them just being loud or over powering. they create songs that work.

Im happy that I’m back on track with this project that I’m working on and looking forward to all the future gigs that I’m planning on going too.

Here are some of my favourite photos from yesterday.

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– One of my favourite photos from last night –
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– really good gig, Wednesday night should always go like this –
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– cut his finger open, plays on… –
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– really worth the trip, next gig is on feb 1st. be there or be square –

B281 – GET OUT OF BED JOSH!

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My thinking for todays post was that over the past few days Ive taken some good photos and instead of leaving them in my hard drive to one day my post on instagram, Ill use today as a day to post them. After all it is Wednesday and probably like me have that mid week feeling.

Today hasn’t started exactly how I wanted it too, the plan for today was to wake up at like 7am and go for a run, then start my day. Well its now 10:30am and Im still in bed, so not the best start to the day but Im planning on pulling it back with a day full of something productive. Before the end of last year I started a big photography project on music cultures in London and today I get back in the zone and shoot a band later on in Camden called Tayne Band. they are playing at the lock tavern in Camden, so it should be a good little gig.

but right now my plan is to get out of bed and go on the run that I was supposed todo this morning, I said I would ran 2.5 miles three times a week this year and I can fail at the second hurdle. Ive got to at least make it through January.  the plan is just to put the running shoes on then I don’t have an excuse not to go, because the shoes are already on my feet.

Ive also got a little video I need to start editing, so maybe today is a good time to sit down and get that done, its one of those projects where again, until i sit down and say ” I’m not leaving this seat till its done” I wont finish it, so maybe today and tomorrow Ill dedicate to getting it done.

Sorry if this seems like I’m just sat here procrastinating, because well I think I am but I will not give in to the powers of Netflix or some other kind of TV series.

Here are some of my other favourite photos from the past few days.

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– don’t fall over amy?
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– if only this shot was in focus –
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– amy trying to take a serious photo as the security guard was walking over to tell us we were allowed to take photos there –