I have been loving our Newborn and Family sessions lately.  Watching big siblings welcome a new baby into the world has to be one of the greatest moments in the story of a family.  I can see these photos being pulled out at high school graduations and on wedding days.  Of all of the photos from when my second daughter Grace was born, my favorites are the portraits I have of Giuliana holding her.  The wonder and joy on the faces of children as they love on their new baby is so beautiful!  We started our session full of family fun and then it was C’s turn to steal the show.  After all of the commotion, he was worn out!  He loved posing on the bean bag, and with some serious cluster feeding, he even slept like a champ for our last few sets.  Enjoy your sneak peek!  ~ Heidi

This maternity session was almost 4 years in the making.  Mom and dad first found Heidi Hope Photography when they moved to Connecticut and were expecting their first daughter.  They booked a maternity session with me, but baby A came very early and our maternity session never happened.  We had an amazing newborn session and I’ve enjoyed taking their family portraits ever since.  When the W family found out that baby number 2 was on the way, mom called us right away to make that maternity session happen this time around.  We scheduled it much earlier than usual just in case “newt” (as they affectionately call baby number 2) decided to make an early appearance like his/her big sis!  It was a good thing we did because mom was put on modified bed rest a few weeks ago.  When we spoke on the phone she said “I’m taking it easy… the only thing I’m going out for is our session!  I just have to make it until then!”  And she did.  In fact, not even Blizzard Nemo could stop us.  Nemo came blowing in on the day of our session, but we kept and eye on the weather and moved our shoot up to early morning so we could squeeze it in before the storm started.  By the end of our time together, snow started lightly falling outside the studio windows.  We couldn’t shoot on the day of a historic blizzard without heading out into the snow for a photo or two.  This family was up for anything!  I had a hard time choosing favorites for this sneak preview because I love them all.  Enjoy your extra large sneak peek.  I hope it was worth the 4 year wait!  ~ Heidi

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We first met adorable B last spring, just after his 1st birthday.  Now, just shy of 2 years old, B was on the move and ready for fun!  I had so much fun during his Little Star Session last week.  We pulled out all of our best toys… trucks, trains, baseballs and planes!  B loved trying everything out and zooming around the studio.  Once in a while he would stop and stare right into the lens with his gorgeous blue-green eyes and I would melt!  Thanks for the fun morning Y family.  Enjoy your sneak peek!

I had so much fun catching up with this gorgeous baby girl and her family last week.  I first met Q when she was an itty bitty newborn.  I couldn’t believe how grown up she already was on the day of our session.  She’ll be back to visit our studio again soon… as a big sister!  Last week we had a Little Star session with Q to capture her all on her own before she is sharing the stage with her new little sibling.  She had a ball playing dress up and dancing around the studio.  I already can’t wait to see her again.  Enjoy your sneak peek!

Everything about this was so fun for us- from designing the sets to hanging out with so many of our clients in one day! Anyone that booked a 2013 session with HHP was eligible for one of these free Valentine Mini sessions, and it was so awesome to be able to gift this to them. Thanks to everyone who helped us kick 2013 off with love! 

~ Mariah and Heidi

Little A came in with her mom and dad for portraits for her second birthday! Mom said she would be shy in the beginning, so we set up a fun tea party set for her to play in for a bit. It didn’t take long for her to warm up, and after a couple minutes, she was such a ham! Her bright, funny, photogenic personality shone through in every shot.

Her birthday party will be Minnie Mouse-themed, and of course her favorite outfit was her Minnie dress she wore at the end! So cute!

M family, enjoy! We loved meeting you!

~ Mariah

“Do you think I’ve gone round the bend?”

“I’m afraid so. You’re mad, bonkers, completely off your head. But I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are.”

- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

It never seems to happen like I plan.  The idea for this shoot started out as something completely different.  I found the skirt last year at a time when Giuliana was obsessed with ballet and princesses.  I could picture the joy on her face when she got the chance to twirl around in it.  I thought it would be amazing for Grace’s newborn portraits.  I envisioned Giuliana finding her new baby sister swaddled in a basket, deep in the woods.  That shoot never happened.  It turned out to be much too lofty a goal for a sleep deprived new mother.

The summer came quickly and I had a new vision for the skirt.  I could see Giuliana running down the beach at sunset, the tulle of her skirt skimming the shallow water, stomping in tide pools, twirling in sunflare.  That never happened either.  Then autumn approached and I pictured Giuliana as a woodland fairy gathering fallen leaves and picking apples.  You guessed it… never happened.

And so, the skirt collected dust atop a pile of props in our studio basement.  Every time anyone tried to pull a prop, the skirt fell down and consumed them in a maze of tulle.   Everyone began asking me, “Are you ever going to use that skirt?”

I was.  But when?

I had started thinking that perhaps I would wait for a snowy day and finally get the pictures of Giuliana in the skirt before she outgrew it.  I was waiting for the perfect winter day.  I needed fresh snow cover, but warm enough temperatures that my kids wouldn’t freeze or be miserable.

Coincidentally, this past Friday I started looking around for a favorite photograph I took of Giuliana in the snow a few years ago and found that the original is gone.  All I have is the watermarked version from Flickr.  Do you remember this one?

Still grieving the loss of my favorite snow photo, on Saturday morning I saw the forecast for the weekend and decided I would FINALLY use that skirt for once and for all!  While I was at it, I would recreate my old favorite portrait and include Grace in it as well.

Contrary to popular belief, Giuliana does not like modeling for me and no amount of bribery will change her mind.  When I tell her we are going to take pictures she gives me a giant “aaaawwwwwww  I don’t want to!” and proceeds to hide behind the nearest large object while sucking her finger.  She’s a typical four year old, only probably worse because she’s had a camera in her face her whole life and she’s a pretty shy kid.  I actually showed her the “Princess Skirt” that I bought thinking it would be her dress-up dream-come-true and she immediately whined, “Mom, I’m not wearing that!  It’s silly.  It’s too big.  I don’t want to do pictures.”
Given her aversion to having her picture taken, whenever I do a photo shoot with her, I have to turn it into something fun so she forgets she’s having her picture taken.  As I hurriedly shopped and plundered the studio for the shoot, the idea for a scavenger hunt came together.

Giuliana ended up having a ball running through the woods, trying to sound out the words scribbled on tiny slips of paper and finding each of the treasures I had hidden for her amidst the snow.  Sweet Indulgence was the icing on the cake, giving us some sweet little confections to scatter throughout our set.  G has never met a jellybean she doesn’t like!  We even brought Grace out at the very end for a quick snap to pull off the infamous bunny tea party, version 2.0.

It all came together even better than I could have planned.  Sometimes, things just happen that way.  Here is my Alice, in her winter wonderland.

“Lastly, she pictured to herself how this same little sister of hers would, in the after-time, be herself a grown woman; and how she would keep, through all her riper years, the simple and loving heart of her childhood: and how she would gather about her other little children, and make their eyes bright and eager with many a strange tale, perhaps even with the dream of Wonderland of long ago: and how she would feel with all their simple sorrows, and find a pleasure in all their simple joys, remembering her own child-life, and the happy summer days.”

- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

I had so much fun planning this first birthday session with mom!  Both baby A and her big brother B have December birthdays so she wanted to create something fun and Holiday inspired for our cakesmash that she could take out and display as part of her Christmas decorations each year.  She also loves candids and natural smiles (me too!) so we filled our session with plenty of playing and laughs.  Big brother B is at that age when kids see a camera and automatically make a “cheese face”.  I know it all too well with my four year old, and just about every little one I photograph at this age.  The trick is to make them forget they are having their picture taken!  Usually I make a complete fool out of myself in the process.  After taking lots of fun family portraits, we focused on the birthday girl, baby A.  She was so full of personality and very quick crawling around the studio!  I love all of the expressions we caught and all of the fun memories of our session.  Enjoy your sneak peek! 

I was so excited to see the L family again for H’s session last week.  I first met gorgeous baby H as a newborn and I’ve loved watching her grow up.  She is so beautiful, she never fails to take my breath away!  For the first time since I’ve been photographing her, H was on the move.  She was quick to run around and try out all of our toys and props.  I always tell parents that we just “go with it” at this age.  The best portraits always come from letting little ones be themselves.  I love what we captured and how much H’s adorable personality shines through!  Enjoy your sneak peek!

Have you noticed that we have had quite a few sessions lately with a 3 month old and 2 year old combo?  It’s two of the trickiest ages to photograph, so I never guarantee the perfect shot of both kids looking at the camera.  We just go with the flow and capture lots of candids.  No need to worry here though, D and D were perfect subjects!  Big sister was very busy, but we shared a love for Dora that got us off on the right foot.  Little man D was so advanced for 3 months, already grabbing his toes and full of smiles.  I love all of the sweet simple images we captured.  Enjoy your sneak peek!