“Don’t be the guy with a camera, be a photographer!”

was the advice given by my buddy before I left for my recent short trip to London & Italy. Valid advice as it is always great to bring home some nice photos from a trip. But here’s the thing, I am never a photographer. I do not see myself as naturally gifted nor technically capable (both skills and equipment) of taking shots that are worthy of a post on @beautifuldestinations Instagram.

So yeah, I guess I am a “guy with a camera”. The kind of uncle/cousin that exists in every family that would usually be carrying a camera and randomly taking photos during family events. Yup, that would be me.

During the recent trip, I thought it would be nice to go out and snap some photos of things I get to see during my short 3 days in London. 3 days might seem as a decent amount of days to do a bit of photo taking but in between Oxford Street, Harrods and Primark, there was very little time.

Nevertheless, here’s a quick random run though of some of the photos of London City captured on my phone and camera.

Weather wasn’t too kind on our first day, an attempt for Sunrise at Hyde Park & Buckingham Palace ended with a morning jog to take cover from the morning downpour.

Rain or shine, the morning rush will always be there.

As the sun comes out, the Hyde Park makes a great place to start any London tour. Known as one of the greatest city parks in the world, a visitor would easily be able to spend half a day spotting the various sculptures, statues and fountains at the park.

Serpentine Lake @ Hyde Park. You know it’s a good spot for photographs when you see Asian tourists taking turns to do their signature kawaii cute face pose with the birds.

Despite knowing that Big Ben is under major maintenance mode, we still went there to check it out. It’s a pity that I would not be able to capture that signature “Big Ben” shot we often see on travel brochures promoting London.

But all is not lost; we stayed on to capture some pretty ok shots of the surrounding areas during sunset.

 

My favourite shot of the evening. I just love how bicycles are a common sight throughout the city.

Besides cycling and walking, The London Underground or the Tube is a great way to move around. Grab an Oyster card and a Google Map and you are good to explore London’s top attractions.

Some of the stations are quite lovely and Instagram-worthy, like this one at Embankment Station.

And Hyde Park Corner

Another unique characteristic of London is its lovely looking buildings. Notting Hill is famous for this but if you look around you would find some nice buildings even at the shopping streets. I still have Notting Hill in my future wish-list though!

Another icon of London, the Tower Bridge.

In our previous trips, we passed through this bridge on the Hop On Hop Off bus, so we made it a point to check it out this time.

Nice view of The Shard, a 95-storey skyscraper, from the Tower Bridge.

Tower Bridge from the Girl with a Dolphin Fountain. A nice place to take photo of the bridge.

Light trails of double decker busses and cars crossing the bridge.

Not many places that I was able to check out this time but that’s the beauty of London, there is always a reason to come back!

Oh by the way, after all those sightseeing, a makan stop at Burgers and Lobsters is definitely a must.

Next, we head Southeast from London to Rome, Italy!

In the meantime, share in the comments section below, what’s your favourite spot in London.