Princess Portraits - North Wales Newborn Photographer

*ewch i waelod y dudalen i ddarllen yn Gymraeg*

Princess Portraits - North Wales Newborn Photographer

I’ve never thought of myself as the creative type. That sounds really weird given my job now as a newborn and family photographer in North Wales, and my previous job as a primary school teacher. I always felt that because I couldn’t draw, I wasn’t creative. But sometimes, an idea pops into my head and I run with it.

My daughter absolutely loves the Disney Princesses. She hasn’t even seen half the films (scary witches and what-not), but her princess dolls are her treasured possessions. When she started getting to know which ones were which, I was dancing inside - I’m a massive Disney fan too! I’m really enjoying having her at home with me at the moment (even though it’s tough sometimes), crafting, baking and doing school work, but we are also definitely making sure the the TV is used daily! It was while she was watching TV yesterday, with her princesses all lined up next to her, that an idea popped into my head.

Our living room has a huge window in it (I mean it’s huge. Like you can’t get curtains to fit huge), which is North facing. It never gets harsh sunlight through it, so it’s one of my favourite places to photograph my daughter when I need a quick snap. St David’s day? Stand next to the window sweetheart. First day of school? Just stop there for one minute. Christmas tree decorating? If we put it next to the window, the photos will be lovely. You see what I’m saying. Anyway, it just so happens that our sofa is also hit by this beautiful soft light, and who was on the sofa yesterday? The Disney Princesses.

Now my daughter has real ‘photographer’s child syndrome’ - if the camera comes out, she either hides, or acts up. So instead of getting her to pose in this beautiful light, I thought it would be easier to get her dolls to pose for me. It turned out to be just as difficult - those dolls do not listen. Their posing needs a bit of work, and their hand positions won’t win me any competitions any time soon, but I’m super happy with how these turned out. If you’ve seen my other work, you’ll know that I love pastels and neutrals, especially for my newborn photoshoots. But these weren’t my typical clients, these were royalty. So I set myself a challenge, to edit the photos in a ‘fine art’ style. Now to me, fine art photography makes me think of grand, sweeping staircases, filled with oil painting portraits of long forgottern ancestors. Perfectly fitting for the princesses. As I’m typing this I’m also realising that all of the princesses I’ve photographed so far have got this lockdown things sussed. Maybe I need to re-watch some of the Disney films and pick up a few tips.

I hope this blog has raised a smile, it’s pretty tough at the moment for lots of us. Don’t forget to reach out to someone if you need to talk - it’s okay to not be okay. Don’t forget to let me know in the comments below who your favourite Disney princess is, or get in touch with me on Facebook or Instagram, where I’ll be posting one of these photos each day for the next few days.

Stay safe,

Clare x

About Me

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

Pan o’n i’n ‘rysgol do’n i’m yn gallu tynnu llun. Dwi dal ddim. Ac felly doedd y gair ‘creadigol’ byth yn un o’n i’n labelu fy hun efo. Wrth i fi fynd yn hun, ma’r jobs dwi wedi neud - ffotograffydd Gogledd Cymru ac athrawes ysgol gynradd - wedi newid fy meddwl am hyn ryw fymryn, ond sw’n i dal byth i ddeud amdanai i fy hyn bod fi’n berson creadigol. Ond weithiau, ma na syniad yn dod o nunlla a dwi’n mynd amdani.

Ma’r ferch yn bedair mlwydd oed ac wrth ei bodd efo’r Disneys Princesses. Dydi hi heb weld hanner y ffilms, ond ma’r ffrogia a’r glitter a’r gwallt a’r sglein yn ddigon i neud yn siwr bod y dolis na’n ffefryn mawr iddi. Dwi di mopio efo Disney hefyd, ac ma na rwbath eitha nostalgic am gwatchiad y ffilms efo hi. Da ni’n joio bod yn y ty ar hyn o bryd, yn pobi, neud crefft, chwarae, a neud gwaith ysgol. Mae hi’n annodd ar adegau hefyd, a ma na ddigon o bwdu o ddydd i dydd (hi a fi). Da ni’n neud defnydd da o’r teledu hefyd! Pan oedd hi’n gwatchiad teledu ddoe, efo’r Princesses i gyd mewn rhes wrth ei hochr, mi ges i syniad.

Yn ein lolfa ni, ma na ffenast hiwj. Hurt o hiwj. Ma’n annodd ffeindio curtains iddi. Ta waeth. Mae’r ffenast yma’n gwynebu’r Gogledd, felly does dim golau haul yn dod drwyddi’n uniongyrchol - perffaith ar gyfer tynnu lluniau. Os dwi angen llun fach cyflym o Elsi fach, dyna lle ma hi’n gorfod sefyll. Dydd Gwyl Dewi, Diwnord Cyntaf yn yr Ysgol, addurno’r Goeden Nadolig - mae hi’n gwbod lle i sefyll erbyn hyn! A phwy oedd yn ista ar y soffa sydd hefyd wrth ymyl y ffenast lyfli yma? Y Disney Princesses.

Mae Elsi yn dioddef o “photographer’s child sydrome” - cyflwr lle mae gweld camera yn llaw ei mham yn gwneud iddi guddiad, rhedeg i ffwrdd, neu dechra chwarae giamocs. Felly yn hytrach na trio cael hi i ista’n llonydd i fi gael tynnu llun yn y gola del, mi o’n i’n meddwl sa hi’n haws braidd i gael y dols i ista yn lle. Fel ma’n digwydd, doedd hi ddim yn haws o gwbl - di’r dolis na ddim yn gwrando o gwbl. Dwi’n yn meddwl fydd y poses na’r hand positions yn ennill unrhwy wobrau i fi, ond dwi’n hapus iawn efo sut ma’r llunia'u’n edrych. Os ydach chi wedi gweld gweddill fy ngwaith, ella’ch bod chi wedi sylwi bo genai steil golau, niwtral, yn llawn pastels - yn enwedig ar gyfer shwts babis bach. Ond nid cleiants arferol ydi’r Princesses - cleiants brenhinol. Felly nes i herio fy hun i’w golygu nhw mewn steil ‘fine art’ - steil sy’n neud i fi feddwl am gestyll ac aur a gerddi crand, a waliau tywyll, moethus. Ac wrth i mi deipio hyn i gyd, dwi’n sylweddoli bod bob un o’r Princesses yma wedi hen arfer ar hunan-ynysu. Ella bod angen i fi ail-watchiad y ffilimau i bigo fyny tips ar sut i ymdopi.

Clare x