Wildflowers in Bloom - Newborn Photographer North Wales

*ewch i waelod y dudalen i ddarllen yn Gymraeg*

The more I scroll through Instagram and Facebook, the more I feel like I’m the only one who's not super motivated and achieving endless goals during lockdown. Am I the only one who’s not written a book / run a marathon in their garden / homeschooled their child to A-Level standard at 4 years old / learnt a new language? In reality, I know I’m not the only one who’s feeling a bit unmotivated, but social media always finds ways of giving a different impression doesn’t it? One of the silver linings of lockdown for me is the slower pace of life that it’s brought. I’m usually darting across North Wales photographing newborns, editing family photoshoots, nipping around Anglesey to scout locations, or delivering prints across North Wales. Add to that the school run and being mum to a fiesty and feral 4 year old and you’ve got a rolling to-do list that seems like it only ever gets added to. But over the last 8 weeks, things that have been lingering on the list for months have finally been ticked off, and our daily exercise allowance has been the perfect excuse to explore our own beautiful surroundings.

If you’re a returning client, you’ll know that I love to use my Canon 70-200mm 2.8L lens for my outdoor photoshoots. But during newborn photoshoots, my favourite lens is my Macro (Canon 100mm 2.8L). It captures all the details like tiny toes, fingers curled round parents’ thumbs, and beautiful little eyelashes. Of course, at the moment, newborn sessions aren’t possible. Because of the type of lens it is, it’s slow to focus, so not suitable to use with my fast moving daughter. So I started thinking about how I could put it to good use during lockdown. After the success of my Princess Portraits, I decided that I should start taking it out with me on our daily walks. We live just outside of Cowbridge, South Wales, and the countryside around here is beautiful. I’d started noticing how colourful the hedgerows were becoming and started planning my walks to capture the variety of flowers that I’d seen.

I’m really proud to say that the gallery I went on to create was created for the BBC, and you can view the photos as well as my write-up in their article here. It’s always such an honour to have my work featured by a nationally recognised organisation.

The flowers and plants I captured are all common wildflowers - let me know if you spot any of them on your next walk. You’ll be surprised what you find when you start to look out for them :) Have you noticed more flowers out than in previous years? Don’t forget to let me know where you’ve spotted your wildflowers in the comments below , or get in touch with me on Facebook or Instagram, where I’ll be posting these photos for you to have a guess at what they all are!

Stay safe,

Clare x

About Me

Hi, I’m Clare, an award winning North Wales family photographer who loves working with natural light to create beautiful modern portraits of newborn babies, children, families and pets. I’m based in rural Anglesey and 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 (once all this madness is over!).

*ewch i waelod y dudalen i ddarllen yn Gymraeg*

Os da chi’n sbïo’n ddigon hir ar Instagram neu Facebook, mi newch chi ddechra coelio bod pawb arall yn y byd yn joio lockdown fel na fu na ffasiwn beth. Ma pawb heblaw fi di sgwennu llyfr / rhedag marathon yn eu gardd / dysgu plant 4 mlwydd oed sut i basio Lefel A / dysgu iaith newydd. Os dwi’n meddwl am y peth yn gall, dwi’n gwbod yn iawn mai nid fi di’r unig un sy’n teimlo’n unmotivated - ma trio cael y balans na o gwaith / edrach ar ôl y plant / 5 munud o lonydd yn ddigon i gadw fi fynd heb ddechra meddwl am gynghaneddu a chyfansoddi. Un o’r petha dwi’n ddiolchgar iawn am yn ystod y cyfnod clo ydi’r ffaith fod bywyd wedi slofi lawr eitha dipyn. Fel arfer, dwi ar ras bob dydd i neud y school run, yfed coffi, mynd i neud photoshoot babi bach neu dipyn bach o olygu. Mae genai restr to-do hirfaith sydd byth yn cael ei glirio. Fel arfer, mae na 2 beth newydd yn cael eu adio am bob 1 dwi’n ticio ffwrdd. Ond dros y ddau fis dwytha, mae petha sydd fel arfer yn cael eu gwthio nôl wedi, o’r diwedd, cael eu sortio. Ac yn fwy na hynny, da ni wedi cael y cyfle i ddod i nabod ein milltir sgwâr yn ystod ein dro dyddiol. Dwi o Sir Fôn yn wreiddiol, ac er wedi bod lawr yn y de ers dipyn, dim ond newydd symyd i ardal y Bontfaen jyst cyn Dolig flwyddyn dwytha ydan ni.

Os ydach chi wedi cael shwt teulu efo fi o’r blaen, mi fyddach chi’n gwbod fy mod i’n defnyddio lens hir - Canon 70-200mm 2.8L - i gael y math o luniau dwi’n tynnu. Ond yn ystod shwts babis bach, fy hoff lens ydi’r un Macro - yr un sy’n dal bob yn manylyn bach. Mae’r lens yma’n gweithio ora pan ma’r babis yn cysgu achos bod o’n araf i ffocysu - felly dio werth dim i fi yn trio dal lluniau o Elsi Dafydd! Ella’ch bod chi’n di darllen y blog o’r blaen ac wedi gweld y Princesses Disney oedd wedi cael eu lluniau di tynnu efo’r un lens.

Nes i benderfyny dechra mynd a’r lens allan efo fi am dro un diwrnod ar ôl sylwi ar y llwyni a’r perthi lliwgar iawn adeg yma’r flwyddyn. Gan fy mod i’n byw yn eitha gwledig (dwi meddwl ma semi-rural ma’r estate agents yn ddeud, ia?!), mi oedd hi’n ddigon tawel ar hyd y ffyrdd bach i mi stopio a tynnu ambell lun. Dwi’n falch iawn o ddweud bod yr oriel welwch chi isod wedi cael ei gomisiynu gan BBC Cymru Fyw ac mae modd i chi weld yr erthygl (a gafodd ei gyhoeddi ddoe) wrth glicio’n fyma.

Dwi’n mynd i gyhoeddi’r lluniau ar Instagram heno ma - dewch draw i rhoi’ch cynnigion chi o enwau’r blodau yma! Ydach chi wedi sylwi ar fwy o flodau gwyllt flywddyn yma? Gadewch i mi wbod lle da chi’n gweld nhw fel arfer, mi fyswn i wrth fy modd cael clwad gan bobl ar draws Cymru.

Clare x