B178 – PHONE SNAPS- AIRPORT AFTER AIRPORT.

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.

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– a photo from the drive across town –
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– look at what theyve done to the pole, it looks pretty cool. Ive got some better snaps, ill show you them some other time –
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– the street near to canada’s first china town –

 

B177 – A SEA PLANE

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

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– this is a sea plane –
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– i like this picture –
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– a nother great photo

B175 – ONE CRAZY DAY

Today has been on of those filming days where you are literally jus running around none stop of 14 hours trying to make everything work. sorry to sound like a work-a-holic but sometimes I have nothing else to say. Im now laying in bed, looking at the photos from the day thinking about what has happened today, its all a bit of a blur, but I have to say Victoria is an amazing place and surrounded by water, which helps to make for a better climate that Southern America which has been crazy hot.

My plan today was to show you some of the best parts about this island in Canada called Victoria but all I have done is work. so lets just share some fact with you, in 1871 british columbia became the sixth province and proclaimed capital of canada. basically putting it in charge. in 1778 Jame cook, that guy who discovered America became the first european to set foot on Canada and proclaimed it to be a discovery.

What I like about this part of the world is that everyone is friendly, Amanda and myself were at the bar tonight when suddenly two local drinks called a shaft were given to us by this nice local who just wanted to chat. A shaft is basically this mix of a few sprites which make something that taste like baileys. thats what I like about this place, everyone is ready to make freinds and be drinking friends.

sorry for all this mistakes in todays post, im just a bit tired and ready to go to sleep but wasnt prepared to miss todays post and fail at my job of posting each day for the whole year. Ive had a great time travelling america and canada and soon to be heading back to the uk for a few weeks before going out on my next adventure. thank you for following my post and hope you enjoy these snaps.

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– this car today was amazing, makes me want get this car –
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– even the industrial parts of vancover look amazing –
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– i want to buy a skateboard and join this guys

B172 – THIS IS A PROPER PIZZA

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.

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– 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.

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– 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.

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– this looks like an intense study session –

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

B170 – UNKNOWN COOL AMERICA – A QUITE DAY MADE FUN- PT.4

Yep train tracks, thats what I took photos of today and I learnt something. I really dont like taking photos of train tracks, but where I am in Chicago, there is basically nothing apart from some massive car parks, and fast food joints. So train tracks will have todo.

Ive had one of those days where I just feel completely nackered and just looking forward to getting some good food inside me. my conclusion is that mid west america dont know how todo breakfast, they either have fruit loops or waffles and maybe some turkey sausages and some eggs. thats good every now and again, but not everyday. get some fresh fruit in and some yoghurt, trust me america it will change your life. or even try some fresh food, its a real game changer.

but enough of the moaning, At Lunch time today, i thought what should I do If I have nothing todo, so I decided to stop off at a gun shop to get that culture shock and wake my day up.  I ended up shooting my first ever gun a military grade AR-15 semi automatic machine gun. The nice guys in the gun shop gave me a little tour of the place first, I only I walked into the store to have a look at what guns they sell and maybe get my hands on the clint Eastwood smith and western gun that he has in those movies, but after speaking to Gunny Mike and this cool guy Marc, they ended up letting me shoot some rounds of the AR-15. It was a pretty sick time actually and scared the crap out of me. but after the first 10 rounds I was like a young rambo. They even gave me a cool T-shirt for me to remember the first time I shot an AR-15. I was like a 10 year old boy, who just discovered this whole new world. I dont think i would ever own a gun or something but it was definitely a good bit of fun. my shoulder is in a bit of pain now though, that guns got a bit of a kick to it.

After that I decided to go on a bit of a drive and take some pictures of something that has no baring on my day, but of something that is everywhere in the states and thats how I ended up taking photos of the exciting world of the American Railway tracks. enjoy these photos.

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– cheers Gunny Mike and Marc for setting this up. as you can see Im a natural, the hole closest to the red was Gunny Mike, I was going to claim it as mine but it was all him that one.  –
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– rail road crossing number one –
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– this was a rail road crossing, I just made it look like I was standing in between the tracks. I promise –

B166 – COOL SIDE OF AMERICA – NIGHT TIME. MID WEST. P2

this is the first day of my mini project Cool side of Unknown America inside of the 3 photos a day project. the plan is to show the of the tourist trail america, just the suburbs and where locals go and what day to day life is like. for my first day I wanted to show night time in St. charles. this historic town dates back to 1796 and if your ever round here you have to try the toasted ravioli on main street. I think I mentioned it yesterday, but this stuff is worth checking out.

On the way back to the hotel from location today, there was a sign that apparently ready “Cool stuff, cheap”. well as my first photo project is called cool side of unknown america, it was only right I waited for it to get dark and  then go take some snaps of it to open this project up properly! thank you Libby for pointing that sign out!

I wanted my first shoot to be a night time one, I think photography at night is not the easiest thing, but when the light hits a certain focual point it really opens the photo up, it creates some sort of mystery to the rest of the image and tells a story in its self. when you take away all the light and only have a small outline of a object or person in the for ground and then something lite up at the back of the shot. for me it adds a whole new dimension. that was my thinking tonight, give you guys something to look at a few times and notice something else, maybe something that I havent even seen. a lot of the time, I just take a photo by accident and the somehow that turns out to be one of my favourite. for these photos Ive got the ISO pretty high, because I need it for light but I also like the grainy look it gives these photos especially because they are black and white.

I would love to hear what people think of these photos, I might just be a bit delirious after work and none of this make sense and for that I’m sorry!

Heres my snaps, enjoy.

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– its the perfect picture to get this project started –
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– I know its weird but ive always wanted to come to one of these –
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– photographing motor bikes is just fun –

 

B164 – THE DAY I LOST 20,000 PHOTOS.

20,000. Thats the number of photos I may have lost today. my hard drive that I’ve been using for the past 2 months has gone down. its not being recognised in any computer. Im pretty sure its the SATA bridge but there no way to know until I get back to the UK and can run some tests, so I wont know for certain until the 29th if Ive lost those photos. Now, no one comment “did you not back them up” because I have, and at home I have two back ups for all my photos, just not any back ups from the last two months. I was going to back up those 90 days when I got back. I try to back up every month but to be honest I just havent for the past two months. this isn’t a lesson, this is just a test to see how good I am at digging myself out of a crappy situation. I got this. this is just what technology does, it breaks and goes down without any warning. I was using a professional 1TB LaCie Rugged, and its just gone down.

Im praying to god that I can fix this when I get back, by simply switching out the SATA bridge with one off Amazon or ebay. heres a link to the one I will probably buy.

https://www.amazon.com/IO-Crest-SY-ADA20079-Adapter-Cable/dp/B0057UAB2K/ref=sr_1_25?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1505357243&sr=1-25&keywords=sata+bridge

All I need todo is unscrew the casing of the drive and then disconnect the actually hard drive from the SATA to USB bridge that will be at one end and then plug it into my new one that you’ve brought of Amazon. easy.

if the same thing has happened to you, heres some tips: make sure you buy the right bridge, because depending on if you have 2.5 inch drive or a 3inch drive that will depend on what replacement you get). its easy todo and im pretty sure anyone can it do. please drop me a message at joshfspear@icloud.com with your make and model or the broken drive and I will help you to find the correct part.

Im writing this post to help anyone else who might be in this problem and has had a drive go down. its possible the worst feeling when you’ve lost content that you think is not recoverable. Im not saying its 100% that I’m going to be able to get it all back and if I cant I will be paying someone to do. it has added about 10 times more stress to my day and to this blog challenge!

to everyone else, read this and then go and back up all your content. please just do it for me. If I have lost all those photos I’ve taken on the first half of this trip, trust me they were probably the best photos you would ever of seen! they were incredible.

anyway heres some cool photos I took today in and around historic downtown st Charles just outside of St Louis. its about a 40 minute drive and is worth it. the street is full of cool little shops and is famous for its fried Ravioli, we wanted to try it last night but ended up with a burrito. tomorrow it is on the cards. enjoy these photos and let me know what you think.

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– this man was just sitting on the curb drawing on his diggery do –
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– this car looks like something out of a movie –
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– cant beat a good sunset shot –

 

 

 

 

B154 – see ya later London 

Just at the airport waiting to get on my flight, so thought I should get this post in now. 

First stop on the list is Toronto and then on to the states, I think. Yesterday was my last day in London, so did all those things like breakfast, pack and eat some more. Lucky I managed to get some clothes washed and fresh socks. Not sure if I have enough Clothes for the month but we will just have to see. 

A big shout of out to apple for fixing my phone yesterday evening. I really needed an unlocked phone that works, and they basically saved me a load of money. There’s a first for everything. 

Looking at my schedule for the next 20 something days it’s going to be hard to keep these post updated at 10am each day, so it could be any time really. I’m determined to to let it slip but we will just have to see. 

– good bye London, see ya soon –
– brunch’n, yesterday at borough market –
– I’m not going to miss this, the underground –

B153 – 3 pictures of a pigeon 

Right I’m sorry but today’s post is just three pictures of a pigeon. I wish I had more to write about but prepping for this trip is taking up all my time, I literally stepped out the office to get an amazon parcel. When I saw a pigeon and took the chance to chase it around this mini park. I think I managed to pull it off and get the shot. 
Sorry for the short post, but I’m just really busy at the moment. I promise tomorrow will be a good one. 

– a pigeon taking flight –
– where’s the pigeon going? Who knows –
– she’s away –

B150 – MY NEW TOY

After one stollen package and then one being delivered to the wrong flat, my new flash gun has arrived, its one of those ones that sits in the hot shoe on top of my camera, so naturally the photos tonight are of Amy and me, testing out the flash after dinner. its only the Amazon basic Flash, Ive been looking at getting on for a while now and the other day amazon had a sale on and were selling them for £20 with prime, so I thought it was time to see what these things are like.

and first things first, it was so easy to set this up, i have no idea about the technical side of it, but focusing in low light is so easy, im not sure if the flash, kind of works as an auto focus or what, up all the stills came out sharp. What is also really good about the flash is that it draws all the other light, so even in “well lite” area’s you get a much better image, for £20 this has got to be on the cheapest camera essentials you can get, I cant wait to take more photos and really see what its like.

Tonight was just about going out after dinner and seeing if it works and what we can do with it, Ive already started thinking of some cool things I can do. I really like the idea of shooting some fast movement stuff, like skateboards, boris bikes or even the occasional pet. for now though you’ll just have to check out these photos I got of Amy at 9:30 last night, she’s a good egg that one.

Heres the snaps, let me know what you think or if you have any tips for using the Flash, I want to up my low light photo game.

Thanks again amy for being my model!

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– amy getting ready for her big moment –
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– “come on josh bake off is on” –
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– swag’d out #HypeBeast –