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Summer Holidays - North Wales Photoshoot

Summer Holidays - North Wales Photoshoot

This month’s theme as part of my mentoring programme run by Nina Mace is ‘Summer Holidays’. We haven’t been abroad for a long time (after an incident involving panicking and a plane that was bound for Mauritius, I decided that flying was really for me…) so most of our holidays are taken either in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, or Anglesey, North Wales. We love the freedom of the fresh air, the glistening turquoise seas and the beaches that stretch out for miles without being overcrowded. This year, we were in Pembrokeshire for longer than anticipated as we’d sold our house with nowhere to move to (more on that in a few weeks’ time!). It was so lovely to just chill out, walk to the beach, have lazy dinners outside and watch sunsets with a glass of gin in hand.

At the end of our time in Pembrokeshire, I persuaded my 3 year old daughter to put on a pretty dress and come to the beach at golden hour for me to do a photoshoot with her. Up until now, I’ve felt that she was a bit young to still be up, awake, and in a good enough mood to be having a golden hour beach photoshoot. But this summer felt like the perfect opportunity. I’d been using my new travel camera (read more about that here) all summer to capture our little adventures, but with the most beautiful setting of Newgale Sands a 3 minute walk from where we were staying, it seemed like it would have been a wasted opportunity not to do a proper family photoshoot with own my little family.

I love this image from the shoot, and it’s barely been edited at all as the light was so beautiful on that evening. I love the tenderness of my husband closing my daughter’s cardigan (because “mama, I am chilly”) and the way she’s looking out towards the horizon. The romantic in me would love to believe that she’s gazing out, contemplating all the lovely things she’s done over the summer and thinking about seeing her teachers and friends when she goes back to school. She’s definitely looking beyond her dad, out to the sunset. Knowing her and her wild imagination, she’s probably more likely to be mermaid spotting.

For the photographers reading this – as with 90% of all the photos I take, I used my Canon 5d MK iv and my 70-200 2.8L at 200mm and wide open at f2.8. It was taken at 8.15pm, around 30 minutes before the sun set. I would have loved to have kept shooting after the sun had set, to fully capture all the beautiful pinks and purples that the sky held that night, but Elsi had well and truly had enough by then and I didn’t want to push my luck. I’ll put it on my list of things to do next summer…

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post – if you would like to see more inspiration from other professional photographers within the #collaborationnotcompetition project then feel free to visit any  of the websites below:  

Anna Hurst Photography 

Catriona Mairi Photography

Charles Thorne Photography 

Clare Harding Photography 

Clare Walpole Photography

Dandelion Photography 

Derya Vicars Photography 

Hannah Cornford Photography 

Helen Rowan Photography 

Jo Haycock Photography 

Photography by Leela

Light Monkey Photography 

Louisa French Photography 

Lyndsey Abercromby

Lynne Harper Photography 

Mel Wilson Photography 

Nadine Brandt Photography

Sarah Gibson Photography 

Portrayed Photography

Danielle Reeder Photography

Tor Keene Photography 

Nina Mace Photography 

Clare x

About Me

Hi, I’m Clare, a North Wales newborn photographer who loves working outdoors with natural light. I cover Anglesey, North Wales and Cheshire for maternity, newborn, child and family photoshoots. Get in touch if you’d like to book your family’s North Wales photoshoot.