I first met big brother B back when he was 2 years old.  I was so excited to hear that mom was expecting baby number two and even more thrilled when I found out B had a baby sister!  As you can see from the portraits below, B is totally enamored by his little sibling.  He couldn’t wait for his turn in front of the camera and was so gentle and loving towards her when it was time for their pictures together.  Totally smitten!  I loved capturing the bond that has already formed between the two.  Of course, gorgeous A rocked her individual portraits as well.  A typical baby girl, never to be out-shown!  Mom brought a few keepsakes, including the cameo below, for us to incorporate into the session.  I always love playing around to work meaningful tokens into portraits.  Enjoy your sneak peek!

~ Heidi

For such an itty bitty little girl, J sure did have a set of lungs!  She would be fast asleep, but if I disturbed her in the least, she would let out a giant cry that could be heard all the way downstairs!  This girl sure did LOVE her sleep.  Other than the occasional protest, baby J truly was a perfect little model.  She had the most beautiful little features and long black lashes.  I remarked that she looked just like Snow White.  Mom and dad laughed because the doctor had said the same thing!  J was as sweet as can be in each of our sets, but some of my favorite shots are those that show just how gorgeous she is all on her own, especially that little smile below.  Enjoy your sneak peek!

I had the perfect session with little M last week.  He started off sleepy, woke up for some adorable family portraits looking straight into my camera, and then, with a little swaddle, fell fast asleep on my scale to finish our session with some fun sets.  Mom and dad have a little bit of everything with this one!  What I loved most about this handsome little guy was his big smile.  It seemed every pose I placed him in resulted in a big grin.  There is nothing sweeter than a newborn smile.  I know when I have a long night, Grace will flash me one big toothless grin and I forget all about how tired I am.  I hope seeing these will help mom and dad through the sleepless nights too!

~ Heidi

Baby M’s family has been with HHP since before 2-year-old K was born! Heidi photographed their first maternity and K’s newborn shoot, and I was lucky enough to get to photograph M in her mama’s belly and in the studio.

M’s nursery is decorated with purple butterflies, and we wanted to subtly add a few to her sets. This butterfly looked right at home in our purple garden! M was also quite the social butterfly during her family photos, trying to stay awake to take in all the action.

Big sister K was so proud to have a baby sister, and held her, sang to her, and posed wherever we asked her to. I was impressed! Of course, mom and dad are stunning, too. Way to make my job easy, B family!

~ Mariah

We started this project back in early 2011 when we met with the talented Joe Maggiolo (of Joe Maggiolo Media) so that we could offer our clients something in addition to beautiful portraiture for their walls.  While I am able to freeze the moment with my lens through photography, Joe can capture the movement of a newborn’s breath, the sound of a baby’s laugh and the expression of new parents beyond the still frame.  When the H family traveled to our studio from London, they were thrilled with the opportunity to document their experience with Joe and I together.  Combining the art of still and video was amazing.  The results were beautiful and we’ve been waiting over a year to finally offer the video experience to all of our clients.  To create our Birth Story, Joe and I work together at the Heidi Hope Photography Studio.  I pose our sweet newborns and Joe quietly records our session.  At the end of our time together Joe interviews mom and dad and then puts it all together for a video keepsake, beautifully documenting the beginning of a new life.  You can see from just the preview below how breathtaking the outcome is.

We revisited with the H family just last week for A’s first birthday session.  Our staff sat down at the studio just before their session to re-watch this promo, as so much time had past since we created the video.  We were all in tears!  Seeing how big A has already grown makes what we captured even more special.  Mom and dad still treasure their full video as well, as we know they will forever.

If you have a session with Heidi Hope Photography, our newest package combining photography and videography is available for all sessions.  Please contact the studio for more information.  401-864-1919 or email info@heidihope.com.

It was 4 in the morning and I hadn’t had the chance to sleep yet.  The night nurse came in with my motrin and asked the baby’s name.  ”Grace”, I told her.  We had just decided that afternoon.  She glanced over and saw the photo of Giuliana framed on the table across from my bed.  ”And your other daughter?” she asked, motioning towards the picture.  ”Giuliana” I answered.  ”Both princess names” she said matter-of-factly.  I hadn’t thought of it.  I couldn’t help but smile.

2 weeks after princess Grace was born we made it into the studio for a photo session on a sweltering 85 degree afternoon.  I was reminded of how hard it is to get out of the house with a new baby; trying to shower with 2 kids crying, haphazardly applying makeup while Dora the Explorer babysits, sweating at the slightest thought of jumping in a few photos with spit-up in your hair and pants that don’t button, realizing you never packed the diaper bag, hoping by some miracle the baby sleeps for you, wondering if your 3-year-old will cooperate and how much you’ll need to bribe them, wishing you had taken the time to plan outfits and get everyone’s hair cut before the baby was born.  I felt for my clients!  Then there was the predicament of being the photographer and the mother during the shoot.  A hungry baby girl trying to eat my fingers every time I posed her.  Nursing every half hour in between sets.  It was definitely a challenge!

Thankfully I had the help of our amazing team at the studio.  I couldn’t have gotten a single photo without their help.  Though I was exhausted at the time of taking these, I’m so happy that we did it.  I’m just in love staring at all of them.  It’s like I get to gaze into Grace’s perfect little newborn face forever now :0)  Bliss!

One week after Grace was born the peonies bloomed.  Peonies have always been a favorite flower of mine and any fan of them knows that they don’t last very long.   I was thrilled to incorporate them into our shoot during the short window of their blooming.  My mom cut bunches of them from her yard and dropped them by the studio just before we started.  I wasn’t sure how I was going to use them, so we decided to just scatter them around and play.  Here are the first images of Grace with her big sister Giuliana from day one at the studio.  My two princesses and lots of pink! <3

This is just part one of Grace’s modeling debut! Her individual, sibling, and daddy-daughter photos are still to come. Heidi created a gorgeous, brand-new set for Grace and Giuliana’s portraits, and I’ll give you one hint about how it turned out: the entire studio still smells like flowers! 

I’m so honored to have been able to photograph their photos as an expectant family of three, and their first photos as four. Giuliana was just as excited as she was at Heidi’s maternity session, and even sang Twinkle, Twinkle to Grace for us when she got fussy! Such a great big sister already. Of course, my models made my job easy, being naturally gorgeous and happy and all.

We’re so happy to have little G in the HHP family. Stay tuned for Heidi’s post of Grace’s portraits!

~ Mariah

Newborn baby C was the very last newborn I’ll cuddle in the studio before my own, and what a sweet note to end on.  I’ve had so much fun photographing this family over the past few years.  I first visited their home back in the fall of 2009 when big brother F was born.  Last week, he was in front of my camera again, but this time introducing his darling newborn sister C.  Mom really wanted some portraits of her two adorable little ones together, so we started the session capturing those portraits.  Then when C drifted off to sleep she made her own debut.  Mom loved finally being able to use all of the girly props and tutus this time around and I love the way those sweet sets turned out!  Enjoy your sneak peek!

Adorable baby R was approaching 3 weeks old at the time of our session.  Like most babies at this age, he started our time together wide awake and wanting to eat, eat, and eat a little more!  Newborns always call the shots at our sessions so we went with the flow, feeding and cuddling and taking some beautiful family portraits.  I love the portrait of him in the nest with the beautiful hand-knit cocoon that mom and dad brought along to the session.  R had the most amazing eye contact and I think you’ll agree he is quite handsome whether awake or asleep!  Finally, after all of that play time, baby R settled in to sleep in my arms.  It’s always the best part of the job to snuggle a sweet baby until they fall asleep.  Lately, I’ve even had a little shelf to hold them on with my growing bump!  Once R was asleep we created portraits with all of the classic sleepy poses, and R looked just as sweet dreaming away as he did playfully alert.  Enjoy your sneak peek, we can’t wait to show you the rest!

Sweet baby C was one of 6 adorable newborns I’ve had the joy of cuddling in the past week.  Mom and dad brought the cutest little giraffe hat for her to wear and I liked it so much, I had to buy one afterward!  C looked like a little doll no matter how we posed her.  I especially love all of our garden shots.  The combination of purple and yellow looks so sweet together with C’s soft skin and ruby red lips!  Enjoy your sneak peek.