Tag: photography

B210 – THE FINISH LINE IS IN SIGHT!

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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!

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

B209 – IM NOT IN A GOOD WAY

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Its sunday, a day where most people are sitting at home watching a movie and looking forward to a week of work. while I have made the fatal error of accidentally eating Avacado, something I am really really allergic too, it literally brings me to my knees over night and takes me out of the game for a few days. there nothing I can do apart from sleep and rest. Its currently 8pm and im in bed, trying to get this post done.

my plan for todays post has gone completely out of the window, I wanted to talk about this old hill near our location which was were the revolutionary war was basically start and also were the army kept there Gun power. if you want to know more, here some links to the history for anyone who wants to know more.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerville,_Massachusetts

http://www.muldermedia.com/prospecthill/history.html

http://www.unionsquareneighbors.com/prospect-hill.html

so really cool stuff, but all that really happened to day was I did some work and moaned the whole day that I felt unwell. I like everyone to know what I am going through and feel my pain, im not really a suffer in silence kind of guy. That doesn’t mean this is just Man flu, this is a medical condition that must be treated with the highest respect. The clocks are also going back tonight so hopefully the extra hours sleep will work in my favour.

back to my photos the plan for today now is to show some photos I took on my Iphone over the last couple of days, I of course have to include the photo from my flight over New York a few days ago and some other cool photos from Massachusetts.

if anyone is allergic to Avacado too and knows any top tips for getting rid of this please please let me know. I’m scared to google it because the webdoctors always make me feel like a limbs going to fall off when I google something.

Hope you like my photos.

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– someville, Massachusetts on my trip today to find something to sort me out –
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– leaving New York the other day, I love that city –
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– this was the ceiling in the car rental place at Boston Airport, looks pretty cool –

B206 – I’m outta here 

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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!

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– we managed todo this trick at the bar –

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– new york at lunch time 0

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– welcome –
 

B204 – THE DAY MY CAMERA NEARLY DIED!

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Back in New York and the main thing im going to take away from today is that New York rain seems to be something you cant find anywhere else. its non stop and literally everything just gets soaked through. I went out today not expecting to get that wet, it was just like a little bit of drizzle when I left, well that turned into some thing completely different, but a few years ago I watched that documentary of the New York photographer Bill Cunningham and in that documentary Bill talks about being out in all weathers in New York because thats when you get the best shots, and the guy is completely right, New York seems to go into this completely different mode when it starts raining. My highlight of New York in the rain today was seeing a women walk round with a metal Bin on her head to project her afro, she literally didn’t get a damm what she looked like as long as her hair stayed dry.

if you read yesterdays post you would know my plan for today was to stay around Hunter’s point and take it easy. Well after a quick chat with my parents my dad said I had to have a chill dog from a street vendor, so that became my mission, track down a street vendor and have a chilli dog on the “side walk”. and as soon as I got off the subway at 7th and 59th street, there he was a street vendor with all the goodies apart from Chilli dogs, sorry dad but I just went for a hot dog, I hope that counts. I did plan on not giving up till I got a chilli dog but I was hungry, so that will have todo.

My other plan for today  became getting a good shot of the smoke or stream that comes up from the ground around NYC and after hunting for ages to try and find somewhere, I finally bumped into the perfect location just by 42nd and Grand Central Street. ( im trying to remember the names of the streets, just so I feel like a local). Once I found this spot I only had to wait a few minutes before this guy walked past, it was a pure case of right place right time, but thats how street photography works really, the more hours you spend on the streets, the more places you end up in at the right time.  This is one of my favourite photos Ive taken in a long time, this whole photo feels quite peaceful at a time when everything is starting to get a bit crazy. Im not sure if that makes sense to you, but it does to me.

Here are my photos from today, Ive tried to take it easy today and just get some good rest, now I’m looking forward to laying in bed watching some movies and getting some proper sleep!

I hope you like my photos. oh and if your wondering about my title today, my camera nearly broke because the rain just didn’t stop and I really wasn’t prepared for that. Apart from that I would say its been a pretty successful day.

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– this is one of my favourite photos Ive taken recently –

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– mum is that you?  –

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– the rain today was proper rain, the stuff that no matter watch jacket you had on your T shirt was getting wet –

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– here you go dad, this is where I got my hot dog from –

B203 – I LOVE THIS CITY

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today has been just a day of travel, I woke up this morning in 23 degrees weather at 6am and quickly packed up before leaving florida and catching a plane back to the crazy city that is New York. We are back at the hotel from last time, the Vue something its called near Queens Boro bridge, this hotel literally gives us such a good view of Manhattan, I think ive shown it before when I first got to New York, well anyway Im like two floors above my last room and dead on facing the city, so this time Ive got such a better view. Ill show you it tomorrow maybe.

Its now like mid night and Ive just edited my photos from today and now just thinking of anything to write and all I can think really is how nice Florida was and how happy I am to be back in New York, tomorrow is a pretty chilled out day I think, so my plan is to explore hunters point a bit more, thats basically opposite Manhatten on the queens side of the river. Normally when you head to a city you get drawn to the main tourist spots, but im just going to walk around Hunter point and then Maybe head into town, but the main mission for tomorrow is to take some cool photos of the city and the people that live here.

I would love to write about how I plan on getting up at 5 in the morning to go and take photos of the sun set over the river or people on their rush hour commute, but that would just be a big fat lie, I dont plan on doing anything like that. part of the whole three photos a day thing, is that sometimes its just a down day with no plans and those are the days were I have to get creative with my photos and tomorrow might be one of those days. Im trying not to think about it too much other wise, Ill end up doing something adventurous and not chilled out at all and thats not the point of tomorrow.

heres my photos from today. enjoy.

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– packing up the car at silly O’clock this morning, I already miss this SUV –

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– the last palm tree I saw in florida and look at that sun rise! –

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– back in New York where everyone is constantly moving at 1 million miles an hour –

B201 – CATFISH, SOUTHERN STYLE

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If anyone has driven from Tampa to Bartow, or even been to this little town somewhere in florida called Bartow, you will hear the local talk about Catfish Country as a place you need to go an eat it. you will hear them talk about how great the cat fish is and how its such a famous place to go and eat at. Ive never had Catfish before and today was really my first time, ( I had a cat fish Sandwhich the other day but I spilt most of it down my top and covered the whole thing in ketchup. So Im counting this as my first time, this is kind of my review of cat fish and the restaurant Cat fish country.

One thing I wont talk about is the service, America waiters and waitress are the best in the world, where ever you go you’ll get a good service and thats because they work for tips. so its unfair for me to talk about their service.  As someone whos a huge fan of the traditional cod and chips, this is a biased opinion. but when cod and chips isnt on the menu, would I go for Cat fish, probably not. but if I was in florida again, would I go for Cat fish and chips, probably. its got an OK taste and is a bit like cod in the texture, but no where near the same amount of favour.

but what you get at this place Catfish Country is the whole experience, if feels like a food restaurant in the south should feel, and has all the right things, a massive TV showing the sports highlights, unlimited ice tea and the perfect atmosphere, these places always feel like they’ve spent 50 years collecting things from passers by, including their number plates and other weird items and this place is no exception, its full of just about everything you can image from over the size bud light neon signs, to taxidermy, to things that look like they belong to on a boat. but all done in a real aesthetically pleasing way. its just all looks like it genuinely belongs there.

If you are ever driving down highway 98 towards Bartow definitely stop off and give this place a try, you cant miss it theres a massive sign that says “Catfish Country”.

Heres my photos from the meal, I’m sorry to the locals but nothing you cook will be able to beat fish and chips from Brighton Pier.

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– this place definatly looks 10 x better than any fish and chip shop in the UK –
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– I wasnt even aware there was a catfish festival –
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– It looks almost the same to standard fish and chips but they do give you this little corn do ball thing –
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– I really like the fact every table had a paper hand towel roll, that always means you going to be in for some good food –
 

 

 

B195 – I DELETED EVERYTHING!!!!

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It happened, my first major major cock up in 195 days.

Well today started as any other shoot day does, really early and straight on the move, nothing out of the normal, and as normal I had my camera with me and would take photos as the day goes on, some cool, some terrible photos but all of it is still useable content in some sort of way.

well after I had been hustled by a bunch of boy scouts, no joke they literally called me over to tell me about a great offer on the cup cakes, and said that we could barter for the cupcakes. I was up for it and asked for 6 for $10 something I felt was completely fair, then the head scout with all the badges basically said no deal and sold me them for the standard price of 4 for $10. I didn’t even want the cup cakes, but thought it would be good to teach these guys a lesson or two in business only for me to end up losing out and falling for their tricks.  the lesson I learnt here is don’t be fooled by the scouts, they know exactly how to get your money.

The other thing is I took photos of is the crazy size of houses in this area, we are currently in place called Bedminister, New Jersey and these houses are like something out of MTV cribs, its ridiculous. Im not sure if its because theres so much land out here or if these people have just figured out life, but these houses are impressive.

anyway I had some great examples, but ill just have to see what I can do tomorrow.

its now obviously tough post today, I did find one photo on my phone that I took this morning so that is below, the fog looked really cool in the trees and reminded me of that old TV show Man Tracker, about I guy who could track down anyone even in the harshest conditions. The other two photos I was saving up for later on but I suppose now is a good as any. they were two photos I took in New York city, and I think they sum that place up quite well. Im a big fan of black and white street photography, so I try and do as much of that as possible. I feel like black and white adds an extra element to the photos, that I think is thanks to the film photography ere that everyone is so used to seeing. it has helped to give B&W photos a timeless feel.

so here they are, enjoy the snaps and sorry of the mish mash post.

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– new york Subway after rush hour –
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– this person definitly doesn’t want to have their bike stollen –
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– my only picture that has survived from today –

B193 – 24/7 THIS PLACE DOESN’T STOP

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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.

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– Its true what people say, new York traffic is like nothing anywhere else, it just seems to go on and go and on –
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– one of the photos I took on my way to get some food –
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– something is always happening on every block –

B191

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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.

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– this is my view during the day from my room –
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– this is my view at night, while in bed. New Yorks sky line is like nothing ive seen before –
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– I love New York –
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– this place is constantly moving at full sleep –
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– it was like this guy was waiting for someone to take a photo of him –

B185 – I COMPETELY FORGOT IT – PT.2

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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?

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– Highbury and Islington today at 17:40 –

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– sun flares this time of year are sick –

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– why are adult scooters a thing –