Walking home from work yesterday and I saw this crazy helicopter flying over Bethnal Green, I only really noticed it because of how low it was flying and what it had on the side. Does anyone know what helicopter it is? Other than that I saw to Asian people taking wedding photos out side of a bills restaurant which was a bit weird but different strokes for different folks.
– what is this? I would love to fly in this –
One thing I’m learning about street photography is that you have to be there in the moment and not worry about taking photos of people in plan sight, other wise you’ll never get the shot, some times you’ve just got to go balls to the wall.
– “make sure you get the menu in the shot” –
At the moment my main camera I’m using is a Sony WX350 which isnt the best point and shoot but it’s a lot easier than taking a canon 5d with a 24-105mm lens which is basically the same size as a small child. – this was me just playing around with the lights on the tube –
As you can see this camera does hold up ok and for the price you can’t complain, this was literally a camera I brought for a small project I had with a mate and not really intended to use it for the blog thing I’m doing, so I suppose it’s doing the job but if you were to put it next to a fuji x100f or Leica M it would look like one of those old Motorola flip phones.
The whole point of this posting three new photos a day, is really to try out different techniques and just figure out what i enjoy taking photos of. so the other day Amy and me went to the park in the afternoon when the sun was low and tried out taking photos of someone just standing there and see how it played out. to be honest Im pretty happy with the results.
normally I only edit in Lightroom, but for these photos decided to start off in LR but then export to photoshop and see if I could get a different look and improve the stills. Photoshop is one of those programs that people spend years learning and I have experience with it, but now want to understand more about the software, and the best way todo that is to practise every day.
– trying to use the sun to add something else to these photos –– she’s a bit out of focus but I think it works –– you cant go wrong in black and white –
Probably a lot of you know im a bike fan of 2 wheels, not motor bikes they scare me but bicycles and all things pedal power, as someone living in london i’m used the walking out of a shop of pub to notice my bike lock on the floor and my bike gone. to me thats the lowest of the low, steeling someones bike. but this post is not about that, is post is about the sad and familiar site of bikes abandoned, chained to a lamp post or bike rack. something thats been rubber side down across hundreds of miles, it might of been a commuters new years eve resolution or even just a spontaneous purchase, but one thing no can disagree its the best way to see a city.
with 32% of all londoners cycling, thats around 4.2 million people! that means theres got to be at least 5 million bikes in London, thats amazing, but with that goes up the amount of bike abandoned which is sad! these could be the perfect traveling tools for people to get around. so people fi your reading this, dont abandoned your bike on the side of the road, take it to one of the bike hospitals for a new life!
right lets start by saying im no cocktail expert or even really a cocktail drinker, i like a beer, but when I saw the new cocktail bar on Bethnal Green Road the Coupette, i thought I should give it a review. before it was a cocktail bar this place was a proper east end pub, full of locals that had been drinking there since beer was invited, the pub even had a sign out side that read “No Travellers allow in this pub”, but added great character and a down to earth feel. it was just something that set Bethnal Green apart from its neighbour SHOREDITCH a now expensive trendy extension of Liverpool Street.
well Charrlotte and myself went into this trendy new bar Coupette and give it a try and see if it was something to rave about, it wasnt our cup of tea. I dont like to slag someone off or put down something that the owner has put a lot of work into but it just feels like shoreditch is taking over this weird and wonderful street of bethnal green. where the homeless issue is quite literally a big problem, the road is also filled with cheap £1 shops and a cash converter, it has a community sprite which is rare for a zone 2 part of london, but its what set Bethnal Green apart, and an expensive cocktail bar really isn’t doing anything apart from dispersing a community and popular local business which seemed to survive the Shoreditch effect till now.
Anyway enough of the ranting heres our views of the bar.
Look:
Josh – 7/10 – the bar has an old feel but has used new furniture, which doesnt fit the vibe, they also sit you down like your going to eat, but then you don’t. I did like the menu’s they were really cool, but again the lighting didn’t help, it was that funny yellow tint.
Charlotte – 6/10 – its like they have spent a lot of time on the front of the bar and then ran out of money as they got to the back, it lacks an atmosphere and seems very portentous, which bethnal green definitely is not.
Coupette: 2 cocktails – £20.25 including service charge (£9 each)
And again we arent anyone who could give you an educated assessment on the cocktails (mine was good, it had chocolate in it) we are just two people who love bethnal green road and enjoy a drink, and dont want to see all the great local people of this area have to leave. We started talking to some other people in a bar down the road after charlotte noticed they where in the coupette, they were locals and said they felt underdress in the cocktail bar, “it was full of suits, which is not what bethnal green is about” . to finish it just feels like another rich vs poor battle was one by an ex-Savoy Cocktail maker and a local pub was lost.
Heres some pictures of the bar.
– The entrance –– it was earlish and still a new Establishment, so you cant expect it to be rammed -the actual bar was pretty cool –
Around bethnal green and shoreditch the poster game has been definitely got better, each day I see a bunch of random weird posters and they actually make the walk to work easier. you gotta love the London sense of humour, politics is always a long debate, but I think these posters sum it all up pretty easy, Jeremy eating hamsters and May is a dominatrix. end of discussion.
who ever is putting these posters up, carry on its making my walk to work better.
– Jeremy eating hamsters again –– I have that fear –– saucy may –
I thought this would be a good time to have a look at three of my cameras and see what takes the best photo. Im going to compare the canon 5d, Sony wx350 and the Iphone SE. I know the 5d is a few times more expensive, but its also not the most practical camera, where as the wx350 can be a sick little pocket rocket. But Ive also gotta give it to the iphone, its a decent phone and a pretty good camera.
to make this fair I thought its only right I take three photos of the same thing, and then see how they match up to each other.
– canon 5d mkii w/ 24-105mm lens –– Iphone SE –– Sony wx350 –
to be honest, obviously the 5d is better. but you cant carry it round everywhere, I like the wx350 is a good little camera, but the iphone is holding up in my eyes.
I think to top I will use my Iphone as a camera, but I dont want to get into the habbit of it, because a photo on a point and shoot is always going to win in.
SO i dont really have answer to this, I like all three camera’s and will probably use all three camera’s just as much.
walking around london in the morning during the summer CAN actually be perfect, to me the best thing todo is leave your house in a t shirt, thats the start of summer.
in other news tomorrow is friday, which has to be the best day in the world. it means weekends and nothing is better than a summer weekend.
so with all that to thing of, heres a few snaps of my walk to work.
– bethnal greens got it all –– if you know this place then you know that man that sells illegal curry from his wheel chair –– i do like a photo of a building –
After being inside for literally the whole day, I need to spend some time out side in the fresh, so amy and me head to the beer garden, just down the cannel from where I live.
– “josh stop taking photos of me” –– The Beer Garden –– east Londons finest –
today was supposed to be me, on the sofa watching films, which it was for 13 hours of the day. but I got a message today from Charlotte, telling me about some community feast going on in the park, so went along a met her and some of her m8’s. the thing that was happening is actually quite cool, this chef goes round to all the grocery stores and collects the food they cant sell, then basically cooks it up for any one and everyone and basically has this cool little feast. its not some charity thing, asking for money and trying to sign you up to monthly emails. this is just good food and chilling out all of a small donation of any kind. shes a genius and has created this cool Sunday community or decent people.
A lot of the time London can seem like a place full of wankers rushing around, pretending their busy, but today I sat down and spoke to a complete stranger, about how he went to Mexico and didn’t speak or say any words for 10 days, it was for some yoga, Im not sure if i could do it, but it was actually quite cool just to chat with a stranger about something other than tube delays.
I live on Bethnal Green Road which is probably one of the best places around, from the markets, cafes and Nandos to the 24/7 off licence. One of the best things about this place is the weird and pretty cool street art, the graffiti and abandoned living room furniture.
Today I saw some funky posters and ended up talking to an old man about walking and running which was a weird way to start the morning. Apparently his doctor cant believe how much walking he does each day.
– just snap was taken just before I met my mate –– ill be back in abit for the sofa –– who’s to blame the man or the dog? –
joshfspear.com 