There’s something about Cathays Park that means I pretty much can’t keep away, especially in Spring, which was when I shot these photos of the lovely Dilys.

This has to be the third or fourth portrait shoot I’ve done in this beautiful little space, which might just be my favourite park in Cardiff.

Dilys was great fun to shoot – just 18, despite her extremely Welsh name, she’s actually French (her Dad is Welsh though), and she’s over here to study medicine (clever lady).

The Canon 1200D is a camera I felt very at home testing. My very first DSLR was a 1000D all the way back in 2009 (seems like a lifetime ago!) which I absolutely fell in love with. I’ve since upgraded, but I have a lot of fond memories of that first SLR – and this was a little like going back that (but with some significant upgrades of course).

It’s a pretty even split here between my 50mm f/1.4 and 60mm f/2.8 macro lens that I used for these portraits – both of them I love for the kind of work I do, and they worked particularly well here. If you’re thinking of buying a beginner camera like this, I can’t recommend a prime lens enough – it will improve your photography no end, making you think more effectively about composition than any zoom lens can ever do for you.

As usual, if you have any comments, suggestions, thoughts or otherwise, I’m always keen to hear them in the box below.