Waterloo Cafe, Wootton St, London and Photoion Photography School

Believe it or not, I'm really into photography. I say believe it or not because I know that some of the photos on this blog are not very good at all. When I cook a meal from a new recipe for dinner, and want to take a photo, it's often 8pm already and I just want to eat, not faff around with cameras and lights, so grab my mobile for a quick snap!

When I do have time I put in more effort - I've got lights, backdrops, an expensive camera and a variety of lenses. I tend to use my Canon 5D more for days out, holidays and - one of my favourites - portrait photography, whether that be people or animals.

I've done a few courses now with the Photoion Photography school – food photography, portrait and now macro photography.

 

 

The courses, taught by Ion, are really good – you don’t need the most expensive camera and you learn all sorts of techniques and tips, plus Ion will help set up some shots so you get great pictures on the day. With food and macro in particular it is hard to get the same shots on your own afterwards, unless you are very talented - but even then you may not have all the equipment or the understanding of the exact angle of light needed. Either way, I've had a lot of fun learning and trying out what I've learnt at home afterwards.

 

The classes are taught near Waterloo station which is fairly easy for me to get to, though as it does take a while I left extra time and arrived quite early before my class. I decided to go and get breakfast somewhere nearby and found myself in the Waterloo Café. It looked very cheap and cheerful - not a greasy spoon though but several of the other patrons were workers in high-vis jackets perhaps having breakfast or a break from work.

Downstairs there is a counter where you can buy food to take away, including some pastries and doughnuts that looked very good, and upstairs is a seating area with menus and waitress service. I didn't fancy breakfast 'proper' - I don't like full English and didn't want a sausage sandwich- so had a cheese toastie and a Ribena (which is basically juice, right?!). It was simple but good and set me up nicely for the rest of the day.

If you're into photography I highly recommend the Photoion Photography school - check out the different courses they offer on their website.