Tag: daily

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 –

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

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 –

B206 – I’m outta here 

joshfspearLeave a comment

right Ive got to start this post by saying Ive had a few to drink, so sorry for any spelling mistakes of problems with this post. Its been our last night in New York before heading back to London and Ive loved spending time and working here. we move on to the next state tomorrow and im looking forward what it has to offer.

each day of these post I aim to write 300 hundreds words, 100 words for each picture. i think thats pretty responsible.  its not too many and  not too less. the one thing about photograhy is writing about your photos I hate it. but it kind of make sense, if you take a picture you should be able to write about that picture, end of. so thats why now when I take a certian photo, I always think about how I will explain that photo to someone. its definitely something I need to work on and from now on Im definitely going to make an effort to improve, just so my work can get taken seriously.

america has been a weird place to spend time, its not like anywhere else in the world. its got its own views and its own lawers. so of which are wrong and some are just a bit hazy. but I hope this country can take its own lead and some day show the world what makes this place a cool country.

anyway im just a young kid whos had the chance to see this place, some day I want to bring amy here and have a holiday here, but for now Im just looking forward to getting back to the uk and painting my flat.

its been 206 days since I started this blog and I cant wait to spend some time working on my house!!! michelle spear you are a legend and the blinds look great. christmas 2018 at 315, city view house!

B206 (1 of 1)-3
– we managed todo this trick at the bar –

B206 (1 of 1)
– new york at lunch time 0

B206 (1 of 1)-2
– welcome –
 

B190 – HOW HAVE I NOT DONE THIS YET

joshfspearLeave a comment

Its been 190 days since I started this blog and I still cant believe this hasn’t come up before. Im talking about dedicating a post the Restaurant across the road La Forchetta, the place for food in East London and possibly London (bar charlotte street which is home to Siam central) has the best food. 

La Forchetta is on Bethnal green road just up by the Underground station and a stones throw away from Mcdonalds, if you can see Mcdonalds you can see La Forchetta. some people might think this is a biased opinion on my behalf but I can honestly say anyone who goes there would agree there pizza’s are the best and the service is up there too, not voodoo rays friendly where people just slag off politicians and talk about vintage markets, then charge you £4 a slice of pizza and a £1 for a pot of Ketchup. but La Forchetta is somewhere thats stood the test of time and proven that good food doesn’t have to be expensive, they even offer the occasional post dinner shot of Lemoncello.

The main waiter’s been there since I started going like 3 years ago and from what I can tell has been running the place ever since. He’s a pretty quite guy but always up for chucking a few jokes out there every now and again.

Living in London is a weird thing, before I moved here I didn’t think I would find an area and spend 99% of my time there, but thats not the case. when Im in London its almost like my life revolves around a 2 mile square radius  full of pubs, shops and things todo when Im bored and inside that radius is where I feel at home. Then I might travel to west London and that could be a different world for all I know, full of different shops and people. its definitely true what they say about people not leaving the area in London. from now on I’m going to make a more conscious decision to try and break that cycle and start seeing new parts of this city.

but for now, I’m packed and ready for my next destination, tomorrow morning I leave for New York. see you in 24 days London!

Anyway enough of the talking, heres some of the photos from today.

B190 (1 of 1)
– theres no pizza that can compete –

B190 (1 of 1)-6
– they even have a picture of the godfather up and an actual boat stuck on the wall –

B190 (1 of 1)-4
– these olives maybe from a local supermarket but that doesn’t matter –
 

B186 – A TRUE LIFE SAVER

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 –
B186-1-2
– thank you mr uber driver –
B186-1-3
– testing out the iphone in low light –

B183 – LONDONS UNDERGROUND RULES

joshfspearLeave a comment

Like most londoner’s I have to say I don’t really have much love for the under ground, its busy, hot and expensive. today Ive probably spent about 4 hours on the underground going from A to B and then B to C its been like that all day, after the first hour or so of having my head phones plugged in trying to ignore the guy drinking RedBull 2 center meters from my face at 8am this morning, you start to notice things about this place, like watching someone watch some play a game on their phone and pull a funny face when that person fails a level, you can tell they are thinking ” I could of done that” or watching someone try and be all inconspicuous while reading a business persons email they write on the way to work.

All of this starts to make a terrible journey quite fun, its almost like the unspoken rules of the underground. one of my favourite things todo was watch people race to get a place in the isle between the seats just so they can claim the next available seat. All this is what makes London such a fun place, people all have this weird etiquette that you wont find in any other city, its kind of a method to the madness.  eye contact, that is by far the best thing on the underground, its that horrible moment when you catch someones eye not just once but a few times and now both of you feel awkward so its a quite change of song or refresh of emails on your phone before trying not to look at them again. which will almost fail every time and theres that last weird look you both give each other people someone steps off at the next stop.

Since ive started watching out for all these traits i’m 100% guilty of my tube rides have become a lot more fun. its better during rush hour when everyone is in full work mode. you wont really see if at weekends you’ll just see this guy (see picture below).

So london underground, if you feel you got to strike then please make sure its for a good reason, your not the only ones who rely on this service to make some money, don’t hold London to ransom.

Just incase your wondering the strike Thursdays strike has been postponed.

B183-1
-Tuesday Morning at victoria train station waiting for the tube –
B183-1-3
– Saturday morning tube rides, anit nothing like them –
B183-1-2
– its always easier to sit –

 

 

B181 – PLEASE LET ME SLEEP

joshfspearLeave a comment

For the past months I’ve been properly excited to have a Sunday, and today that’s what I had. For some reason Amy and me woke up at like 6:30 this morning and decided we should head over to Cambridge road flower market first thing and grab some more plants for the flat, the plan is to basically have like an indoor balcony. We don’t have an outside bit so doing the best we can with the extra big window ledge.

I’m telling you now it’s coming along nicely, I’m not going to post any pictures because I want to reveal the thing look once it’s done m, which will hopefully be soon. I’ve got my eye on a few things that will finish it off. Anyone after getting hold of a pine apple plant and some other planets I’m not sure what they are but we headed back to the flat and make a plan to head over to Epping forest.

Who knew that Epping forest was actually anywhere near Epping tube station, I just imagined it would be like the new forest and you can just get off the train anywhere and be surround by country side. That was definitely not the case and the only answer was the head into a local pub for the good old English pub grub, no alcohol though just a pint of orange juice.

We basically just looked around Epping and headed back to London to grab some supplies for the flat, I have good news. As of tomorrow the flat will now have blinds, I’ve been here for 3 yeas now and finally blinds are going to be installed! It’s been a long wait, but it’s happening and I can’t wait.

I suppose this is a proper Sunday post, nothing to extreme just a chilled day out, on the other hand I can’t sleep through the night and keep waking up at like 2ish for a few hours I’m pretty sure it’s the jet lag and it’s happened to be again now, it’s 2:37 on Monday morning a few hours ago I was passed out now I’m wake awake! Does anyone have any tips to get back to normal, I love sleep and really want a full nights sleep.

B181 (1 of 1)
– this guys got a strong shirt –
B181 (1 of 1)-2
– I really want to get a proper tree for the flat –
B181 (1 of 1)-3
– this is amy getting excited about pillows, when did my sundays become about flowers and pillows – ” Green goes so well with orange –

B177 – A SEA PLANE

joshfspearLeave a comment

Sorry for this post being a bit rubbish, Ive had a few drinks and just looking forward to gettign back to Amy. At the momement we’ve had a good explore of victoria and ive basically got to pack for my flight at 6am tomorrow. Candada has been amazing and I love this place but im looking forward to my sleep.

one thing ive learnt about this place is how freindly everyone is, they all just want to be freinds with the next person. im just walking out a oub while im writing this, so basically im in the perfect state to be wirtiing a message. people should come to canada and just experinance the wild, see the dear and take in the view.

tomorrow we fly home and I cant wait to spend the 19 hours travelling just to see amy, thank you bobo for introducing us, i think im abit drunk but not too sure. sorry for any messages that people don twant to read, I just want to buy a leica. anyway its not my fault, I blaime the people that brought me some shots.

im not sure how much you know about these post but each day I try and post something that relates to the readers, but tonight I have nothing. im just impressed with how this has gone and the people that our reading this. at the moment I think its mainly my dad, but much love steve spear your a ledgend.

im currently in bed lookingat my travel plains for tomorrow thinking about how im going to make it work. sorry if todays post is a bit weak, its been a hard month and tonight Ive enjoyed my self.

enjoy these pictures and make sure thar you visit chucky cheese, that place is amazing. much love josh

B177 (1 of 1)-2
– this is a sea plane –
B177 (1 of 1)-3
– i like this picture –
B177 (1 of 1)
– a nother great photo

B174 – AIR CANADA LOST OUR CAMERA GEAR

joshfspearLeave a comment

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.

B172 – THIS IS A PROPER PIZZA

joshfspear2 Comments

I thought today I would have a look back at some Iphone snaps, Ive got a few days left of America before heading to Canada for a bit and then I will be heading home. So this seems like a good idea, since most of the time I carry my 5d with me where ever I go, there hasn’t been many iphone photos. Which is a bit annoying because I enjoy using my phone as a camera. its really good at just capturing photos in the moment and not as “set up” as a DSLR can be sometimes.

These photos from my phone, were taken around Chicago, the group of birds I think are king fishers but I’m not sure, they where all sitting on the grass by a road, I decided to jump out, try and sneak up on them and get a photo which didn’t really work out, they all bolted and flew off. which i think made for a cool photo the one time I didn’t have my camera and a good zoom lens and I see these. Next time ill be prepared.

B172 (1 of 1)-2
– I quite like the fact these birds have flown off, i think it makes the photo better –

I want to show is the stupidly big Chicago deep pan pizza, which weighs about 5lbs. No joke. When I walked into the kitchen last night and saw only a big and small box to share I was bit worried it wasn’t going to be enough. That wasn’t the case, four slices later and I’ve loosened my belt and gone a bit dizzy. That thing wasn’t a pizza it was more like a quiche. Half pepperoni half sausage was more than enough to feed 5 people. What surprised me how well it all worked together, not only was this thing more like a challenge but it had taste, I eat 3 slices before my body even realised and then after half way through the 4th, I hit the wall and it was all down hill after that. 16 hours later and I still haven’t eaten a thing.

B172 (1 of 1)-4
– this was too much pizza for 5 people to eat, they are about an inch thick with mozzarella –

 

I don’t really have a reason for taking this photo, I was in Starbucks and it kind of made me chuckle how all these guys were studying, facing the same way and looked like they were all sat like you would be if you were doing a test. I kind of like the mood they set.

B172 (1 of 1)
– this looks like an intense study session –

Let me know what you think of this new layout and if you think it works.