Greetings Photoion students and photography fans, we hope you’ve enjoyed the festive period. 2017 is almost over; and what a year it has been! It seems like just yesterday that we were looking back together on our 2016, and here we are doing the same for 2017 already.

So what made 2017 such a good one for us?

In January we continued the tradition of our “Photo of the Month” competition – where we give you a theme or topic and you go out and create stunning images. January marked a year since we launched the series and it has proved to be very popular! We’ve had so many fantastic images submitted and showcased throughout the year.

photo by Lynn Doe, Photo of the Month Competition winner for March 2017

photo by Laura Greene, Photo of the Month Competition winner for August 2017

In March we took our Photography holiday to La Palma. This once in a lifetime trip saw us travel to one of the Canary Islands with a small group of students and spend a few days capturing amazing images, learning new things, and making memories with new friends. We’ve since run more photography holidays and they are a fantastic way to improve your skills in a new setting while enjoying another culture.

Image taken by our student Windahl Finnigan suring our trip to La Palma

Image taken by our tutor Ion Paciu during the trip to La Palma

Image taken during our trip to La Palma

In April we announced the winners of the Photoion 2016 awards. Each year we choose 50 images submitted to us to be included in a photography book. As it is each year, the 2017 competition was the hardest to decide on a winner, but we eventually settled on Dolores Mateo’s image “Zebra” as our overall winning piece.

Image by Dolores Mateo, 1st place winner of the Photoion Awards 2016

Image by Lah van Zyl, 2nd place winner of the Photoion Awards 2016

In June we ran another special Street Portrait Workshop, after the success of the first course in 2016. Street photography is a huge part of what we do ourselves as photographers, so it is always great to share that with our students, and the results were amazing.

Taken on our Street Portrait photography workshop

One of the biggest surprises this year came when Ion swapped his “professional” DSLR for a Canon 100D, one of the smallest cheapest currently available. Ion really wanted to show people that great pictures are more about the photographer and not the equipment and he was certainly successful. In the months since we’ve had so many people who just couldn’t believe such results weren’t possible with such low-end equipment.

Image taken by our tutor Ion Paciu using Canon 100D during our Portrait photography workshop

Image taken by our tutor Ion Paciu using Canon 100D on our Wildlife photography workshop

Image taken by our tutor Ion Paciu using Canon 100D

Image taken by our tutor Ion Paciu using Canon 100D on our studio lighting photography workshop

Image taken by our tutor Ion Paciu using Canon 100D on our product photography workshop

In September we took another Photography Holiday, this time to Romania, where we spent a few days exploring beautiful mountain areas, ancient cities, and even visited Bran Castle, one of the primary inspirations behind Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Image taken by Tatiana Zigar during our photography holiday in Romania

Image taken by Ion Paciu during our photography holiday in Romania

‘Selfie’ during our photography holiday in Romania

Light Trails by San Lim during our photography holiday in Romania

Our team in Romania

The end of the year saw one of the most exciting developments in Photoion history. In October we picked up the keys to our new home, a studio space right in the heart of London within viewing distance of the London Eye. This new space allows us to offer courses which we previously could not, and we are currently discussing with the community to find out what you’d like to see offered.

Receiving keys from our new ‘home’

And finally, in December we opened the doors of our studio for a launch party.

Group image from our speedlite photography workshop

2017 has been an incredible year for us as we’ve grown and expanded our school and courses. We hope that you’ve enjoyed learning with us or following along, and we can’t wait to share 2018 with you in our new home.

So no matter your skill level, get your camera out and go out there and capture some stunning images!