September 1st 2014 was a big day for Omar Alkaffas and for me. For Omar, it was his Graduation Day at the end of a hard-earned Law degree; for me it was my first big shoot with my brand new Fujifilm XF 56mm f/1.2 lens on the Fujifilm X-T1 body. It was also my first ever shoot working entirely on Fuji X cameras; the Nikon D700, my trusty workhouse for the last five years, was nowhere to be seen.

(Well that’s a bit of a fib, I had it tucked away in my bag with the 70-200 f/2.8 attached, just in case. Didn’t need it once.)

Omar was going to be graduating in front of his mum, gran, sister, two aunts and his girlfriend, and wanted some professional shots of him in the graduation gown and cap to send to the rest of his family who weren’t able to be there. Graduation day is a busy, emotionally wrought few hours so getting me in to take care of the photos is one less thing to think about!

We arranged to meet the Quad, in front of the Wilkins Building, the perfect spot for some UCL graduation photos. The forecast was, well, solid grey as far as the eye can see. Now that’s actually good weather for shooting outside in natural light as the sky becomes a huge softbox that doesn’t need power, and in the end we got some really lovely shots of Omar and his family.

london portrait photographer ucl graduation omar alkaffas - Portraits: UCL Graduation Day family portraits - all Fuji X, no Nikon!