Dutch Student Living in LONDON

[Ni3lS]

It would mean a lot to me if you guys please LIKE my page on Facebook

Hi all,

I currently live in London, UK for an internship. I'm living in London until feb. 2013, so lots of photos to come! I'm having a blast so far, it's a vibrant metropolis which has something new to offer every single day.
The only thing I'm not a fan of is the London mentality / hospitality. It needs some work IMO!I've been told I'm not the only one and I'll probably get over it anyway.
For now, please enjoy the photos

1. I'm starting with my super panorama's taken from Point Hill in Greenwich.

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2. Here's another one.

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3. Canary Wharf seen from Point Hill, Greenwich.

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CANARY WHARF, LONDON by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

4. The mighty Shard!

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THE SHARD // REDONE by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

5. A lighter version...

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THE SHARD by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

6. The famous Tower Bridge

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TOWER BRIDGE II by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

7. Again the Tower Bridge

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TOWER BRIDGE by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

8. London City Hall and Tower Bridge

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CITY HALL by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

9. The Big Ben

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MR. BEN by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

10. Another panorama, this time of the Thames Riverwalk

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LONDON BLUE HOUR by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

11. The National British Museum

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BRITISH MUSEUM by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

12. Balham underground station

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It only takes a Scratch [London Tube] by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

13. Another panorama, taken from Bermondsey

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More photos coming soon

[Benonie]

Oh my god! These pictures are even more than gorgeous! If this is the intro, I can't wait to see the rest. Brilliant!

[The_Big_City]

very nice photos from London. it looks great

[Ni3lS]

Thanks guys. Yea lots more to come

[ksz]

Awesome photos, can't wait for another dose of your picturesque shots !!

BTW, got some questions regarding your reason of staying in London - what do you study actually, what kind of internship do you do right now in London and how did it happen you got this offer of doing the internship?

[Gouveia]

The bridge looks amazing..

Realy good work..

[Ni3lS]

Originally Posted by ksz

Awesome photos, can't wait for another dose of your picturesque shots !!

BTW, got some questions regarding your reason of staying in London - what do you study actually, what kind of internship do you do right now in London and how did it happen you got this offer of doing the internship?

Thanks! I study International Business and I'm doing a marketing internship with RE/MAX real estate. I'm afraid you don't just 'get' offers. You have to put a lot of effort in applying and convincing a company that you're the one they're looking for. Good luck!

Originally Posted by Gouveia

The bridge looks amazing..

Realy good work..

Thanks!

[Ni3lS]

14. On the Tower Bridge

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YOU MAY ENTER by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

15. View on Southwark from the Tower Bridge B/W

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SKY NEEDLE by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

16. Night photo of the Shard

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NIGHT SHARD by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

17. Again the Shard at blue hour

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FOLLOW THE BLUE LIGHT by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

18. Canary Wharf from Tower Bridge

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IN THE DISTANCE by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

19. The Citibank and HSBC bank buildings at Canary Wharf

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CITIGROUP by NielsKristianPhotography, on Flickr

20. London Skyline

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[Student4life]

Brilliant pics !

[Ni3lS]

Thanks man

[christos-greece]

Your photos from London are really very nice; well done

[Ni3lS]

Cheers Christos!

[Tellvis]

The only thing I'm not a fan of is the London mentality / hospitality. It needs some work IMO!I've been told I'm not the only one and I'll probably get over it anyway.

WOW, Truly amazing photos, some of the best I have seen of London, keep them coming......
Sorry to hear our hospitality has not been up to scratch, hope you find that changes,
I thought us Londoners are good at being hospitable, we are quite friendly really. Anyway enjoy London and keep the fantastic pics coming.

[Ni3lS]

Originally Posted by Tellvis

WOW, Truly amazing photos, some of the best I have seen of London, keep them coming......
Sorry to hear our hospitality has not been up to scratch, hope you find that changes,
I thought us Londoners are good at being hospitable, we are quite friendly really. Anyway enjoy London and keep the fantastic pics coming.

I was actually hoping someone would start a discussion about this. Of course there are a lot of people here that are hospitable, that's the case in any city/country. It's just that the experiences I've had, the majority of it was quite negative. It ranges from not getting served at restaurants/pubs to very arrogant waitresses, waiters that include tips in the bill trying to trick you and make you believe you have to pay the 'service charge' while it's optional. Besides, for what service am I paying really? Waiting 45 minutes for a diet coke? And this is not one place I'm talking about, but 6 different places till date.

Last friday someone got so aggressive in traffic that after driving for 10 minutes with his middlefinger out of the window, he got out and wanted to fight me. I wasn't even the person driving. It did not make sense at all. Right in front of my office I saw an accident happen about a week ago. In the middle of a junction the two drivers got out of their cars and started fighting. I have never seen that before lol.

I have also been harassed by a security woman at the O2 arena for taking a photo of it. I started a discussion because her arguments didn't make sense. After telling her that if it were private property, they should put up a 'no photography' notice and a permit should be for press. Not amateurs. I just didn't believe that North Greenwich station is private property, and the surrounding area isn't either. Except the inside of the O2 arena of course. I wasn't on the premises though. Anyway, when I brought up that as of that moment 50 people all at once were taking a photo of the O2 arena behind her back, she said that didn't matter because I was using a tripod. That just pisses me off, it isn't a proper argument. Just one of many more examples.

I just feel like whenever you request a service from someone and you actually pay for it, it doesn't feel like they do it happily. From colleagues here I got the excuse that it's because the majority of employees in London hate their jobs. That shouldn't be an excuse.. I've seen so many more shittier jobs in for example the States, but they keep on smiling and serve their customers well. It's simply policy.

Anyway, there are of course many good sides to London. Not disputing that because otherwise I wouldn't go here in the first place. I'm having a great time nonetheless and I will get used to the mentality, it's fine. Could be possible that I just had a shitty and unfortunate experience until now and things will only get better. Let's hope for that

And I have met btw a lot of nice and hospitable people here. I think the British just don't really socialize outside their social circle/inner circle and start random conversations with random people. Is this true? That could explain why I have such great experiences within my working and living environment.


Thanks for the compliment by the way

[R@ptor]

Fantastic photos! My favorite shot is #20.

What camera and lens do you use?

Originally Posted by Ni3lS

I have also been harassed by a security woman at the O2 arena for taking a photo of it. I started a discussion because her arguments didn't make sense. After telling her that if it were private property, they should put up a 'no photography' notice and a permit should be for press. Not amateurs. I just didn't believe that North Greenwich station is private property, and the surrounding area isn't either. Except the inside of the O2 arena of course. I wasn't on the premises though. Anyway, when I brought up that as of that moment 50 people all at once were taking a photo of the O2 arena behind her back, she said that didn't matter because I was using a tripod. That just pisses me off, it isn't a proper argument. Just one of many more examples.

The harassment by security and police actually decreased quite considerably compared to a few years ago. I remember taking night shots around London in the summer of 2005 where I was interrogated by police 5! times in a single night - and not exactly in a nice manner. That was also the main reason why I boycotted visiting London altogether for some years after that. Obviously police officers are now being told not to harass photographers constantly anymore and during my last 2 visits I only had sporadic run-ins with security and none with police.
However, be advised that some parts of central London as well as the entire Canary Wharf district are indeed private property so they are unfortunately fully within their right to disallow the use of DSLRs and tripods.

[Ni3lS]

Originally Posted by R@ptor

Fantastic photos! My favorite shot is #20.

What camera and lens do you use?



The harassment by security and police actually decreased quite considerably compared to a few years ago. I remember taking night shots around London in the summer of 2005 where I was interrogated by police 5! times in a single night - and not exactly in a nice manner. That was also the main reason why I boycotted visiting London altogether for some years after that. Obviously police officers are now being told not to harass photographers constantly anymore and during my last 2 visits I only had sporadic run-ins with security and none with police.
However, be advised that some parts of central London as well as the entire Canary Wharf district are indeed private property so they are unfortunately fully within their right to disallow the use of DSLRs and tripods.

Yea that's crazy. I'm just saying I have never in any other country experienced so much intolerance towards photographers. Not even in NYC. What's the big deal?


I shoot with an old Canon 500D.. I have the standard kit lens, 18-135mm lens, Sigma 10-20mm wide angle lens and the 50mm f1.8 lens. The last one is probably the one you're looking for (photo 20). It's quality is amazing and it's the cheapest lens I have (€99). Any prime lens (no zoom) is usually of better quality than zoom lenses.

[CitoyenNéerlandais]

Well, again. These photos are fantastic Niels!
Like always.

[Taller, Better]

Ni3lS, your pictures are SUPERB! My god they are stunning!
I find Londoners warm up a bit if you jolly them up a bit first. Takes a bit of work but you can crack the reserve with niceness. I always find people
in the north to be open and friendly. I think a lot of it is just understanding the culture, though, as I found the reception very cool in Amsterdam, too,
and theirs is a culture I know much less about.
My friend and I were wandering around Belgravia one night, taking pictures and a big burly security guy was watching us very carefully. We left in case he had called the police.

[Ni3lS]

Originally Posted by CitoyenNéerlandais

Well, again. These photos are fantastic Niels!
Like always.

Thanks man!

Originally Posted by Taller, Better

Ni3lS, your pictures are SUPERB! My god they are stunning!
I find Londoners warm up a bit if you jolly them up a bit first. Takes a bit of work but you can crack the reserve with niceness. I always find people
in the north to be open and friendly. I think a lot of it is just understanding the culture, though, as I found the reception very cool in Amsterdam, too,
and theirs is a culture I know much less about.
My friend and I were wandering around Belgravia one night, taking pictures and a big burly security guy was watching us very carefully. We left in case he had called the police.

Thanks Greg. Yea I love their humor, no doubt. Just need to understand the culture a bit I think.

[TheMoses]

Originally Posted by Ni3lS

Last friday someone got so aggressive in traffic that after driving for 10 minutes with his middlefinger out of the window, he got out and wanted to fight me. I wasn't even the person driving. It did not make sense at all. Right in front of my office I saw an accident happen about a week ago. In the middle of a junction the two drivers got out of their cars and started fighting. I have never seen that before lol.

That sounds pretty bad. I've been living here for over two years now and I've never seen a proper fight. A few scuffles maybe but nothing more. Perhaps I've been lucky.

Originally Posted by Ni3lS

I just feel like whenever you request a service from someone and you actually pay for it, it doesn't feel like they do it happily. From colleagues here I got the excuse that it's because the majority of employees in London hate their jobs. That shouldn't be an excuse.. I've seen so many more shittier jobs in for example the States, but they keep on smiling and serve their customers well. It's simply policy.

I like that they show their unhappiness. I hate the whole fixed-smile-have-a-nice-day crap Americans do.

I think the main thing is we're all conditioned not to want to talk to anyone else if we don't have to. So when we are forced to interact to provide/receive a service we're all stilted and awkward about it, which frequently works its way out as being unhappy/impolite.