January is traditionally a time for reflection as well as looking forward. I thought it would be a good time to take a look back at 2012, particularly to my personal photography work, and to let you in on my absolute favourite images.

As well as doing a lot of creative, advertising and commercial work for agencies and clients, I’ve always maintained a level of personal work in my portfolio. I enjoy it, and I feel it allows me to explore themes and techniques in my own time.

Here are my top three examples of personal work from 2012.

Cousins
I’m particular fond of this image above, of a baby in his nappy looking at his cousin who is trying to balance a bubble on her head. This fun, vibrant image portrays everything that I love about photography: humour, spontaneity and the wonderful times when you manage to capture the seemingly-impossible “precise moment”.

Underwater
The two underwater shots above started off (… as many favourite moments of personal work do!) as nothing particularly special. I was testing out some new underwater photography gear and asked my daughter to act as my model. All of my kids love swimming, and the resulting images really show how my daughter flourished in the other-worldy underwater element.

For these, underwater shots I used a Canon 5d MK11, in a Aquatica housing with an Inon Z240 flash.

Whatever kit you use and whatever your subject, I hope you enjoy your personal photography projects as much as I do.

Karan Kapoor’s favourite personal work of 2012 is a post from Karan Kapoor’s blog. His main website is here.

No matter how many years I’ve been doing this job, and how many high-profile clients and agencies I’ve worked for, some personal projects can still really stir the emotions.

And so it was with my daughter’s school prom recently. I was asked to take the official photographs throughout the evening, capturing the excitement and anticipation, the atmosphere and the exuberance. But it wasn’t just the young women and their prom partners who were running with high emotion. It was a very special occasion for me, too, and far more than just a photography job.

Here are just a few of the many shots I took of the youngsters (I also shot the whole class as they entered the assembly hall and captured the fun of the first dance). My aim was to engage with the kids and really catch their individual characters, along with the excitement each was feeling.

Thank you to my daughter’s school for inviting me to photograph this year’s prom. This was one photography project I’ll remember my whole life!

School Prom: personal shots from a professional photographer is a post from Karan Kapoor’s blog. His main website is here.

IPA AWARDS 2012

Here are just a few of Karan Kapoor’s images which received honourable mentions at the 2012 IPA Awards, the annual competition which recognises the industry’s leading photographers. 2012 is the 10th year of the IPA (International Photography Awards), which rewards photographers across the globe from professionals to students. This year, the awards received almost 18,000 submissions, representing 104 countries.

One honourable mention would be a great achievement, but Karan feels humbled to have received a stunning 16 honourable mentions in this year’s awards! The mentions are for a true range of images, from categories including advertising, fine art, portraits, lifestyle, beauty, children and sport, and demonstrate Karan’s creativity and expertise across a range of photographic genres.

IPA Awards 2012 is a post from Karan Kapoor’s blog. His main website is here.

Beauty photography and new gallery

Last year, Karan collaborated with makeup artist Nadira V Persaud on a personal project showcasing her makeup work (see this blog post). In April 2012, Karan once again worked with Nadira, and the resulting images play a central role in the new “Beauty” gallery on his website.

“I have been interested in this style of portraiture for a long time,” said Karan, “and have now given beauty photography a dedicated area on my website. Do take a look.”

The project began as a collaboration between Art Director Martin Yates and Nadira. Martin saw the previous beauty shoot and wanted to work together. He approached Karan and the project grew from there.

During the shoot, Karan and Nadira worked to a brief, concentrating on creating the three distinct looks you see here. “The three models each have their own brand of beauty and their own distinct style,” explained Karan, “and were perfectly suited to the three looks we worked towards. It was lovely working with Martin, who came up with come great ideas. The collaboration between myself, Martin and Nadira worked like a dream. We only had a few hours with each girl, but worked well together and managed to create some great stuff.”

The brief for the shoot included a “less is more” feel for skin and hair, with both Nadira and Karan working hard to create and capture luminosity and the natural beauty of skin.

Nadira V Persaud blogged about the shoot here. To see more of Karan’s beauty headshots and portraiture work, see his Beauty gallery on his website.

Art Director: Martin Yates
Makeup artist: Nadira V Persaud
Photographer: Karan Kapoor
Models: Cassandra at BMI, Keeley at nEVS, Shumi at Nevs
Retoucher: Sinisa Savic

Beauty photography and new gallery is a post from Karan Kapoor’s blog. His main website is here.

Karan Kapoor selected for prestigious American Photography 27 award

This haunting and challenging image of an Indian boy, shot on location in Kerala, India, impressed the judges of the 2011 American Photography 27 award. Not only did it catch their eye, but led to two votes from the jury – an honour only given to 174 images of the 7,000+ submitted to the award panel.

The jury included industry luminaries Florian Bachleda (Creative Director, Fast Company), Craig Cohen (Executive Publisher, powerHouse Books), Chris Dougherty (Director of Photography, People magazine), Geraldine Hessler (Design Director, Glamour), Gail Marowitz (Creative Director, Roadrunner Records), Michele McNally (Assistant Managing Editor, The New York Times) and Jodi Peckman (Creative Director, Rolling Stone). The organisers said of the excellent collection of entries: “The selection is complete and…the collection of images looks great. Thanks everyone.”

The image is a great example of Karan’s reportage-style images of his native India. Take a look at a sample of them here – the muted colours and acutely-observed detail will draw you in as you catch a glimpse of some extraordinary characters living extraordinary lives.

The 2011 AP27 images can be viewed online at the American Photography website and more information can be found on their Facebook group.

Karan Kapoor selected for prestigious American Photography 27 award is a post from Karan Kapoor’s blog.