B174 – AIR CANADA LOST OUR CAMERA GEAR

I’m sat on the plane from Chicago to Vancouver, the TV’s don’t work and that’s something I hadn’t planed for, so now I’m trying to think of cool ideas instead of just looking at the head in front of me and listening to the only album I have on my phone.
One idea I came up with for today post, is to create an instagram story @joshfspear of some cool photos of my journey from Chicago airport to my hotel in Victoria, British Columbia. As today is literally just a travel day and nothing else, its hard to find cool stories and develop a meaning or idea behind the post, so I thought I would take you on the travel day with me and show you some of the cool things Ive seen along the way.

– Vancover to Victoria –

Air Canada have also lost some of our camera gear so its now looking like im going to be staying awake until it arrives sometime tonight. Apart from that, today has been a pretty good day and ended with us taking a small plane across the sailors sea from Vancouver to Sidney at golden hour which was unbelievable. I was speaking to a guy on the plane and he was talking about the food and wild life in this part of town so now im pretty excited to see what this place has to offer. that plane journey was one of those where I will look back in 10 years time and think how cool it was, from see where salt water meets fresh water to the barges pulling logs along the rivers to paper factories. it was all just like another world.

– the best flight I’ve been on in a long time –

We are only here for a few days but I will make those few days worth it. But we are now off to a flying start with a beer and pancakes from Dennys.

– I like this part of Canada already –

If you’ve got some time go and check out @joshfspear on instagram and have a look at my story of the trip, its got some pretty cool photos. I think I’m going to do more stuff like this and now I’ve done one the ideas are coming to me.

Im not sure if any of this makes any sense, Ive been awake for way to long and all over the place, but I hope you get the gist. I’ve been writing this as the days gone on.

B173 – YOU DON’T NEED A HELMET

I’m writing this a day before I actually need too, the next 48 hours are going to be a bit stressfull, so I thought I would do this post way before I need to just to make sure that its decent and not completely rubbish.

Today I wanted to post more pictures of the junk yard I went too a few days ago, just because it was something that I think is worth posting. The whole idea of taking photos at a place where you would think to take photos is what I like about this and its made me want to go to more junk yards and take photos.

The first photo I want to talk about is the guy riding the motorbike, in Illinois is legal to ride a motorbike without a helmet. Now for someone from London its completely weird to see people riding motorbikes around without a helmet on, it just doesn’t look normal. But it definitely adds to the cool factor, it makes motorbike riders look more like Nomads than part of a society. Like this guy, he’s just cruising around looking like he’s going nowhere but everywhere at the same time. the guys probably just on his way to get some milk for his family at home, but that’s not the impression he gives. I’m not sure if I agree with the helmet laws over here, but who I am to judge.

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For all these photos I used a Canon 20mm prime, shot in Black and White but also used RAW + JPEG format, but so I had the safety of using an Uncompressed image but was using Black and White as a reference. When you shoot in RGB but plan on changing the photo to B&W later on you shoot completely different and don’t think about the lighting as much as to when your only seeing B&W as an in camera reference.

My tip is to always shoot in the colour scale you plan to edit in and release you image as. I think it makes a huge different to the out come of your photo. Someone might say differently but by shooting RAW + JPG, you aren’t risking anything.

Here’s my other two photos. As your reading this, im currently on my way to an airport.

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– I like the rough paint on the side of this truck –
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– not for sale –

B169 – UNKNOWN COOL AMERICA – THE JUNK YARD TRIP – PT.3

about a mile down the road from the hotel we are staying in, is this cool scrap / mechanics / junk yard that has a few hidden gems. From the freeway that runs parallel to the yard, you can see this 1970’s all white cadillac and as today was a prep day, basically getting ready for our up and coming shoots. I thought I would get in a bit of time to explore this yard.

On the way over I thought I would try something a bit different and shoot these in Black and White not edit them later in lightroom and turn them black and white. but completely shoot black and white. my thought process was that because theres a  complete mixture of items from eras and parts from around the world that have all ended up in the same place, the only way I would be able to get across the feeling abandoness *not sure if thats a word, but ill go with it*. was by shooting Black and white.

Its 99% worked, these photos have a feel of loneless and despair, everything you see in this junk yard once had a home, it was once used for a purpose and now its left out in the elements to rust away until its up-cycled and found a new home. Hopefully. places like this yard are full of stories, like the van below which to me looks like it has a bullet hole in the windscreen and the front completely caved in. what the hell happened to that truck? as someone who likes the over the top story line, I like to think it was involved in some kind of gangsta stuff involving two bonnie and Clyde characters who instead of robbing a bank accidentally ended up in my library because bonnie was drunk that day and didn’t scoop the place out first. which meant the police got involved and took a pop at Cylde the get away driver. so now their choice of get away van is sat rusting away in the junk yard in Chicago instead of Mexico.

I can almost guarantee thats no where near what actually happened, but thats the kind of crap my brain likes to conjure up when Im taking these photos.

heres my photos from todays mini shoot. thanks to Frank and Al for letting me explore their Junk Yard!

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– the caddy is something I want back home –
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– the bullet hole? –
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– this van –
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– black and white just adds to the photos –
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– this tool was probably once pretty useful to someone –
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– big and small –

B167 – COOL UNKOWN AMERICA – ST LOUIS TO CHICAGO PT.2

today we drove from St.louis to our next destination Chicago for the fourth location on this little filming trip. its fair to say this country is absolutely bonkers but in a good way, from the size of the food portions to the crazy ideas that people seem to have and then make them work. like the city museum in downtown St.louis, where they have a 10 story side and have decided to park a school bus and a plane on top of the building, it was the sort of place were kids and grown ups can just run around and explore climbing weird structures and old planes high above the city sky line! I thought it was amazing but i wanted to explore the city and decided to go and check out downtown, I got about 5 blocks from the museum when a bunch of motorbikes started racing down the road pulling wheels and stuff just like in the movie creed it was nuts. my camera was on completely the wrong settings, so the photos were just over exposed. thats why I need the Leica M.

After this little de tour, we hit the road heading for Chicago, driving north on the 55, around an hour into the drive we went past this crazy vintage car dealer, it literally had every car you could imagine from pre 1970, including rolls royce’s, ford pops and the car that malcoms parents drive in Malcom in the middle. unfortunatly it shut like 10 mintues before me got there, which basically meant we could only look at it from the fench. I still managed to get some photos of a burnt out car they must of brought to resort. I have no idea what car it is, but I properly like the picture.

Im now at the hotel in Chicago in the area of Lake on The Hill, not sure if im near a lake but it sounds like I am. the lady at the reception told us to go and try the famous restaurant Portillo’s across the road, its fair to say that is was a good shout. that place is amazing and as its somewhere that I quite like, so heres some info on it.

Portillos was founded in 1963 by a man names dick portillo, After he was honourably discharge from the marine corpe decided to open up a hot dog stand and invested $1,100 in a 6 x 12ft trailer and parked it on North Avenue in Villa Park, Chicago. he called it “The Dog House”. the van didnt have any running water so he would have to run 250m to a local bar every now and again to give his stand a top up.

4 years later he had turned it into a successfull business and decided it was time for a revamp and opened “Portillos” , it basically took off and he went on to open more and more locations. then in 1983, the first drive though opened in Downers Grove (Chicago) and instantly became know for its quick service and good hot dogs.

this place is quickly developing a name for its self all over the US and has now opened up in southern California, Florida, Wisconsin and Minnesota. If you ever pass one of these places, trust me and stop off for a hotdog. they’re crazy enough ship anywhere in the USA!

I also drove along route 66, which i didnt get todo last time as my mates didn’t think I was a good enough driver to drive the RV. well this time I did and it was pretty cool. Im also not sure if this post fits in my project, Cool Unknown America. But I feel like this is cool america off the beaten track so it should be allow and its my project so I can say its allow, so it is. I suppose this post is more of a dairy kind of think which I quite like.

heres my snaps from today, let me know what you think! Im also not sure if this 20mm prime lens is working properly, so tomorrow im going to put it through its paces and see what happens. so if tomorrow photos are crap I apologies in advance.

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– route 66, just off the north 55 –
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– st. louis city museum –
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– the vintage car dealer on route 66, is burnt out car was waiting out the front –
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– Portillos, chicago. Hot dog and fries. Well worth it –

 

B163 – watch out for boxer bombs

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.

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– the st louis cardinals –
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– whats a Boxer bomb? –
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– the botanical gardens, st louis –
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– he has know Idea what a boxer bomb is… –
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– my baseball stash –

 

B159 – SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY

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.

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– Taking photos of striaght roads is pretty fun for some reason –
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– this is a post box –
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– Hurricane Irma has emptied the shelves –

B156 – street food at its best

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.

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– this was the coolest thing Ive seen in a long time, what car is it? –
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– the hot dog guy was the second coolest –
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– it would be rude not to post a photo of the Canadian flag –

B152 – biggest trip of my life

today is the last friday before I leave london for a massive trip filming somewhere in canada and the states, im not really 100% sure yet but apparently but flights have been booked, im leaving on Sunday.

so yesterday was all about getting ready for this trip, buying some last minute essentials and make sure I haven’t forgotten anything. What im thinking is on this trip, was every day I might not be able to take photos on my 5d, upload them to my laptop edit them and then write about them on here, the whole process is normally about 45 mintues from when I start to when I finish. some days it might just be a case of taking some iphone snaps and doing it on my phone, which isnt the worst idea, but yesterday was quite a good test for me todo, in the idea of taking some quick snaps when I get the chance and then having the content there for me to write about when ever I can.

One thing I promise you, is I will still be posting everyday, I have no idea what time, but it will be every day. with me probably being in quite a few different time zones, I think it would be impossible to post at 10am GMT every day, it might just be better if I post at 10am where ever I am. my plan for Sunday and Monday is to have those posts lined up before, so my first post would be in Tuesday, which should give me time to take some bangers and also see about time differences and how I can still post for the mornings in the UK, instead of like 11pm GMT.

anyway this post isn’t really a fun one, its just me apologising in advance for properly some really unorganised posts.

(sorry for the spelling mistakes)

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– walk away from the light –
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– this pizza deserves a review – I paid 70p for a small tub of sauce, after I paid £18 for 4 slices of pizza , review on its way when Im back –
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– ignore the lamp post, I didn’t see it when I took the photo –

B082 – bumped into some old chums 

So yesterday we went on a little trip to Capri, where we bumped  into some old friends the CALNANS, big up to guys! We didn’t get any photos but cese la vie! 

Anyway Capri was amazing and we basically walked around the whole day see the sights and stuff. After we headed back to Salerno and caught the beginning of the beach football. The amalfi coast is living up to Ta reputation! 

– the high street in Capri ain’t a normal one –
– this is Amy in holiday shoe heaven –
– we snuck into a 5 star hotel for the view –

B040 – Krystle Wright is worth checking out.

I promise is this the last time you will hear about my leg, but today I’m sat on the sofa again. today I’ve been looking at a photographer’s website I’ve been following for a while her name is Krystal Wright and her pictures are unreal.  I heard about her a documentary on Netfilx called Tales Between The Light and since then I’ve followed Krystle and properly liked all of her photos. she is definitely doing some cool shit right about now.

I thought today I would show you some of her pictures as Im not able to get out an take any and don’t think you want to see more biggin hill sunsets and green trees.

go and check out her website: http://krystlewright.com/

She’s also on instgram as: krystlejwright

B040-1 KW
http://krystlewright.com/
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http://krystlewright.com/
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http://krystlewright.com/
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http://krystlewright.com/
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http://krystlewright.com/