Kevin Pack Photography

Favourite Portraits 2013

It is that time of year again, when I review my portrait photography from the last 12 months.

2013 has been a transitionary time. During the year I spent much more time outdoors using off camera flash than taking portraits in the studio.

One big change has been that to make it easier to work on the move, I made a rather large technology change. Very few of the images shown here were taken with my Canon 5D Mk II. In 2012 I invested in the Fujifilm Finepix X100 and this was a fantastic camera to carry around and use on the street. Having a fixed lens meant it didn't offer the flexibility of a DSLR, but the image quality was superb. There is nothing wrong with the Canon 5D Mk II, but once you add a grip and a large lens, everything starts getting rather heavy. After careful consideration, and trying cameras from Olympus, Nikon, Canon and Fujifilm, 2013 saw me invest in my first Compact System Camera - the lovely Fujifilm Finepix X-E1. At the time, I felt this was the best of the Fujifilm X series cameras, and even offered improvements over their top of the line X-Pro1. The reduction in weight meant that I could carry the camera and lighting kit much easier than I ever could when I wanted to take my DSLR out for a strobist shoot.

I will highlight some of my favourite shoots, and finish with my favourite portrait for the year. However I realise that everyone has their own personal tastes and what I may choose could well be very different from someone else.

January

January was all about Bex Lendon. The first shoot of the year was at Ian's Studio, in a session being led by fellow photographer R J Bradbury. While the second shoot was at a meet-up for the Facebook group North West Shutterbugs.

Favourite Portraits 2012

It has been an odd year. After losing my mother at the end of 2011, both my father and I had health problems in 2012.

But the year also had a few high points too. I really got into instant photography (and hope to post more about this in the future), and at the same time started shooting film again.

I enjoyed the Queen's Jubilee weekend and had multiple visits with friends and family to see events at both the Olympic Games and the Paralympics. On my birthday I got to go up the Orbit and see the Eastend at night.

At the end of the year my father was well enough to come and spend Christmas with me for the first time.

During the year I continued to predominantly shoot portraits, and this blog post shows one of my favourite images from each month.

 

January

 

The year began with one of my favourite models, Hazel, in the studio. Hazel has lots of experience modelling and is always a pleasure to work with.

In this shot I was experimenting with shooting from slightly overhead and with a slightly shallower depth of field than normal. Hazel has beautiful eyes and a great smile, which I've tried to emphasise.