Tag: street

B318 – TAKING PHOTOS WITHOUT WALKING ANYWHERE?

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After the shoot today my plan involved rushing back to east london to try and catch a demo of the New fujifilm camera, it looks pretty sick and I think I may be in love but on my arrival to Wex Photo in Whitechapel I was met with the news that I was 30 minutes late and as a result missed the demo and the camera. Coming away from the shop feeling like a had completely failed on my post shoot mission I decided that instead of heading straight home, that I should now try and finish on a high and take some cool photos.\

The only problem with that was for the fact that since 5am I had been on my feet and running around carrying peli cases and tripods, so I needed a plan which involved taking cool photos and not really moving a whole lot. Thats when my idea came to me, theres so many cool artists around brick lane, that spend hours and hundreds of pounds painting the walls and adding some colour to this city, its almost becoming an accepted part of modern day society. if you have a nice clean wall, then someone going to put some art on it free of charge. there comes my mini plan for today. Why don’t I find a really cool wall and just photograph people walking past it and see if they even acknowledge it?

Apart from the guy that swore at me and polity told me todo one, it was pretty successful I think. after coming home and looking at the photos, I really like the choice of wall but I’m not sure what I think about the people being out of focus. I would love to say that was a choice but it really wasn’t, I wanted them to be in focus. so maybe I need to re-think my strategy a bit. I think the idea is there, I just need to now concentrate on the delivery now, I will be back and Im now thinking of this idea a lot more. Im not going to say anymore because I dont want someone to steel my idea, but if you do give it a try please send me some of your photos so i can see if you do it better than me.

Heres my favourite photos from today.

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– this is what the wall looked like when no one was standing in front of it –
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– probably my favourite photo from today, hes in my picture and maybe I made it into his –
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– she likes the art –
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– they look like they’ve seen something happening up ahead –

 

 

B310 – THROWBACK THURSDAY !

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So at it is Thursday its probably only right that I do kind of a mini throwback of the past week (that is kind of my excuse for not really taking any photo yesterday), when I first started this blog, I said that the challenge was going to be getting up and taking photos on a really cool winters day and well last night I kind of did fail the challenge. but luckily I had a few cool pictures that Ive taken recently so why not just post them?

Near to where I work theres this canal and as I’ve nearly been there two weeks I think its time that I took a little lunch time walk along it to see if theres anything I can photograph, so I think that is my plan today. especially at Lunch time when the sun is at its highest but because it winter you get really cool shadows, so who knows it could really work out and maybe ill get some cool photos. I think it just comes down to the fact I need to man up and brave the cold, because otherwise I don’t think my photos will be nearly as good as they can be.

Im determined to put more time into my music project and really get that off the ground again, I need to get out to gigs and fully surround myself with music I think, show what can be done in the extra time before and after work. Im quickly running out of days and now its time to step up a bit, I know I keep saying that but its true I really need todo more. Ill spent some time today putting together a plan for gigs and photography ideas and then see about putting them into play. Sorry to all those readers that probably think I’m faffing about at the moment, but trying to juggle life doesn’t seem to be as straight forward as I originally thought.

Heres some photos from the past 7 days. enjoy.

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– Ive seen before photos with water in the bottom of the shot to add some thing extra, I gave it a go and maybe I need to give it another go and try and bit harder –
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– a photo from box park the other day –
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– I dont think theres a better place to take street photos at night, east london is by far my favourite place –

B293 – I NEED TODO BETTER

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Having a bit of a lazy Monday morning today, its like 12 O’ clock and I’m still in bed. I am doing work but I’m still holed up refusing to get up. I think this kind of behaviour is fine as long as I’m still getting stuff done, you don’t need to be out of bed at 7am and cracking on right? some days you can do what needs to be done laying flat in a warm bed, I put it down to the perks of Freelance life.

Today I’m going back to some thing I haven’t done for like 100 days, that is the Iphone challenge, what i do it look through my Iphone to see what photos I might have on there that I can use for todays post, I also try to see a good photo and then just take it on my Iphone quickly to store it up for when I have days like these. As Im still at my parents house I want to try and get out later and give mooney (my dog) a good old walk, go out into the country side and see whats going on. maybe try and get some cool landscape photos, I know that its better to get up really early for that kind of thing, but I’ve missed the boat on that one now, so I suppose Ill just have to go this afternoon before it gets dark.

I think how I have to move forward with this blog is the day before I need to give my self a goal for the next day, like right tomorrow I’m going to photograph people or tomorrow is all about Landscape. that is probably the best way to move forward, so each day Ive got the goals and I know what i need todo, because right now Im not thinking about the next day till it gets here and I realise Ive missed an opportunity or something. Maybe Im getting to complacent, time I stepped my game up a bit more.

Thats my conclusion from today, here are my photos, enjoy!

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– this is a photo of the long walk ways at Bank station, its like human rabbit holes down there –
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– bristol train station at the beginning of the year –
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– that time I was at the British Library –

 

B262 – IS SHE HIDING FROM SOMEONE?!

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Today took a bit of a turn, I was supposed to be taking photos in this cool hairdressers in Shoreditch but at the last minute it fell through, welcome to my life. so I ended up deciding to go on a bit of a walk around east London and try and take some usual street style photos. Don’t get me wrong I really enjoy that kind of photography and thats one of the perks of living in East London, you can literally walk around any street and take photos, but I was looking forward to concentrating on taking some photos of people.

As my plan changed last minute I had to think quickly and come up with a new goal, my idea now was to take photos of people who are wearing the same colour as a back ground, so someone wearing a red jacket standing in front of a red shop, or maybe some one in a blue top standing next to a blue van. My idea now was to head to Spitlefeild market and work my way out from there. So it was kind of a successful trip out, and also got me on my feet and walking around burning energy which is always a plus.

Tonight i’m going out for a meal with Amy to celebrate christmas so I probably wont take my camera with me, as much as I want to I know that I should really give Amy some attention, she has a camera in her face 24 hours a day when she’s with me so I should give her a  night off. She’s also making me wear a christmas jumper out for dinner so I don’t want to risk you guys seeing me in a restaurant wearing a christmas jumper. Im just hoping that when I put it on it still fits, its a jumper I got last year and I’m worried it wont fit any more. I suppose only time will tell.

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-its like shes wearing camouflage and hiding from someone –
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– Im happy with how this photo has turned out, it feels like something from the east berlin or something –
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– wearing the perfect jacket to work in a florists –

 

B249 – AN UPSIDE DOWN TEMPLE TO A COIN LAUNDRY

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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 –

B234 – WE SELL LIBERATION!

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Todays post is a bit late and thats just because i’m attacking the two months worth of washing I have in my wash bin, i’m quickly running out of clothes and today is solely dedicated to getting the washing done and hunting down some clean socks. Welcome to adult life josh…

Yesterday day time was spent on the sofa getting through emails and doing all that accounts stuff, but in the evening Amy and me met up for some chicken wings and a drink, it was just nice to get out and have a bit of fun. even though after my first beer I was nearly falling asleep, Sorry about that Amy.

While I was waiting for Amy I decided to spend sometime taking photos of shop windows and the people inside them, so much effort goes into how a shop looks from the outside which basically means that each shop is kind of perfect for taking photos. the windows are kind of pieces of art that are made to draw people into them, if that makes any sense. people are employed to make a shop window stand out, thats literally a job and those people who design shop windows probably also do set design for video or fashion shoots, so they all have the same guidelines. make something individual and to that company / artist style. well that was my kind of thinking to taking photos through the windows last night and I kind of think it worked.

I really wanted to focus on the typography or lighting of each shop and use those two things to take the photo and explain the photo I took. each photo that has typography explains whats happening or what they stand for.

The tattoo photo shows a man laying topless on a bench, the neon lighting above the window show that he is getting a tattoo, otherwise it might just look like he was drunk or something.

the “we sell liberation” basically speaks for its self. theres a guy wearing make up and someone with crazy hair. what more is there to say about that photo.

the reason behind the third photo is all todo with “eat beautiful” and also the lighting, which is pretty cool and the mirrors in the background create this funky look.

I’m back in the swing of things now and cant wait for the next 131 days of the photography project, lets grab some fireworks add some crazy ideas and take some cool photos!!!!!!!

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” we sell LIBERATION “
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” tattoo”
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” eat beautiful “

 

 

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 –

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 –

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 –