Uncategorized – Page 19

B166 – COOL SIDE OF AMERICA – NIGHT TIME. MID WEST. P2

September 16, 2017September 16, 2017 joshfspear1 Comment

this is the first day of my mini project Cool side of Unknown America inside of the 3 photos a day project. the plan is to show the of the tourist trail america, just the suburbs and where locals go and what day to day life is like. for my first day I wanted to show night time in St. charles. this historic town dates back to 1796 and if your ever round here you have to try the toasted ravioli on main street. I think I mentioned it yesterday, but this stuff is worth checking out.

On the way back to the hotel from location today, there was a sign that apparently ready “Cool stuff, cheap”. well as my first photo project is called cool side of unknown america, it was only right I waited for it to get dark and then go take some snaps of it to open this project up properly! thank you Libby for pointing that sign out!

I wanted my first shoot to be a night time one, I think photography at night is not the easiest thing, but when the light hits a certain focual point it really opens the photo up, it creates some sort of mystery to the rest of the image and tells a story in its self. when you take away all the light and only have a small outline of a object or person in the for ground and then something lite up at the back of the shot. for me it adds a whole new dimension. that was my thinking tonight, give you guys something to look at a few times and notice something else, maybe something that I havent even seen. a lot of the time, I just take a photo by accident and the somehow that turns out to be one of my favourite. for these photos Ive got the ISO pretty high, because I need it for light but I also like the grainy look it gives these photos especially because they are black and white.

I would love to hear what people think of these photos, I might just be a bit delirious after work and none of this make sense and for that I’m sorry!

Heres my snaps, enjoy.

B166 (1 of 1)-3 — – its the perfect picture to get this project started –

B166 (1 of 1)-4 — – I know its weird but ive always wanted to come to one of these –

B166v1 (1 of 1) — – photographing motor bikes is just fun –

B165 – The Cool Side of Unknown America – photography project

September 15, 2017September 15, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

So today was has been my best day so far, I had 146 views. so thank you to everyone who checked my post out. which is putting me on target of getting 12,000 overall views for the whole year I’m doing this photo challange, which is probably annoying a lot of you with my posts each’ day. its the end of a long long shoot day in pretty hot temperatures here is St.louis missouri, and for once im pretty happy to be in the best western hotel room. anit nothing wrong with some cheap bed sheets and thin walls.

its days like this were I really cant think of any to write and the urge to fall asleep is taking over. the last 45 mintues has been spent editing photos ive quickly taken through out the day, i really cant complain becuase im pretty happy with them. my plan before I came out to america was to just take nice photos each day. but that plan has kind of changed, as im here working and meeting people that you wouldn’t meet everyday, I think my plan now is to show life in america away from the tourist routes, like New York, LA, Nashville and Florida. I want to try and get across what everyday america looks like, from the cool little houses, to the massive stretches of roads. All of that is important, it gives an under the cover look at america. for a country with so much personality and with the constant cool factor, it think I should concentrate on showing the cool side to unknown america. maybe thats what I will call this project within a porject. “THE COOL SIDE OF UNKNOWN AMERICA”. great brainstorming session guys, youve really helped me to nail this one. for the rest of my time in american, Im going to try and show you the cool side to this great and crazy country.

If this fails in 5 days time, im sorry. but heres my first snaps from this project inside a project. I think for day one of cool unknown america, I should show where people live and the roads they use. this is never going to be political photos, just cool pictures from inside the bigger picture of america. I dont even know what im going to write about for the daily posts, but im sure we will figure it out. if you have anything you think I should include, please let me know.

165 (1 of 1) — – the view from my room, this morning there was “loads of fog” they should see biggin hill in January! –

B165 (1 of 1) — – over here the car is king and more importantly the pick up truck is in charge, everyone uses the pick up truck –

165 (1 of 1)-2 — – the most american house I ever did see, it ever had a swinging chair on the porch –

B164 – THE DAY I LOST 20,000 PHOTOS.

September 14, 2017September 14, 2017 joshfspear1 Comment

20,000. Thats the number of photos I may have lost today. my hard drive that I’ve been using for the past 2 months has gone down. its not being recognised in any computer. Im pretty sure its the SATA bridge but there no way to know until I get back to the UK and can run some tests, so I wont know for certain until the 29th if Ive lost those photos. Now, no one comment “did you not back them up” because I have, and at home I have two back ups for all my photos, just not any back ups from the last two months. I was going to back up those 90 days when I got back. I try to back up every month but to be honest I just havent for the past two months. this isn’t a lesson, this is just a test to see how good I am at digging myself out of a crappy situation. I got this. this is just what technology does, it breaks and goes down without any warning. I was using a professional 1TB LaCie Rugged, and its just gone down.

Im praying to god that I can fix this when I get back, by simply switching out the SATA bridge with one off Amazon or ebay. heres a link to the one I will probably buy.

https://www.amazon.com/IO-Crest-SY-ADA20079-Adapter-Cable/dp/B0057UAB2K/ref=sr_1_25?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1505357243&sr=1-25&keywords=sata+bridge

All I need todo is unscrew the casing of the drive and then disconnect the actually hard drive from the SATA to USB bridge that will be at one end and then plug it into my new one that you’ve brought of Amazon. easy.

if the same thing has happened to you, heres some tips: make sure you buy the right bridge, because depending on if you have 2.5 inch drive or a 3inch drive that will depend on what replacement you get). its easy todo and im pretty sure anyone can it do. please drop me a message at joshfspear@icloud.com with your make and model or the broken drive and I will help you to find the correct part.

Im writing this post to help anyone else who might be in this problem and has had a drive go down. its possible the worst feeling when you’ve lost content that you think is not recoverable. Im not saying its 100% that I’m going to be able to get it all back and if I cant I will be paying someone to do. it has added about 10 times more stress to my day and to this blog challenge!

to everyone else, read this and then go and back up all your content. please just do it for me. If I have lost all those photos I’ve taken on the first half of this trip, trust me they were probably the best photos you would ever of seen! they were incredible.

anyway heres some cool photos I took today in and around historic downtown st Charles just outside of St Louis. its about a 40 minute drive and is worth it. the street is full of cool little shops and is famous for its fried Ravioli, we wanted to try it last night but ended up with a burrito. tomorrow it is on the cards. enjoy these photos and let me know what you think.

164 (1 of 1) — – this man was just sitting on the curb drawing on his diggery do –

164 (1 of 1)-3 — – this car looks like something out of a movie –

164 (1 of 1)-2 — – cant beat a good sunset shot –

B163 – watch out for boxer bombs

September 13, 2017September 13, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

For a day off its been pretty busy, we started off at some place called gringos which is this crazy store that sells just about everything you could imagine from life size giraffes to day of the dead napkins. its one of those cool stores that goes on forever and sells everything. the weirdest thing is they have a sign on the floor warning you of dog poo from these two shop dogs called Darren and Darren, im not joking they gave two dogs the same name! if your ever on Shaw street in St louis by the botanical Gardens you cant miss this shop, stop by and say hello. the people who run it our legends.

After the first stop we moved onto the Botanical Gardens for a little adventure, its so strange how just by walking around plants and stuff can be so relaxing, i’m definitely changing my bath room at home into a forest. it would literally change the game up so much, I dont think I have any other option than to buy a bunch of plants and stick them in my bathroom. Im going to draw a few sketch’s for when I get back and hit the ground running.

Some time after we left the Botanical Gardens, we made a decision to head down town and check out St louis, we basically ended up at the baseball park, trying to buy tickets for the game this evening against Cincinnati reds, after we got hold of some tickets, we had to go to the fan store and by a hat, which in turn ended up with us blowing a bit of money to make us look like die hard fans. I would say its a success and now ive got a cool hat and jumper out of it.

The day off has been a success and now we are ready to get back to work tomorrow and finish off what we have started, “m ready to crack on and make some good TV. right after Ive got a good night sleep and a bowl of lucky charms tomorrow morning.

heres some photos from today. Im right this as the st Louis Cardinals carry on playing, at the moment they are up 13-6, so hopefully they win. I’m now a die hard Cardinals fan and only want the best for my team.

Sorry for any spelling mistakes, Im not going to proof read this.

163 (1 of 1)-11 — – the st louis cardinals –

163 (1 of 1)-2 — – the botanical gardens, st louis –

163 (1 of 1)-12 — – he has know Idea what a boxer bomb is… –

B162 – New day, New state

September 12, 2017September 12, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

That us done with North Carolina, next stop St. Louis Missouri, im currently at the airport watching planes take off at Raleigh Airport with a beer and burger. tomorrow is our first proper no work day off since getting to this side of the world and I actually cant wait. There’s not a definite plan but I think a water park is on the cards.

I have to say that North Carolina has been interesting from their choice of food, its just steak and deep fried fresh asparagus to the amount of guns that everyone has. In the uk you think that people in America might own one or two guns, but everyone I have spoken to seems to have about 20!

I defintatly want to come back to this part of the world not to work and rush around but to just take photos and meet the people. Its one of the those places where everyone has so much to say and its pretty cool to hear peoples views. You can’t agree with everyone but you can hear him or her out. Then make your opinion. I think we could each other learn a lot from each other.

My last day here has been filled with Pancakes, Burgers, Fries and extra large coke. I’ve had a burger for lunch and dinner and now cant wait to find a gym tomorrow and cycle till I fill normal again, its fair to say I’ve eaten the southern way these past few days, and now I’m ready for something that’s been grown and put on my plate with out any sugar or preservatives.

Anyway onto to the next state, I have no idea what Missouri is like and really excited to have a day off there and explore the city. St Louis is meant to be amazing so im looking forward to getting there and not spending the day on a schedule or with a Peli case.

Thank you Goldsboro for the big plates of food and for make me appreciate organic vegetables.

Sorry for the lack in creative photos, today I was just trying to get through it in one piece.

160 (1 of 1) — – the waffle house near downtown Goldsboro –

162 (1 of 1)-3 — – sitting at releigh airport waiting for my plane –

162 (1 of 1)-2 — – getting the back end of the storm over here, so pretty rainy and cold, St louis is meant to be a bit warmer I think –

B161 – Downtown

September 11, 2017September 11, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

this morning a lot of time was spent filming down town, which meant we got to see what life is like in proper Downtown. and to be honest on a Sunday its pretty quite. aperently Goldboro is in the Bible belt, which means strict religious rules, like church on Sundays, no alcohol and all shops are shut. That basically meant we had the town to ourselfs, which was actaully pretty weird, the only other people there were the curious locals watching us, or the one lady who came up and asked “what is that?” while pointing to the camera…

North Carolina has been a tough few days and tomorrow we leave for the next destination, im looking forward to eating some organic food. its tough eating processed food all the time. one question I have for anyone reading this for the south, why are you using polystyrene plates and cutlery to eat? that stuff is bad for the environment and must cost you a fortune! some people east every meal off of polystyrene? why?

I dont want to moan but that is a crazy amount of extra waste, just use china like the rest of us and wash up after. trust me its not that much more time consuming and means you can re-use your plates. I will happily send anyone a link to cheap cutlery if you need help finding it. 70 polystyrene plates are $18, now that will last 2 people a month, or you could by 6 china plates for $30 and they will easily last you a year. and thats 3 each.

on a lighter topic, today I saw my first proper american motor cycle gang unspoken sons, at first they scared the hell out of people and one of them even looked like he was going to kill me or something, the president even introduced himself as Nasty, which didn’t make me to confident but after a quick google this evening I realised that they are actually a massive support of Children’s charities. so I think I’m pretty safe.

Heres my photos, hope you like them.

161 (1 of 1) — – the unspoken sons MC, president a man called Nasty –

161 (1 of 1)-3 — – downtown goldboro after church –

161 (1 of 1)-2 — – a pick up truck cruising through town –

B160 – A NUCLEAR BOMB

September 10, 2017September 10, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

Im currently in a town called Goldsboro in north Carolina, its this small town which falls under the wayne county, form in 1787 by William Whitefeild iii. to be honest this place has got a fair bit of history and something I think is pretty cool to know more about considering the fact that I’m staying here.

One cool fact about this place is todo with a battle that happened here in 1862 called the Battle of Goldborough Bridge. the whole reason for this battle was because both sides wanted to have the strategic possession for the rail road bridge, like a proper western movie. General John Foster turned up at the bridge with his troops on December the 17th, with the sole aim to destroy the position and put a holt to the enemies supply chain from the port of Wilmington. John Foster managed to complete this mission and burned down the bridge on the same day that they arrived, this really annoyed the confederate troops on the other side. they decided to attack General Foster and his troops on their way back to New Bern. which kind of failed because the confederate troops ended off with more causalities that John Fosters men.

Another interesting fact is that in 1961 two NUCLEAR bombs were dropped 12 miles from Goldsboro in the town of Faro, by accident when a B-52 bomber carrying two 3.8 Megaton Hydrogen bombs broke up mid air and went through several stages of detention, one bomb was discovered but the second bomb broke up and it is believed that a big part of Uranium is still in the swamp somewhere. Maybe thats the reason some swamp people have 6 toes and 7 fingers…

Anyway, heres some snaps from today, I really wanted to go with the black and white shots today and shot a normal neighbour in this part of the world.

I hope you like these snaps.

160 (1 of 1)-2 — – Goldsboro, North Carolina –

B159 – SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY

September 9, 2017September 9, 2017 joshfspear4 Comments

So it seems these past few days Ive been in a bit confused as to what day this is of me posting, Ive been sat at my laptop trying to figure out how I messed up counting. but ive figured it out and its all correct now I think.

its my first proper day in the south and its a really cool place, everyone it proper nice and just happy to chat, from the people in Walmart to the guys we are down here filming. At the moment its around 26 degrees, I have no idea what that is in fahrenhiet, but apparently its not too bad for this part of the world, the hurricane has brought down the temperature a bit.

tonight we went to some bar in town and had a few beers and some food, it was good to speak to people from this area and to learn about them and how they live compared to life growing up in London. I completely forgot that its legal to carry guns in this part of the world and when I saw a gun at the bar, it was a bit of a shock. drinking a pint and carry a gun at the same time is something Ive never seen, but thats how they live so as long as my nights not ruined, who I am to judge.

Im happy to be there and looking forward to seeing more of this place and definitely think I should come back not for work, but to take cool photos and get to know the people better. I want to explore the south more and really see what this place is about, it’s full of people with a lot of stories to tell.

on another hand the food is crazy, today I tried deep fried corn on the cob, its not for me, I dont think I will ever be eating that again. ill stick to the way my mum does it. Burnt.

159 (1 of 1)-3 — – Taking photos of striaght roads is pretty fun for some reason –

159 (1 of 1) — – Hurricane Irma has emptied the shelves –

B158 – Im in a STATE OF EMERGENCY / Hurricane Irma!!

September 8, 2017September 8, 2017 joshfspear5 Comments

So good news is I’ve landed in the USA, bad news is I’ve landed in North Carolina, where they are currently in a state of Emergency for Hurricane Irma. Everywhere has sold out of water and the military are on stand by. Its re assuring to know that the hotel I’m staying in also doesn’t have any bottled water. We are just following the Hurricane at the moment and waiting to see what it does with Florida, if it travels north up the coast, it could be an issue with us or does it travel in land, either way its looking like our flight out of Raleigh on Monday is going to be delayed as that’s when they are excepting the weather to hit us. The waitress in the bar next door said they are expecting to get hit with possibly a category 3 Hurricane, I have no idea what that means but im sure its nothing compared to a category 5.

The worst thing about this whole saga, is that when there’s a state of Emergency, the sale of alcohol is stopped. Meaning I cant even have a beer and ignore this whole situation.

For now the plan is to stock up on water, food and anything else and then carry on as normal till we have more news and then depending on how it goes drive somewhere safer or try and get on a flight. What ever happens, I will try and capture as many photos as I can. Im sure the whole thing will be fine, over the next few days we will have a better idea of what is happening and worst case I just end up getting my socks a bit wet.

In other news I met a nice guy called reverend Jones from South Carolina, he was up this way to preach and sing at a funeral and was staying at the same hotel as him. I managed to grab a photo of Reverend Jones, what a guy he was. Top man.

Heres my photos from today, started off in Toronto Canada now in Goldsboro, North Carolina.

158 (1 of 1)-2 — – Reverend Jones, South Carolina, USA –

158 (1 of 1) — – Toronto yesterday morning –

B156 – street food at its best

September 5, 2017September 9, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

first day proper day and we are off to a flying start, after spending about 5 hours in a shopping centre trying to get our phones sorted with american sim cards, we finally have one working phone. apparently having an unlocked iphone doesn’t necessarily mean that it will work with a Canadian sim card.

but who cares because I’ve finally had a hotdog from a man on a street corner. and oh my god, it was perfect. Ive always seen people in movies eating them, and never had the chance till now and all for $3 dollars, he even had Saracha sauce and load of different toppings you could help yourself too. it was all worth the standing inside a shopping centre running between the Apple store and other phone stores, though, because as we left and crossed the road, this old school american car stopped right in front of us, I think its a Chevrolet, but I cant find it on the internet. so please does any one know what it is, I’ve spend like half an hour on good and not having much luck. it was literally a case of right place right time, and made my afternoon. so check out this photo and let me know what car it is and if you know the year that would be even better.

In other news, 4 months ago and properly damaged the ligament in my quad muscle training for an ultra marathon and couldn’t walk for 6 weeks literally had crutches the works and since then I’ve comfort eat Pizza and done nothing, well today I woke up early and got in a 15 mile cycle and a 30 minute swim, the first bit of proper exercise I’ve done in 4 months and my quad muscle didn’t hold me back or hurt, so maybe that little bit of physo I’ve had has helped. So the plan now is to find another over the top and stupid challenge for 2018, I’ve got a few ideas and will start planning when I get back in the UK. Mum and Amy Im sorry.

Im now just sat in my hotel room, doing the last little bits to the camera for tomorrows shoot and then going to head out meeting the guy we are filming and have something to eat, all in all though I think Ive beaten the last of the jet lag and back on top form.

Anyway heres my photos from today, please let me know what car that is.