Recently Ive started slacking with my 5d and been using my phone quite a lot to take photos and have really started to rely on that to get my three photos a day. the whole posting thing has kind of got easy in a away, I just take 3 ok photos each day and then do a bit of writing, where as at the start of the posting I was really excited to take like 200 photos each day on 3 different cameras and then spend a few hours going through them, but recently Ive got a bit complacent.
So now im New Years Resolution is to bring my game up a level so at the end of the 365 days Ive not only got a blog thats I’ve posted on each day but Ive got something which has photos that I can be proud of and something to show off.
Thats my hump day through process this morning, I also need to start doing exercise again because yesterday I had a burger and chip and then later on I did something I haven’t done for 24 years of my life. I had my first Morleys, for those of you that don’t know about Morleys let me explain to you what that is.
Morleys is a food chain or more of a cheap chicken shop based in South London in places like Croydon, Crystal Palace and Lewisham and in this food establishments they sell 7 pieces of spicy chicken wings and chips for the grand price of £2.99. its literally drunk food at its finest and now all I want to eat for the next year lettuce thats how the Morleys has made me feel.
But its not all doom and gloom its now snowing in London so hopefully it will stick around and we can all have a snow day!
heres my photos from yesterday.
– The view of London this morning before the snow came –– how cool are this wall paper at the Westtow pub in Crystal Palace –– the Burger last night, next year is all about lettuce –
Well thats christmas done with and now its just time to sit down and enjoy some christmas movies while waiting for New Years to come around. One of the best things about christmas is the fact that there is no limit to the amount of food you can eat.
Today was spent at my sisters over in Petts wood and to be honest it was pretty perfect, Flo has got to that age where is actually enjoys christmas and can open presents in previous years it was a bit of a lost cause getting her to open anything, but this year there was no stopping her. There was kind of a running theme for my presents todo I got both an RC car which I cant wait to test out on some jumps and maybe a stair case or two and also a Drone that is definitely something Im going to be flying around London in the next few weeks, so get ready to see a few photos of a drone in a few places that maybe a drone shouldn’t be flown in. its almost like I’m 15 again and santa has brought me new toys to play with.
Tomorrow we’re hitting the road early tomorrow and heading up to Cambridge to see my auntie and cousins which will no doubt be a good laugh. Im only up there for a night so think I’m going to have to make the most of it but that more than enough time to eat the fridge clean and drink all the beer. So Michelle if your reading this, I hope your ready for my arrival.
As its now mid night on christmas and im sat up writing this post I think ill leave it on one last note, thank you my Dad, Mum, Esme, Miles and obviously FLO for a christmas to remember.
I hope everyone had a great christmas and got everything you wanted! Im also now trying to think of a good New Years Resolution so if anyone has any fun resolutions let me know!
Heres my photos, MERRY CHRISTMAS!
_ i tried to spell Xmas with a sparkler but wrote it the wrong way and then run out of sparklers so this is the best I could do –
– flo giving mooney and hug (I think) –– it would be a christmas blog without a photo of the tree –
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!
– Mellow gang doing there thing –– Seabright arms on Hackney road, have a look at the Dice App for re gigs, trust me it is actually a pretty useful tool –– this was Phundo Art, a rapper from South Africa –
Firstly I want to apologise for this post being late, I was trying to put it up earlier but after last night my brain just could focus and the laptop screen was hurting my eyes. I don’t think its got anything todo with the amount of beer I drank or even the because of the time we started drinking, I think its because I was up early and in the shops. Any other time and i would probably had said we started to early but our friends of Switerzland have come over so we had a mini party. so I don’t really remember much of the afternoon or evening. but what I can say is that we are having a proper Sunday evening now and you can read about it tomorrow.
We have a few plans this evening and thankfully none of those involve alcohol which is definitely a positive, im also not scared to brave the weather and travel because Im now in the doc martin boot gang and I cant wait to put them through their paces and see what these babies can do. I love buying products like doc martins because its fun to see what you can actually do with them before they break. I think I’ve got a few years in them yet before I need to replace them.
today might seem likes a bit thin on then writing and but its days like these where posting every day for 365 is hard but I need power through. Ill try and make some cool posts this week, I really want todo more portrait photography so I might try and find a model or someone to practise on and see if I can take a decent photo.
Anyway heres my photos and enjoy your Sunday. Also can people please read my post from yesterday and let me know what you think and if its actually any good? I really want to write more music reviews but not really sure if its helpful.
– Soho on a saturday –– Welcome back to london Pauline and gigi –– the love of my life –
With (fun)employment being so real right now I’m trying to get a good balance of Netflix and being productive. Its important I enjoy the quite time but also keep my brain ticking over. That’s why today I decided to venture out in to the world of my Photography project on London’s music scene.
I travelled over to Denmark Street, its basically where if you like guitars you buy your guitar, every one from your local guitar teacher to the legends of The Beetles and the Rolling Stones. No Toms Vintage and other guitar shops along Denmark street or as its otherwise known Tin Pan Alley isn’t just a place to pick up a guitar, its on of the birth places for London, Britain’s music, it’s the place that the likes of Jimmy Hendrix and Jonny Rotten would run around jamming to music and creating the stories that everyone in the todays pop culture wants to hear more of. British music carries its self differently to other music, its got more depth to it, when you watch back The Beetles movies and archives, they are literally paving the way of a life style that people like Oasis took to levels that pushed the boundaries of what is and isn’t expectable, But because they make such good music its allowed. Not like if a footballer gets caught driving drunk but more like they get kicked out of Holland for being to drunk and diverting a ferry. That’s kind of the levels which they hit.
But at the end of it all, they were only as good as the albums and songs they produced and that’s what really mattered, the jams, the hours and hours of perfecting a song or solo. That’s what really mattered here. And when the touring stopped or they need supplies most of the time they would head to Denmark street and speak with the people who know those instruments the best.
Walking around Tin Pan Alley you really start to admire a guitar and the beauty that goes into it, you start to acknowledge the culture and the style it has created. It’s the epicentre for what British music was and is. Back in the days it used to be not only shops but also recording studios which have since disappeared and either turned into extra shop space or places to learn the Guitar.
My idea of this photography project was to uncover the underground music scene and the people that really push it, those passionate music lovers who travel on a crappy Wednesday night to listen to good raw music and I feel that Denmark street is probably the best place to start, its at the root of the London music scene. This definitely wont be my last time to Denmark street I will be coming back for one of their events and capturing those “one time moments” with my camera.
As for now, its back to Netflix for the rest of the day and to enjoy my funempolyment. But tomorrow is a new day and I’m planning on being active the whole day. I’m not sure how yet but ill figure it out.
Heres my photos I hope you like them.
– a shop where people can just go into a jam on a guitar has got to be one of the coolest things out there –– if these walls could take, this is a place where the sex pistols used to live –– the people who work there couldn’t be more welcoming, thanks for letting me come down and take some photo’s –– they even have a comfy couch –
Sunday night and now heading back to London, my plan is to get this post done on the train so tomorrow morning when I wake up everything is done and ready to go. Its been a really good weekend and enjoyed the little break but now I’m ready to get back to London and prep for next week.
Today started off with a breakfast at this place called Back to the Garden which is this café place in Holt, Norfolk where they basically serve up proper food that’s all locally sourced, with in the Café they have like a mini super market that’s got all the goods and the place to get hold of the legendary Stokes Ketchup. Trust me once you get hold of Stokes you’ll never see Heinz the same again. Its literally a different class of condiment.
For some reason I feel pretty ill, I’m not sure if that’s the Hangover talking or if its got something to do with how bad my diet has been recently but next week I’m going to up my game and start to eat healthy again, no more Pringles and cheese bagels for breakfast, its going to be all about the porridge and fruit. I really haven’t felt good this afternoon and to be honest I don’t have time to be ill. So I think ill keep this one short and sweet, I need to try and sort myself out.
But my plan for the week ahead also includes getting my Christmas presents sorted, its starting to scare me how much shopping everyone else seems to have done and Im no closer to having it sorted. If I can just get 80% of the presents sorted this week ill be a happy man. I really don’t want it to be a last minute amazon prime thing!
Here’s my photos from today.
– the face of someone who just wants to go back to bed –– a proper norfolk country shop and Cafe –– I think we all can tell who comes first in this relationship –
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 –
As yesterday was a working day, and I don’t want to be one of those guys that runs round a venue taking personal photos and then posting them online. I decided to have some thing stocked up in the bag ready to show you guys, Im talking about the warm up band for the other nights gig at the Seabright Arms. its the band HAZY JANE. this band are the kind of people that pop up at 3am in a music festival around that camp fire and all of a sudden your its 6am in the morning and your now best friends with a stranger talking about all the things you guys are going to get up to in the future. thats the type of band these guys are.
What makes it even better is that this band is based out of Hackney, so pretty local to where I live they play British Folk /indie music so all pretty chilled out accoustic sets. One thing I love is that they set up a crowd funding page to raise some money to record their first single “Us On A Wire” and even now have like a mini UK tour planned for April next year and will be playing all round the London, Norwich and Brighton. trust me if you see that they are playing at a gig near you, get down there and give them a listen. you cant go wrong.
Sorry that is post is a few hours late, but I kind of over slept this morning and have been trying to juggle getting this done, while trying to organise my life a bit.
Heres some photos, enjoy.
– listen to the song – Take my soul, its got grit –-Seabright Arms 06.12.17 –– I cant remember at what point in the gig this was, but its a pretty cool photo –
Yesterday was a bit of a funny day, after I sat down to get all my work done I decided to go and to the apple store and have a bit of a geek out at a macbook pro and see what its like, as I do with any outing I took my camera. My idea for yesterday was to shop what shopping malls are like when christmas hits and normal middle age people turn into packs of wolves as they run around the shops trying to get presents.
Well after pulling out my camera and taking a photo I security guard taps me on the shoulder and basically says you cant take photos in stratford and escorts me to the door. the good news is I did manage to have a look at the new macbook pro, the bad news is I was planning on doing a few more things there, but I suppose they will just have to wait.
The other thing is all year ive been saying how much I want to take December and January off for christmas and to have a bit of break, now that time is actually here I’m like a week into not having constant work and already I’m getting a bit antsy. I know I should enjoy this time and just watch a few box sets and chill out, but for some reason my brain just wont stop. maybe I just need to make myself lay in front to the television and stop. Is it too early to start thinking about christmas? or should I still be trying to sort out work? I know I should enjoy my (f)un-empolyment while I can, but part of me is ready to get back out there and work again.
lets just see how this meeting goes this morning and make a decision after that.
Here are my photos from yesterday, I still have my picture from inside westfeilds. so here it is.
– one of the lasts photos i managed to take in westfeilds –– the new light in the living room looks pretty cool –– our attempt at a christmas tree –
This post is a bit late, I kind of over slept this morning and have only just work it, its like 11:30, its literally felt so good to sleep but I hate waking up at this time. Im going to try and get today back on track and get productive in what ever I do. Yesterday was a proper early start and when your drinking red bull at 8am you know the next day is going to be tough so I suppose its ok to sleep in till this time.
yesterday I worked on my first E-sports championship, thats basically where people battle it out on Iphone games, the worlds best at Clash Royals came together to complete for the grand prize of £150,000!!!!! thats people playing an Iphone game to win £150k! I never thought this would be the future, but computer games are now big business, I actually got really into it, I still haven’t downloaded the game but I think that could all change this afternoon.
the other thing that was pretty good about yesterday is I got to ride a bike down the cannel on my way home, its was an earlish finish and I was on my way at like 4:30, so the light wasn’t completely dark yet, when I could run I spent quite a lot of time on the cannel in the dark, either in the morning or at night, so it was good to be back on this path way. I really wanted to get a good shot of this place but unfortunatly I couldn’t get the camera still enough to slow the shutter down enough to grab all the light, but I still think I did an ok job.
My plan now is to take some amazing photos and really up my game for today, but before I can go out an play with my camera I’ve got a fair bit of paperwork to get through. hopefully I get everyone done my 4ish.
Here are my photos from yesterday.
– the area for the Clash Royal championship final –– a shot looking down the cannel, look at the boris bike light! –-the Olympic park –
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