Tag: america

B365 – I CANT BELIEVE I MADE IT!

joshfspear5 Comments

Well, its finally here, blog post 365 and it feels a bit weird. For the 90% of my facebook friends that have had to put up with these posts each day and who are just not interested, don’t worry its over. But for those that have read these and showed a small amount of interest, this is for you.

Its over, Ive managed to post 3 photos a day for 365 days and now Im thinking back at the days all those times where I’d given up precious sleep or I’ve been rushing around writing from my phone and its all built up to this moment trying to get these post done. Now, 150,000 words later, 2TB’s of photos and countless hours walking around trying to make each day interesting and worthy are over.

It all started from a conversation with Amy on a weekend away, that turned into me basically going full steam ahead everyday for the past year and in turn has been one of the craziest years or my life, I’ve worked all around the world, including two months in America and China, completely ruined my leg and had to basically learn to walk again, now living with Amy (my girlfriend), completely done up our flat and now working on some really cool projects and productions that I’m pretty proud of.

For todays post I was trying to think of a cool way to end it, like set off loads of fireworks or fly to some amazing beach and finish with a cocktail and some sun burn, but to be honest looking back at the year, the only way to end is to really show 25 of my favourite photos from the 1200 that I’ve posted. Photos that might over wise be forgotten about and disappear into the depths of my hard drive. I’m now sat on my Lunch break at work scrolling through photos and laughing at all the stuff that’s gone on, from coming home after 18 hours a work with nothing to photograph so running down stairs and buying some fruit to cut open and photograph to seeing someone sunbath on Shoreditch high-street drinking beer in just a pair of hot pants or even that time I flew back from Victoria, Canada on a dodgy plane that had no in flight entertainment so for 15 hours I taped my iPhone to the seat in front of me and watched weird low budget films the whole way, just after I had been in the path of Hurrican Irma and witnessed what state of emergency meant in North Carolina.

This blog has been one of the best things I’ve ever done and if it wasn’t for Amy saying “you should start a photo blog” then we wouldn’t be here today and I probably wouldn’t have the confidence or even writing ability and photography skills I have today. Im by no means an expert but I like to think from where I was last year, I’m much better. So thank you Amy for putting up with the words “I gotta do my photos” to helping me figure out tough posts and just generally putting up with the daily stress of being with me.  Your alright you are and I owe you big time.

Looking back at my writing a year ago I have no idea how I even managed to send an email let alone put together an interesting paragraph, but this past year I’ve written around 150,000 words with a minimum daily count of 300 words, its not just given me confidence in my writing ability, its also helped me talk to people and just going with my gut instinct, then having the confidence to see a task through till the end. That’s something I didn’t realise I didn’t have till I’ve started thinking about my next steps and how confident I am about what I want todo next. In the words of my good friend Anders “I’m no Neurosurgeon, but Ill give it ago”.

This photo challenge might be over and the stress of posting everyday is now in the past but I promise this wont be my last post, I’ve sat down this past month and thought of ways to carry on and what direction I should move in and to be honest what I have in the pipe line is something that I’m even more excited about and can’t wait to share with you all. But right now, its time to get some sleep and just enjoy the fact that I’ve managed to see this all the way through to the end. Not even the Chinese government or countless timezones and flight delays were able to stop me.

So one last time.

Here’s my photos from today. Enjoy.

B365-1-5
– this is how i plan on spending the next 2 weeks, before I start putting work in on the next project. I will still blog but just not daily – 

B365-1-4
– doing my final walk around bethnal green taking photos for the blog this evening, it kind of felt a bit like a victory lap –

B365-1-6
– I will always take street photos and try to capture cool moments where ever I am –
Before you see my favourite 25, I just want to say thank you too the 13,500 readers from 119 countries that have read my daily blog, not all hero’s wear capes.

On to the next challenge and a new direction for joshfspear.com

Peace out and thank you for sticking with me through the terrible grammar and countless spelling mistakes!

B0002-1-2
– it was at this post that the idea for the blog was created, Bleinheim Palace –

DCIM102GOPROGOPR3035.JPG
– playing with the gopro after amy picked me up from the pub, thanks mush –

B321-1-4
– walking through hyde park early morning is something I wish I could do more often – 

B035-1
– london has been the perfect city for this photo challenge, thank you to all the grumpy people that dressed up as storm troopers or sun bath on highstreets, you have made this blog a million times better –

B036-1-3
– the day I found out my leg was ruined and I wouldnt be able to run the ultra marathon or walk for that matter –

B320-1-2
– moving in with this one, so happy we have done the most of our ikea shopping tick list, please no more –

B083-1-4
– explore italy, she has some how managed to put up with my constant photo taking –

B119-1-3
– its always good to see stuff like this on your way home –

B305-1
– this dog still is one of my favourite dogs ive come across –

B331-1-5
– in four years of living in Bethnal Green, this year I saw the most snow ive ever seen in london –

B010-3
– Norfolk sea side is one of my favourite places to photograph, the colours always come out perfect –

B101-1
– this image was the first one I had taken shooting in RAW, and my god it was worth the switch from JPEG even is the files are bigger

B104_A-1
– I am looking forward to the summer again and getting more colour in my photos

B111-1-3
– this is one of my favourite photos from the past year, right time, right place i suppose –

B126-1-5
-again, right place right time, the sea gull literally dived down and stole her fish and chips –

B170 (1 of 1)-3
– seeing people jamming on the guitars in St.Louis was pretty cool, hopefully Ill get to go back there soon –

B176 (1 of 1)
– seeing a deer walk down the street in Victoria, Canada. Luckily I had a 70-200mm lens on my camera at the time –

B177 (1 of 1)-2
– water planes on the river in Victoria, a place that I would love to explore when im not working –

B179-1-2
– 15 hour flight, using my phone at a TV. that was an experiance I wouldn’t do again in a hurry –

B193 (1 of 1)-2
– walking round New York, this photo was taken somewhere near the brooklyn bridge –

B209 (1 of 1)
– flying out of New York –

B233-1
– the view from my room in Shang hai, that place is like no where else ive been –

B246-1-2
– christmas on Bond street, these two were well into the christmas sprite –

flo-1-3
– flo doing what flo does best, cause havoc –

IMG_0377
– our drive to the flat in Italy, the Amalfi coast is somewhere I would love to go again –
Peace out everyone, its been fun.

Much love,

Joshfspear

 

 

B265 – WHAT A YEAR

joshfspearLeave a comment

Merry Christmas everyone and a happy new year! its literally the perfect day, as well as it being christmas its also my last 100 days of posting. I’ve made it to the final stretch. as its also the end of the year and also my last 100 days I thought I would show you some photos that Ive taken these past 265 days.

Its probably been one of the best years Ive had, not only have I been working pretty much non stop but Ive also been to some places that I never thought I would go to, I’ve spent 2 months in America and now have a working visa of the states, which i’ve wanted for ages, Ive also been to Canada, china and a few places in Europe. so its been pretty exciting. Amy also asked me out at the beginning of the year, and next year she should be moving into my flat, well thats the plan anyway. who would have thought I would been living with a girlfriend. its crazy and I suppose when you do that your kind of becoming an adult and having responsibilities, which in away is quite cool.

this blog has to be one of the best things Ive done, its literally taught me how to write and in given me confidence to try new things and just work harder to get what I want, and also when I write emails now theres a lot less spelling mistakes, its never good when you write emails and its grammatically incorrect or just doesn’t make any sense but because of the sheer amount of writing I do now I learnt a lot of new words and can spell so much better, I think anyway.

I think this blog has been good because a lot of the time its easy to think up ideas and then even easier to think up excuses why you cant do them and this has really made me just forget the excuses and just go with my gut and try to get the job done. thats why next year ive got a few plans lined up for this blog and also things that I want to try and do work wise. im planning on getting a second job i think just to help pay for all the things I need todo and the adventures / holidays im going on. Its time to up my game and smash 2018 out of the park!

Thank you 2017 its been a pleasure!

oh and sorry my blog didn’t have any photos on it yesterday, i literally have no idea how that happened. WordPress was just having a bad day I think.

 

b081-1-1
– amy and me exploring the town of Ratio on the Amalfi coast –
b208-1-of-1
– I also went to my first american high school football game right, this was like 10 minutes away from Harvard University –
b209-1-of-1
– Flying out of Newark Airport in New York. That is definitly a place Ill be going back to soon! I love New York –
b257-1-3
– a picture of Soho in London, I quite like this photo. Might have to get it made into a print –
b261-1-4
– the shot from the Barbican last week, im just happy with this photo and really like the way the man is –
b056-1
– this guy was definitely a highlight –

B260 – IVE WANTED TO SEE THEM FOR YEARS

joshfspearLeave a comment

Last week I went to a gig that I had wanted to go to for a while, it was for a band called Mellow Gang, they’re this band I discovered while in America and was that band I would listen to on the long plane journeys and extra long passport queues, well this band are probably the reason I’m still sane. The gig was at the famous Seabright Arms on Hackney road, you’ve definitely read about me going to this place before, its like 2 minutes from my house and actually plays really good music most weeks. and even better a lot of it is free which makes the whole gig a no brainer.

I find it a bit weird writing about a gig I went to last week as its not that fresh in my head and I cant really remember all my favourite parts, but unfortunately Im really not able to post any photos today as Ive spent the day running around different Disney stores trying to get hold of this Doll for my niece (don’t worry she’s too young to read so no chance of her finds out through this blog what I got her), well anyway that didn’t go to plan as no disney store had the right thing so I just brought as much stuff as my bank account would let me and moved on to the next task, which I cant really talk about on here but I can say that even that didn’t go smooth as I had realised after being in the store for an hour trying to get everything completely perfect to the point where I had to ask for a tape measure, well I went through all that to realise I had left my wallet at home. but luckily after a short phone call to Amy for her card details we were up and away, I just need to go back tomorrow morning and collect it. I have to say this year I have really pulled it out the bag with my christmas presents!

I really hope you like me writing and photographing gigs around London because I actually enjoy it quite a lot. So if you don’t like what I write and photograph let me know why and ill see what I can do to make it better!

Also don’t forget I still have prints for sale, so dig deep and buy one. Ill even send you a christmas card!

B255-1-5
– Mellow gang doing there thing –
B255-1-3
– Seabright arms on Hackney road, have a look at the Dice App for re gigs, trust me it is actually a pretty useful tool –
B255-1-10
– this was Phundo Art, a rapper from South Africa –

B249 – AN UPSIDE DOWN TEMPLE TO A COIN LAUNDRY

joshfspearLeave a comment

From North Carolina to Shanghai, every build is different, foundations change, tactics differ and people’s ideas get thrown around. If you stand on the street in North Carolina, not in the city of Raighley, but on the outskirts in the suburbs. Things you take for granted like shops and restaurants are built quick and for maximum capacity’s. They are basically practical places to get done what you need to get done, they do what they say on the title. No messing about. 
If you travel to some where like Kensington in London, that little part of the UK where a flat will set you back £1M or will all of a sudden be standing in a building that’s meant to not only stand the test of time but built to look like something from Mary poppins. Red brick the works. 
Then you travel 12,000 miles to China and end up in Shanghai and all of a sudden you starring up at an upside town temple that looks like it’s been carefully put together out of 100 meter look match sticks. It’s literally like something that a baddest budist has dreamt up.  

What I like about that all these buildings is that they all serve the same purpose really and that’s for people to use to eat a task done. It doesn’t matter if that task is to pray, live in or some where to wash there clothes. A lot of the time, I’ll just get from city to city and not really look up, even in London a place I’ve lived my whole life, I just walk around and don’t really take it all in. but if you actually just stop for a second and look around, everything is actually pretty cool in its own weird way. 

Here are some photos that I’ve taken from the places I’m talking about. It’s a bit of a rushed post today, but we all have days like this right?

– the Mary poppins buildings around Kensington, London –
– the upside down temple in Shanghai –
– a coin laundry by the side of a road somewhere in North Carolina –

B215 – PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES – AMERICA TO PARIS (KIND OF)

joshfspear1 Comment

After getting home Saturday at like mid day from travelling back from Ludlow, Massachusetts , I decided that I would spend the rest of the day chilling out and not running around taking photos, but instead sit on the sofa and watch TV and then on Sunday think of something to post while waiting for the Eurostar. Its not that time and I’m sat on the train waiting for it to depart.

We are off to Paris for a few days and just going on a bit of an adventure, there is no better place to go that paris when its this time of year, I don’t think theres a person on this planet that doesn’t like Paris in the cold. that might sound strange but trust me its true.

B215-1-2
– the english weather welcoming us back to the UK, anit nothing like gray English cloud –
B215-1-3
– Up and out early this morning, who needs a Sunday lay in anyway? –
B215-1
– this was one of the pictures of a car I took ages ago in Chicago, I just wanted to follow the Planes, Trains and Auto Mobile theme –

My photos today are basically just of my transport this past 24 hours, Ive done planes, trains and automobiles (forgot to take photos of the cars Ive been in, that is really annoying now Ive thought of that), but I have been in a car so ill just have to post an old photo from when I was in a car.

Today isn’t going to be my best post as Ive just been getting back to normal, but now Ive got two days in Paris expect some good photos to come. I might even post four pictures tomorrow who knows. Im just looking forward to being back in Paris, we have a fair bit planned and our first stop apparently is going to be this Dior fashion thingy, I’m not too sure what it is but Amy seems excited.

At the moment I’m also trying to use the Eurostar Free wifi to get this post online and that is proving to add quite a bit of stress to my Sunday morning. Its slow Really slow, I hope someone out there can relate to my frustration right now.

B215-1-2
– the english weather welcoming us back to the UK, anit nothing like gray English cloud –
B215-1-3
– Up and out early this morning, who needs a Sunday lay in anyway? –
B215-1
– this was one of the pictures of a car I took ages ago in Chicago, I just wanted to follow the Planes, Trains and Auto Mobile theme –

B214 – IM GOING HOME!!

joshfspearLeave a comment

Right now its 14:44 on Friday, Im sat a Bradley international airport in Massachusetts about to board a plane to Boston, Ive got an hour till we take off and from Boston I have a flight that will take me to London Heathrow. its now the complete end of my time in America and after two months on the road going from Hotel to Hotel its time to head home and finally do some washing and get on my DIY skills on, I’ve got a hall way to paint and some more blinds to put up! so get ready for some DIY posts, they will be coming thick and fast.

right now though Im scrolling through the photos Ive taken on my phone and think its only right to post some photos that I have taken on my phone before they disappear into the hard drive of my computer forever.

If I had to choose one city that has left a mark on me it has to be New York, that place is probably one of my favourite cities Ive visited in a long time, it just doesn’t sleep and every corner has something happening and thats what I like. Nothing stops in New York, its just on the move constantly. I will 100 percent be coming back to New York in the near future.

On the other hand, the state that surprised me the most and rank up there of cool places is New England. thats the area Im in now, apparently its were the english first landed when they discovered America, thats where it gets its name from. If I could get hold of a mountain bike and had a few days off I would loved to of just cycle round the forests and explored this area, it just looks like a cool place to have an adventure. that sounds like a pretty cool idea now Ive just said that. Amy? Can you cycle?

Ive really enjoyed this trip and feel like Ive managed to see a fair bit of america is a short period of time. but now I just need to come back and really get to know it when Im working. Heres list of the places Ive been in the last few months. New York, New Jersey, Massachussets, Flordia, Illinois, North Carolina, St.louis, Toronto and Vancover. Looking at that im really suprised that I haven’t missed a day of this blog yet and not really sure where Ive found the hour or so it takes to write these each day.

Tomorrow I land back in the UK and have to  rush home for a hair cut, pack a bag and get ready for a few days get away in Paris. Amy and Me are going there because theres some fashion show that she wants to check out and I owe her a birthday present. so get ready for me to put my best Zoolander outfit on and explore the city of Paris!

Heres  some of  the photos from my phone of these past few months.

B214 (1 of 1)
– New York at 6am –
B214 (1 of 1)-2
– Ive never seen an exhaust like this, is it legal in the UK? –
B214 (1 of 1)-3
– a view from New England –

 

B213 – THE FREEMASONS!

joshfspearLeave a comment

Dad you’ll like this fact, so where I am in Massachusetts is home to the oldest fraternity in the world. The Freemasons, they literally are from where I am right now, they even have a load of Freemason lodges in the area where if you are part of them you can go a stay. thats pretty cool.

Im not sure if they are the same as we have in the UK but from there website it sounds like they are. Here, its a brotherhood for men to make connections work or life related and be part of “something bigger”.For the people who dont know what the Freemasons are the best way I can describe it, the organisation is a bit like an Adult scout’s group meets Social club. its full of traditions and teaches important life skills, but also it’s there for men to look out for one another. Im not saying I completely agree with this idea, but  it is a part of  our history and something that is still relative to us today i suppose, so we should really at least try to understand it.

Heres their website, have a look and see what you think. I mean if anyone can join and they just have a good time, eat good food, socialise, while having the odd secrete handshake, I don’t see a problem with it.

http://massfreemasonry.org/what-is-freemasonry/#!/brotherhood/

Im just kind of happy Ive managed to see another part of the world I probably would never have seen if it wasn’t for this job. Im now 213 days down  on the blog and really feel like my photos are getting better. today on my drive through Palma, Massachusetts, I saw this motor bike parked outside some 1960’s america cafe and as I went to take the photo I completely got the focus wrong, and as I pressed the shutter a red mustang drove past, 6 months ago I would probably have written the photo off as a fail, but today I looked at it and really liked how it turned out. a lot of photography, is purely about being in the right place at the right time and doing the right thing. that was difficult thing I had to understand when I first started this photo challenge thing, going out for 10 minutes once a week to take photos is pointless. but now I feel confident in my photos and seem to always be carrying my camera around with me, I think I’m slowly starting to get some cool photos from places I’ve been.

Here are my photos from today, its my last full day in america before I head back to London from all of 15 hours before I leave for my next trip and it should be a good one, I’ve been excited about this one for a while and cant wait to share the photos with you.

B213 (1 of 1)
– the home of the freemasons –
B213 (1 of 1)-2
– this photo, out of focus but I really like the colour in this shot, give its a 35mm feel –
B213 (1 of 1)-3
– the type of place Im in at the moment, surrounded by proper wildness –

 

B212 – MARTIE THE MOOSE

joshfspearLeave a comment

Now that we are on our last leg of this little tour of america, we are in New England, it really reminds me of the British country side but just with a touch of america, it seems to have the British winter weather and is just cold. a bit different to last weeks 30 degrees Florida.

As we are filming today this is going to be me talking about a local restaurant, and I have to say this is a proper good one. this place is called Burgundy Brooks Cafe and it serves all the good stuff. I had the Burgundy Burger and some Beef soup. the soup was just to get my body temperature back to normal and the burger just because I wanted a burger. out here it kind of feels like america’s version of the country side, there’s trees and green fields for miles and miles and even though I live  in a city I still miss the country side and the fresh air, so coming here is kind of refreshing and reminds me of home.

Back to Burgundy Brooks Cafe, its kind of got that family feel and a place to get some good food at a good price, I think all my food came to like $13 dollars, which is pretty decent. What was nice about this place was how friendly they were, one guy that worked there was keith, he came over to me and handed me an on the house espresso, which after a pack morning was just what I needed before lunch. he basically then just talked me through the local area and all the things I should do while Im here, which is always perfect when you get to a places you’ve never been to before. and the one place that got my attention was the Tree house brewery its been voted on of the best Breweries in the States and also the world!! what more reason do I need to go give it a visit.

what you always need when you come to new places, is a local to give you some good advise and make sure you do all the right things. and if your ever in Ludlow, Springfeild, Palma or just near that area in New England make sure you take the trip to Burgundy Brook Cafe, find Keith, get some good food and all the advise you need about this area. he can also point you in the direction of some world class beer.

Heres a link to their website, and also check out my photos below.

http://www.burgundybrook.com/

 

B212 (1 of 1)-3
– Burgundy Brook Cafe, New England –
B212 (1 of 1)-2
– this is Marti, you cant see it but on the other side of his head is a phone, hes just calling a mate –
B212 (1 of 1)
– this is just out the front of the cafe, looks kinda cool –

 

B211 – HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

joshfspearLeave a comment

Since I can remember everyones always said that in america they do Halloween 10 x better than us brits to do in the UK. well today is officially my first american Halloween and from being over here for the past month I can back that up, its treated like we treat christmas, its like 50 percent of all houses on every street dresses their houses up to look like some kind of Haunted House.

Today we kind of had a spontaneous prep day which means we didn’t have to go a film, well we did go a film some GV’s (general views) but apart from that I could get some rest in and not have to think about too much, which was kind of perfect, I literally laid in bed till 10am before even thinking about going out for a coffee and now I feel ready to go wake up early and get back to work.

for the past like 4 years Halloween in the UK seems to have taken off and I love it, im not really any good at dressing up, I always seem to get my make up wrong or don’t really have a proper outfit, but I love the treats and the parties, which kind what makes it. but as I currently living life out of a hotel in this part of the world called Ludlow, Massachusetts, Ill just have to live halloween through the millions of photos on instagram and through my whistle stop tour of Springfield earlier onto, were I managed to get the photos you see below. to be honest it was quite good because we had a few lenses with us, so I got to play around with a few different ones while taking these photos. there was literally fake zombies hanging from trees a long the streets that would start to shake and scream as you walked past. I hope they were fake because if they weren’t I would be terrible in a zombie apocalypse.

Heres my photos from today. enjoy.

and sorry  for my spelling mistakes yesterday. I do know how to spell avocado but sometime I just get it wrong.

B211 (1 of 1)-3
– these things were just creepy –
B211 (1 of 1)
– why are all these props bald? –
B211 (1 of 1)-2
– just one of the million front gardens that were decorated. kids round here must love this time of year –

B210 – THE FINISH LINE IS IN SIGHT!

joshfspearLeave a comment

Today I feel slightly better. I still haven’t really eaten which is becoming a bit of an issue. but im not going to carry on moaning, I’m just going to get on with it, ill eat something for dinner tonight and then ill be back to my normal ways. I’m just going to stop eating American junk food; my problem is I love chips (fries) and those little treats. From now on only organic and fresh stuff.

One thing that I want to talk about is the light this time of year; it’s probably the best time of year for light. Clear sky’s and a low sun and you get these cool shadows during golden hour in the afternoon for in Boston golden two hours. I’ve literally just grabbed the 85mm lens and took a walk around a car park, seeing what shots I could get. The sun was in the perfect place, that and the fact the leaves have started to die fall off the trees, which makes for some really photogenic views.

I like about the 85mm prime, it’s a 1.2 f-stop, which means that its really good in low light and also captures loads of colours. A great lens for portrait photography but I would love to see what its like for street photography, my favourite kind of photography. I know when shooting street photography people like to use like a 20mm or just a wider lens than an 85mm, but I would love to see what its like shooting tighter around the streets. Maybe when I get back to London Ill give it ago. My problem is I have a long list of camera gear I need, but I just can’t make my mind up what I need to buy next. Im saving up for my next big purchase but I cant stick to something and just aim for that, I suppose I just need to save some more money and then walk into a camera shop and just pick something there and then, that’s probably the best thing I can do.

Here are my photos from today, we are currently in the middle of the storm when it comes to shooting and finding those few minutes to grab some photos is getting harder and harder so sorry if the next few days aren’t that great. If anyone knows how I can get just one extra hour of sunlight each day please let me know and I promise I will use the whole 60 minutes! I NEED MORE TIME!

B210 (1 of 1)-2
– this was just me in a car park –
B210 (1 of 1)-3
– taking some snaps and playing with one of my new favourite lenses –
B210 (1 of 1)
– that house down there was in full halloween mood –