snapshots and observations

Saturday 30 April 2011

oh hello !







these look interesting.
denim af-1's.
sail midsole, gum out, yellow stitching. brass eyelets.







pebbled leather heel tab








leather tongue tab









these are a problem
no word yet as to when these are dropping but i won't be sleeping on these.
it could call for liberty tactics and a bit of queuing.


more news will follow.





Friday 29 April 2011

competition answer








here's the answer to april's competition.


this is the metrocard that i bought...
it's an absolute beauty.








unlike most of the pieces, it's not actually made from a metrocard
rather it is fashioned from a piece of zebrawood to the exact shape and size
as a metrocard, complete with hole. it is however about 8mm thick as opposed
to the paper thin metrocard.








the artist behind it is andrew braun
craftsman, woodworker according to the card on the back.








the clues i was hoping you'd pick up on are as follows:

1. my phone. i've shown my iphone case many times. i really love cartoon wood
the piece i chose was the wood grain that was closest to my iphone case








i've also shown my skatedeck door handles a few times
same huntergatherer cartoon wood effect.








i also thought the piece i bought looked a lot like the wooden doors in my kitchen
which i blogged about in the past.







i've also shown my love of wood by buying an iphone charger made out of...
yep... wood.








wood effect bearbrick









maybe i don't harp on about wood as much as i should. i really do like wood.
like larry david, i respect wood !
another shot i've posted before shows a few woody bits i have...
when i had my original poster of 'the bobo' framed i chose a beach frame to
match the beech hand rails.







also seeing as i post photos of my kicks most weeks, you must have noticed 
the oak flooring at whitfield towers ?
as i mentioned in the competition post, there were quite a few pieces i could
have bought, and as a few of you pointed out, there were many pieces in the show
which tied in with things i like... still, it's the wood that got me.

thanks to everybody for entering.

until next time, etc, etc...






breakfast on the a303








on monday i had yet another shoot in devon.
i left whitfield towers early doors which meant i would hit my favourite
breakfast spot in wiltshire at just the right time.
bacon, sausage and egg on a bap. perfect.
instant coffee... not perfect.

you might recall my previous stop at the same place ?


and with a take-away slice of cherry genoa cake, i was on my way.



Thursday 28 April 2011

m3 car park








on the way home from devon on monday, just when i thought the worst bit of 
the drive was over, a police car on the m3 stopped just ahead of me and turned 
the whole thing into a car park.
we all got out of our cars, stretched our legs, had a bit of a chat for 30 minutes
then the police gave the thumbs up, we got back in our cars and carried on.
this helped my journey back from devon to turn into a 6 and a half hour drive.

grrr !



weekend snapshots








over the weekend i snapped a few interesting things with my x100



a very nice sign outside a pub down a back street
what fantastic wording... " a public house devoted to beef "








from the top deck of a 271... the start of a mini-marathon or something 









reflected in the cafe window at the tate modern... me.
woah... it looks like i'm wearing two pairs of kicks... tip-top !








at the new branch of bea's of bloomsbury
i tucked into a vanilla and pistachio cupcake and a flat white.








and near waterloo bridge i spotted some unpromising youths...
freeloading or whatever it's called !



i'm still not convinced by the x100... but i'm working on it.


Wednesday 27 April 2011

new york story part 11: the final ( phew ) shots








is it just me or has everybody had enough of my new york snapshots ?

well here are the last shots i took.

this was on my second visit to the culture espresso bar
another genius flat-white, and this time i didn't spill it.








after a business meeting about an upcoming shoot in new york i walked
over to the ace hotel
and joined the queue at the stumptown coffee roaster which is located in the lobby.









here's the view as you go from the dark lobby to the coffee shop 
this place had the biggest, slowest queues of any coffee shop i'd ever seen.
still, it was an interesting wait in line. you get to see the baristas at work 
and they are an entertaining bunch.








after a while it was time for my flat white to be made









outstanding !
worth the wait too. it was a beauty.








most people were taking away. there are no seats in this place, but there is a bar
where you can stand up and drink. that's the option i chose.
listening to coffees being ordered and made, looking out at yellow cabs, and looking
at my watch counting down the hours til i could make a move to jfk and fly home.
yes, i'd just about had enough of new york and was missing home.








new york is all well and good but it's a well established fact that london is the 
greatest city in the world... right ?

i'll tell you what, you wouldn't see this poster in london...
what the what ?!
sausage biscuit ?
in the name of all that's holy !








also what's all this ?
the smaller print posters detailed all the conspiracy theories advertised on
the larger print posters. 

my mate gooner jeff used to like the odd conspiracy theory.
moon landing, 911 and all that. nowadays he mainly harps on about
conspiracy theories regarding how arsenal never win any silverware. 
the referees are against arsenal, or the f.a. don't like wenger so they make the 
fixtures difficult for them or some such nonsense.

my theory is that arsenal don't shoot enough, therefore don't score goals.
also they defend badly which results in goals being conceded and games lost.

but that's just a theory i have.








the new york times
and the new york dolls








i like this shot. quaint little old school new york shops...
being towered over by skyscrapers.








i think my favourite building in new york ( apart from the flatiron building )
is the hearst corporation tower on 8th avenue at 57th street.
designed by sir norman foster.








it stands out a mile from the other buildings
and you can get some really nice shots of it.
i'll bore you at a later stage with some of my efforts.








and around the corner from the hearst tower... back to the hudson hotel.
one last look at the lobby.








this is the bar / nightclub kind of thing just behind the escalators
not the cheapest place for a drink, but you have to try it once.








here's the view from my favourite self-portrait seat looking towards the bar
you know what's coming next don't you ?
just look at that empty chair... 
what you you do in a situation like this ?








boom !









and finally, one last shot before jumping down a yellow escalator to a yellow cab.
then it was just a matter of: 
checking in with good old british airways.
watching a norman wisdom film on my iphone while eating mexican food.
falling asleep on the plane and missing breakfast.
catching the piccadilly line to holloway road.
jumping on a 271.
back home.
n7.
























www.markwhitfieldphotography.com









i've got a new front page for my website...


thanks again to dave for the artwork and to mikki for the hard work.






Tuesday 26 April 2011

new york story part 10: "smash"









just around the corner from where i photographed the friendly cop and 
the yellow cabs in part 9. i bumped into a group of people on the streets
who were shooting a pilot episode for a new nbc tv programme called 'smash'

you can read about it here:

i stood by and watched them shoot the same scene over and over and over again.
a girl ( katharine mcphee, a former american idol contestant ) comes out of the subway
singing, turns and walks away singing to herself.
everybody in my photos is an extra. the people follow her out of the subway in the same
 order each take. others move around and take photos of each other like tourists
or go about their business like normal new yorkers.
here are 3 shots from the filming, though they are from 3 different takes



girl comes up out of subway...








she's singing to herself...







she turns and walks away...
and that's about it.








after about 10 takes katharine came over to have a butchers at one of the monitiors
and see how it looked on tape.









everybody seemed to be happy with what they'd shot



























hug for the talent
then they packed away the gear and moved off to another location.

do you think we'll ever see 'smash' on telly here in the uk ?



liberty








 snapshots from liberty on saturday




1. a very old window









2. shirts that mrs w didn't buy









3. friends and family edition stüssy x nike all court mids

fire !