The room was filled with women who have a strength I can’t comprehend.  They all lost someone that they loved nearly 9 months ago.  C’s father.  I’ve grown to love this family over the past months and the combination of joy and sorrow was palpable in my small shooting room.  It’s all I could feel as I photographed the newness of this tiny blessing in their lives.  They brought with them little memories of C’s dad.  One of my favorite portraits is C curled up on a quilt made out of his father’s shirts.  After two hours of awake time, he snuggled up on the blanket like it was home.  And smiled.  I sat down at my computer after this session and cried.  And I’m crying now as I write this.  Words can’t express how I admire the women who came to the session that day.  The way they were all there for each other.  The strength of C’s mom is indescribable.  He is so lucky to have you J.  Ladies, thank you for inviting me to capture such a momentous time in your lives.  It was an honor.

I had so much fun running around after J and L last week!  They were too cute for words and full of energy.  Mom and dad, I seriously don’t know how you do it.  I do know one thing, anyone with twin toddlers must not need a gym membership!  It was such a pleasure capturing  J and L playing together and they were so funny smashing their cakes.  It’s funny twins’ different personalities always shine through during the cake smash.  J would have been content to sit and eat his cake all day.  He kept looking at us as if saying “are you sure I can do this?”  L on the other hand must have sensed it would come to an end because she was all business making her way through all of that cake!  We adults were nothing more than a distraction!  haha  I had fun with you all.  Enjoy your preview!

Baby D made us work hard for every shot last week, but as you can see below it was well worth the effort!  Every few minutes he seemed to wake up looking to eat, and then he’d settle just long enough to snap the shot, and then he’d be up again!  Thank goodness for binkies!  At the end of the session D finally slept solidly for us.  We were able to capture 3 great sets in record time including a shot on dad’s guitar.  When it was time to go you could hardly wake him!  You just never know how it will go, but in the end, we always end up with something beautiful.  Enjoy your preview!

Baby D has been photogenic since the day she was born. And I should know because I had the pleasure of photographing her in her first weeks of life! Her images were actually used in the first display I ever purchased for our studio space and are still proudly hung in our hallway. Remember this beauty??

Clearly a born model, D even waited to walk across the room for the first time until she was in front of a professional camera! What a joy it was to watch! Capturing moments like that for families I have grown to love are truly the best part of this job! Thank you for a wonderful year S family.

O was truly a little doll. Everything about her was tiny and perfect. Mom loved neutrals so the soft creams were a perfect fit to show off O’s delicate little features. I just adore the image of the basket in the snow. So fitting as O was born in one of our snowiest winters! Baby O seemed to enjoy the shoot too because I caught images of that beautiful smile in almost every set! Enjoy your preview!

Baby L officially wins the award for greatest cake enthusiast at the Heidi Hope Studio.  He was on the move and a great workout to catch on camera… until we put a cake in front of him.  He thoroughly enjoyed himself and we all enjoyed watching!  These images are still making me laugh.  Enjoy your preview!

1 month old G was already a heart-breaker!  While we often have less sleeping images at 1 month old, there are other wonderful qualities to capture.  Babies are usually well filled out (love that baby chub!) and have far better eye control.  Check out G even smiling at the camera!  He’s a natural.  Enjoy your preview.

The S family traveled all the way down from New Hampshire in the snow for C’s first birthday cake smash! I haven’t seen C since he was born, but he still has that same adorable little face I remember. He was such a sweetheart and it was so nice to visit with the family again. I love watching babies grow! I particularly love this shoot because it’s all in my favorite color, turquoise! Will C adorn my new studio walls????? He just might have to with that face! Enjoy your preview!

The Heidi Hope Photography year long diaper drive begins this month. We will be collecting diapers throughout 2011 at our studio to donate to local families in need.  Diapers are a basic need for all babies. They are, however, expensive and unfortunately they cannot be purchased with food stamps or WIC assistance. There has been no steady source of free disposable diapers available to those in need in Rhode Island – leaving children from poor and low-income families at risk of spending hours in soiled diapers, which can lead to rashes and worse.   Throughout 2011, any client who donates a pack of un-opened, un-used disposable diapers by bringing them into the studio before or during one of their sessions will receive a free sheet of wallets ($50 value) with their order!  At the end of each month we will drop off all the donations to the state of Rhode Island’s Department of Health’s WIC program, which will go to families in need in the community.

Hi folks, Christina here.  Just thought I would share my fashion picks for the spring.  Here in Rhode Island we are getting hit with two storm systems back to back!  We love the snow but it’s a bit overwhelming at this point!  We’re trying to think warm thoughts at the studio which means we already have spring sessions on our mind.  We’ve already got a handful of ideas for spring sets and couldn’t help but put together some inspiration for our clients who already have a spring session booked.  This is just a start with outfits from Old Navy.  More to come soon!