blogging – Page 9

B208 – MY FIRST HIGH SCHOOL AMERICAN FOOTBALL GAME DAY! GO SOMERVILLE!

October 29, 2017October 29, 2017 joshfspear5 Comments

My normal routine for the past two months for getting these daily posts up and online, has revolved around getting back to my hotel between 20:00 and 2200. From there I jump in the shower for roughly 15 minutes before laying in bed and doing my daily post, it normally takes me about one hour to complete and in that time, I edit my photos, write a minimum of 300 words and then schedule the post to go up at 10am GMT. That’s always my plan, but tonight I’ve decided that for once I’m going to head out get some dinner and write the post while eating dinner. so its not the same thing each day, mix it up a little and stop myself from basically getting bored.

I’m sat in this place which is abit like Wachacca meets your local kebab shop, its called Chicken and Rice and its in this town called Medford, Massachusetts. Im eating what can only be linked to a Lamb Doner in a Salad, but its pretty good so I cant complain.

My photos today are from the other night on my adventure to Harvard, on the way back I was driving along this highway, when I saw a bunch of floodlights and hunderds of cars all parked up along the road. It was a high school basketball game, something Ive always wanted to see. Somerville High vs Triton Regional. One thing you learn as a teenager about sports is how big the Americans go for high school and collage sports , they literally treat it like a team in the premier league. It was like a two thousand seater stand and everyone was there, it seemed like they were just genuine fans. Nothing like the UK where you might get one dad and a few mums turn up to watch their little boys play. This was the whole families, friends and genuine high school football fans.

It felt like an event, there was an atmosphere and people were genuinely involved in the game. It was just how I imagined it to be, teams were going hard against each other and they even had those coaches with the talkback systems on, getting angry when a mistake was made by a player.

The final score was 27 – 9 to Somerville high, my new favourite high school football team and really the only one I know about.

Here are the three photos I took from the little de-tour post Harvard Adventure.

B208 (1 of 1) — – I want one of those jackets, they look sick –

B208 (1 of 1)-3 — – I bet these players get such a rush from playing in front of such a crowd –

B208 (1 of 1)-2 — – i wonder if they could throw me that high –

B208 (1 of 1)-4 — – Somerville where on the offensive and the crowd were loving it –

B202 – 17 HOURS LATER…

October 23, 2017October 23, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

Tomorrow we leave Florida and head back to New York, its fair to say that we are now in the middle of filming and if we can get through the next 11 days of pure craziness and long hours we will be sitting on that flight home with a beer in hand. But first back to reality, before we leave florida tomorrow morning, this place has left us with one last gift a heard of blood thirsty mosquitos, which have really just aimed for my legs and attacked both my pale white bread sticks with all they have. my legs have lost the battle and the war to these mosquitos and now I can stop itching them.

My post today is about the other famous restaurant in town, it wouldnt be fair to write about one and not the other, this time im talking about the BBQ joint called Sonnys. this place is everything I hope for an more, they know what they are doing when it comes to baked beans and BBQ meat, both times Ive gone for the two meat, two sides option and it hasnt let me down. today I had some kind of sausage and pulled pork with Mac “n” Cheese and BBQ Baked beans and it was just what I needed. its totally different to Catfish country which was more of a family run place, this is a small food chain in Florida, but it packs a punch, they even make their own range of sauces, from what I can remember I had only had the Spicy sauce and that had just the right amount of spice, not too hot not too mild. no one wants a really spicey BBQ, its just not right.

if you’re ever in Bartow, please go and try both Sonnys and Catfish Country and let me know which on you think is better! for the experiacne I would say Catfish Country but if you really want to reach food coma levels go to Sonny’s.

Anyway I think ill keep todays nice a short, I cant really keep my eyes open much longer, its been a proper long day. the next few weeks are jammed packed, so ill do my best to keep these post top notch, but sorry in advance for any rubbish days that might pop up (like this one). I haven’t done Sonny’s justice.

Also you know the rules, any spelling or grammer just ignore them, we all know it’s one of my downfalls.

Enjoy these snaps.

B202 (1 of 1) — – it may look simple on the outside but this place serves some proper food –

B202 (1 of 1)-2 — – It just looks like a southern BBQ joint, happy days –

B202 (1 of 1)-3 — – did what to show a picture of my food, but it arrived I ate it and forgot to take a picture, so heres a photo of a beer and some of their own sauce –

B199 – CROC HUNTING DIDN’T GO SO WELL

October 20, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

This morning I woke up with one plan and one plan only, to see a wild Alligator. that was my only mission, after speaking with the girl on at hotel reception she told me that I was definitely going to see one and that they are everywhere round here. even in the lake opposite our car park. So that became my first place I looked, I wasn’t really too sure how close I could get to the water, but that didn’t stop me, Ive always wanted to see one and now Ive got that chance. turns out I didn’t see one in that lake, so back to google.

After spending some time on the internet googling “croc places near me”. literally thats what I googled. turns out that theres a a fair few lakes / swamps around but what I was expecting was some kind of beach on a lake, where you could walk around and take photos of alligators and everyone happy, that wasn’t what happened, its actually a lot hard than that. We literally drove 10 miles out into the swamp land place, where they have these crazy birds which look like eagles mixed with Vultures mixed with black birds, that eat road kill and anything else they can find. these birds are literally like the size of a small dog and scare the hell out of me. I have no idea what they are called, but if anyone reading this does, please please let me know.

We now had to come up with a plan C, which involved parking the car and walking across a trail to see what we could find. about a mile down the the road from the scary birds we found this car park which was kind of close to a lake and thought that was our chance. but after walking around for like an hour, we didn’t see anything. literally nothing apart from this small blue lizard thing. So it was back to the hotel, for an afternoon sleep, not every day is like this, normally we are working and don’t have a chance to head back to the hotel when we want, so this was actually pretty nice.

Ive been on the internet trying to figure out my best chances of seeing a croc round here, Im pretty sure my best chance is going to be at a lake 18 miles away, where an alligator has just tried to grab a dog, but i’m really not sure if I can make it over there before we leave on Monday. Might have to be either a really early morning thing or late at night, both really scare me because when its dark and they like to hunt then. if I can free up some time I will, but who knows. for now the mission is on hold, to be resumed.

here’s my pictures from today, if your ever in Bartow check out the antique stores they’re pretty cool and have given me loads of idea for my flat.

B199 (1 of 1)-2 — – what are these birds, they look like something from a horror movie –

B199 (1 of 1)-3 — – on our hunt to see an alligator earlier –

B199 (1 of 1) — – Im not a massive antique buff but just looking round these places it pretty fun –

B197 – AFTER TWO MONTHS ITS FINALLY HAPPENED!

October 18, 2017October 18, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

Today is a bit of a special day, today was the day that i actually had a home cooked meal, not just something from a restaurant but some home cooked vegetables, home made pasta and some other ingredients that I’m not too sure what they were called. Its a massive difference from the normal late night Italian or Chinese that I’m used too and I genuinely cant complain. I did end up have this really large cookie for desert but to be honest it was home made so doesn’t really matter. When im firmly back at home thats one thing im going todo more, I want to cook good proper food without the added salt or other things.

other than my rant about food, today I was back in this sleepy part of New Jersey, and to be honest its one of my favourite places Ive been. growing up in some sleepy part of London in a town called Biggin Hill, I know people think its this tough place just outside bromley but its really not. sorry, but its just not. anyway I think that part of me loves the idea of living in some quite town somewhere just enjoying life and moving at a slower pace. its weird because at the moment I love living in the city, sounded by constant noise and always something todo, but I can definitely see myself moving to the countryside when Im older in a place a bit like Bedmister, New Jersey and just having fun. Places like this would make me get up early and go take photos or ride my bike constantly.

Its just one of those things, if you love the country side then I think you will alway want to call that home. anyway heres my photos from today, I really wanted to show the sleepy side to living in the “sticks” but I couldn’t resist showing off what I had for dinner.

enjoy.

B197 (1 of 1) — – this lady is just sat enjoying her tuesday –

B197 (1 of 1)-4 — – nothing beats a home cooked dinner –

B193 – 24/7 THIS PLACE DOESN’T STOP

October 14, 2017October 14, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

The city of New York is like nothing I have ever experienced before, its never been somewhere thats top of my list and Ive always been pretty chilled out about coming here. but oh my god, this place is like a big fun fair for people who love cities. One of my major things about a city is for those societies that will happily bend the rules sightly to get what they need done, im not talking about shooting some one or robbing a bank, im talking about those little inconveniences that some cities are just scared to break. Like J walking, in places like Sydney if you J walk your a law breaker and should be dealt with appropriately, its really frowned apon, but in New York people love it, it makes crossing the road so much easier, cars dont even beep you, they just try not to run you over.

One of the first questions everyone asks themselve’s when they get to a new country or city is “Can I live here?” and most of the time its yes, you get caught up in the moment and just think you can, Ive done it but rarley have I thought about it deeply enough to think it could actually work. Like LA for instance, I love LA and would happily go there for long periods of time, but could I actually live there? probably not, its way too big and my body is in no shape to be flexing my guns on venice beach.

Where as New york is the extreme version of London and seem to have all the same idea’s, people like to create stuff and have a good time. I feel that new York is some where I could call home and would love to explore and get to now more about it. One thing is for sure though, I would need some ear plugs because this place is 24/7 and people seem to always be making noise.

I would love to go on about my pro’s and con’s for living in a different city or country but I have a 6:30am call time tomorrow and would love to get some sleep.

Heres my photos from today. Bon appetit.

B193 (1 of 1) — – Its true what people say, new York traffic is like nothing anywhere else, it just seems to go on and go and on –

B193 (1 of 1)-2 — – one of the photos I took on my way to get some food –

B193 (1 of 1)-3 — – something is always happening on every block –

B191

October 12, 2017October 12, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

Its been 25 hours since I left my house and the day is finally over, im laying in my bed next to Williamsburg Bridge and its fair to say this is amazing. out of my window I can see the Empire State building and the Rockerfalla, what a view to fall asleep looking at. right now I should feel tried but this city doesn’t seem to sleep so its only right that I stay awake that little bit longer just incase I miss something.

Ive only explored the city this afternoon for a few hours and only walked around seeing the sites and just getting my bearings but already I know this place moves at like 100 miles per hour, blink and you’ve missed someone walking around in an Elmo outfit while someone rides bike the wrong way down a one way street, while a group of taxi beep him like crazy. Im struggling to find the words to describe this places, the closest thing I can think of is “London on Steroids”. thats literally New York.

With such a short amount of time here before moving on, I’ve got to be really careful about what I choice todo, the main thing on my list is going to the B&H camera store tomorrow and checking that place out, its been on my list of things todo for ages and tomorrow is my chance. if you know about it, then you know why I want to go, if your not sure what im on about. heres a link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%26H_Photo_Video (i know people don’t agree with Wikepdia but for this purpose its fine).

I also want to walk across the manhattan bridge and just see the sites really, maybe hire a bike if I get time or something like that.

Anyway I was only going to post three photos of today, but I’ve changed my mind, whats the point in taking loads of photos of this place each day only to post them every now and again when Im back in london. today is a bit short and sweet, but thats because my brain is slowly falling a sleep. tomorrow we will conquer.

B191 (1 of 1) — – this is my view during the day from my room –

B191 (1 of 1)-7 — – this is my view at night, while in bed. New Yorks sky line is like nothing ive seen before –

B191 (1 of 1)-4 — – this place is constantly moving at full sleep –

B191 (1 of 1)-2 — – it was like this guy was waiting for someone to take a photo of him –

B186 – A TRUE LIFE SAVER

October 7, 2017October 7, 2017 joshfspear1 Comment

Friday was on of those days there I had about a million things todo and 10 places to be, its the last weekend before I leave for the states again, and its actually my birthday weekend. so last night Amy and me went out for some dinner and to let lose. she knows this really cool Italian tapas bar in Smithfeilds London so we headed there is was called Polpo, its like a small chain if you are ever in London I would definitely recommend it. the tapas was incredible.

Anyway, after a meeting ran over by 30 minutes earlier in the day it put me a little behind but with the thought of a beer and some good food I managed to pull it all back. I know this post is more of a commentary about my day, but thats just what it is. One thing I do want to say, is how much I love the fact that phones are now proper camera’s, my Iphone has literally saved me from complete failure of this three photos a day challenge. When I don’t have my DSLR camera on me, I know that my phone will back me up and get the shot.

even though it is so easy, I kind of do miss the days of film photography where taking a photo getting it exposed and then seeing the end result was such a big ordeal that it meant you had to be constantly thinking about exposure and what film you wanted to use. I kind of like that idea, maybe I should do a project after this focusing on film.

Maybe thats my opportunity to buy a Leica.

anyway thank you Amy for a great little birthday meal, and Ben Delany if your reading this, you’ve stollen my birthday Saturday night and for that I hope you realise I’m not happy about it.

Heres some snaps from our evening, I tried not to take to many photos but just enjoy the evening. One thing I want to ask is my iPhone doesn’t seem to be great in low light, but Ive seen other peoples and they seem to be a better quality, are people using some sort of app or lens. if so which one should I get, want to up my iPhone photo game.

B186-1 — — this was the way down to the bar below, it annoys me that nothing in this photo is straight –

B186-1-3 — – testing out the iphone in low light –

B185 – I COMPETELY FORGOT IT – PT.2

October 6, 2017October 6, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

Firstly I want to apologies for yesterday post being so late, I genuinely thought I pressed post, but obviously I did and only realised when amy sent me a message telling me I didn’t.

forToday is just me carrying on from yesterday and talking about how much I like this weather and where the sun seems to be in the sky. Im not sure if its because im finished at the right time but between 5:30 and 6, the sun seems to be in just the right place to give me some cool camera flares. for most people it must be an annoyance and just get in your eyes while driving or some other really British complaint, but for photographers a like this is a great time of year.

When I finished work today, i thought my idea of grabbing some lens flare shots was dead in the water, not only did I have to run across town to Argos and get some storage boxes, but I also had todo it during rush hour, possible my least favourite time of day. its like a bunch of wild animals travelling around in a coke can, no one wants to be there. But as I got off the train at Highbury and Islington at 17:40 the sun was perfect and I decided to walk a bit slower than everyone else and just take some snaps. and to be honest im pretty happy with how they turned out, my favourite from today has to be the business man walking to the platform looking out the window with his hand covering his eyes from the sun, for me that is perfect for talking about sun flares.

Flares are basically a quick way of turning a dull photo into a cool photo, it adds this other layer to your photo. I know a lot of people add flares to their photos in photoshop, but I always think its much better to try and master the art of flares before going ahead an modifying them.

Heres my three photos from today, I have one question for you guys though, why do adults ride push scooters?

B185-1 — – Highbury and Islington today at 17:40 –

B185-1-2 — – sun flares this time of year are sick –

B185-1-3 — – why are adult scooters a thing –

B179 – THAT SCANDI TOUCH

September 29, 2017September 29, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

Its 3:53am on Friday morning and I basically cant sleep so Ive decided I should just get up and have a productive Friday. this morning Ive got a bit of running around todo, i basically need to get a second passport for a visa I need and only have today to really get that done, so thats my first job of the day. after that its getting my life back on track before sailing into the weekend of some good old chin wags with my mates that I haven’t seen in a pretty long time.

But before then I want to talk about Air Canada Rouge, Im not sure if any of you have flown with this airline. If you have, then you know what im talking about, its pretty crazy. Ive just sat on a 8 hour flight, without a TV or ipad to keep my company. they ran out of Ipads. they idea is basically give out ipads of $10, which come with films and games, which in theory is a great idea, but the execution failed. I know they’re a budget long haul airline, which is perfect for saving a few bucks but so is Norwegian Air and they have smashed it. Norwegian Air are like the same price as Air Canada but they’re planes are clean, smooth and they have that scandi touch, which just makes it one of the best airlines I’ve flown on.

What they do, is give you cheap seats and a TV but you pay for your food and drink, that might sound like a bad idea but if you pay and order on your TV in front of you, if comes straight away, the air stewards are just all over it. where as Air Canada, they do the classic food trolley, I went for the chicken and only found out after the flight that it came with mash.

One thing I can say with pride was my idea to tape my phone to the seat in front of me which basically meant I had a TV, genius. so my top tip for Air Canada, take some duck tape with you on the fight just incase you need to tape your phone up to give you a TV or even if something falls off the plane you can duck tape it back together again. both are strong possibilities.

Norwegian Air have changed up the game and are the best cheap airline out there! hands down!

anyway thats just me forcing my opinion on you. heres my snaps from the journey home, it wouldn’t be complete without a snap from the plane window looking down on Toronto.

B179-1 — – back in london and on Oxford cirucs –

B179-1-2 — – the upgraded TV on Air Canada –

B178 – PHONE SNAPS- AIRPORT AFTER AIRPORT.

September 28, 2017September 28, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

first off, yesterdays post was a bit cringly and maybe I should of wrote it before I ended up at the pub.

I was sat on the plane from Victoria to Toronto thinking of fun things I can do on days like today where its just airports and waiting around or im at home watching TV with out any plan to leave the sofa, I decided that it would be cool to come up with a kind of fun project for those days. at first I was thinking of do like a travel tip thing or give my advise on something, but then I realised im a terrible traveller and even worst with advise. Ill always do the wrong thing when it comes to packing and organising, that basically means I shouldnt give my travel tips out, it wont help anyone.

Thats when I came up with the idea to create some sort of genre for joshfspear.com and on those days, I post photos from the depth of my phone and show some photos that didn’t make the cut but are still pretty good. I want to think of some cool name for these posts but maybe simple is better so Phone Snaps it is.

The photos you see below are from the past few days in Victoria, one of the coolest places I’ve ever been to, its somewhere I really want to go back and explore. one of the crazy / cool things that happened was when a paragon falcon, flew down and landed in the middle of the road in front of me before taking off to attack some black birds that were just minding their own business. it was like see something from a David Attenborough documentary.

I think everyone needs to come and see this place and visit downtown harbour. Victoria is also home to the oldest china town in Canada, that fact was told to me by a taxi driver who wasn’t to sure of his way round the city, so sorry if its not true. I didnt get a photo of the china town but there is a photo of the street a block over.

Another cool fact about this places is that they seem to paint all their street lights and cable boxes that you see around the city, so instead of seeing some horrible gray box or a ugly pole that sticks out the ground you basically see some cool art painted on the side or even a photo. I have a cool shot of this on my hard drive, but thats not with me at the moment so you’ll have to see it in a throwback photo or something.

anyway enjoy the snaps and sorry again if you couldn’t understand yesterdays post. Oh and I think I’ve set this to post at 10am GMT, but I have no idea when it will go up. I don’t really know what time zone my laptop is in at the moment, its got jet lag I think.

– look at what theyve done to the pole, it looks pretty cool. Ive got some better snaps, ill show you them some other time –

– the street near to canada’s first china town –