E and M were my second maternity session last week and they were a stunning couple.  Mom said in her pre-session questionnaire that her style was simple and feminine.  I was so happy when I uploaded these because those were the exact two words that came to mind.  Of course it helps the images when mom-to-be is so gorgeous!  Enjoy your preview and can’t wait to hear your good news!

F and R visited the studio last week for their maternity session and we had a great time together! I love getting to know expecting parents before they come in with their newborns. It feels like we’re old friends by the time they come back with baby! I can’t wait to meet your little one F and R. Thanks for the fun session!

I feel like I’m part of this family!  They joke that their eldest daughter sees a photograph and says “Heidi.”  I’ve been photographing them for some time now, so it’s safe to say that their walls are plastered with Heidi Hope photos.  They believed in me before I had a portfolio.  When I had no idea what the heck I was doing!   They let me try out anything.  On top of being fun, easygoing, and a completely gorgeous family, they’ve sent pretty much everyone they know having a baby my way!  Perfect clients.  I had so much fun photographing the newest addition to their family this week.  Not just because I couldn’t wait to see them again, but because I already loved this little boy before I even met him.  That is the best part of this job.  Getting to be part of a family’s life at such special and exciting occasions.  It was a joy to meet your newest addition.  Thanks for choosing me again… and again!

St. Patrick’s Day.

I woke up at 4:30 am this morning so I could hit the gym before a busy day.  I needed to make room for some fun later!  In my adulthood St Patrick’s Day has been filled with the traditions we save solely for the day of the Irish.  Oh “black and tans” and “car bombs”, how I’ve dreamt of you since last March.  Yes, with Irish blood, I love just about anything that contains Guinness.  Of course after having a baby, one can’t indulge in so many liquid calories without some Irish guilt.  Sane?  No.  Irish?  Yes.

This year, to reward my efforts, I’m really looking forward to these Sweet Indulgence Guinness cupcakes after lunch, and a nice cold pint of the real thing after dinner!

What makes St. Patrick’s Day so special?  What I really love, besides rocking my green sweater, is the memories of my childhood.  In elementary school, while all of my classmates were taking ballet and jazz class, I was dutifully holding a ruler behind my back learning to Irish Step Dance.  In elementary school, one doesn’t necessarily like being different.  I, for one, just wanted to fit in.  But when St. Patrick’s day rolled around each year, everything changed.  My parents would take me out of school and we would travel with my dance troupe hitting every local Irish Pub along our travels.  It was something special.  Something my two brothers didn’t get to do.  Something the rest of my class didn’t get to do.  Somewhere I could shine.

We started the morning at Warwick City Hall, dancing on the steps for the mayor.  Then Warwick Mall.  The State House.  The Harp and Shamrock.  The Shannon View.  The Wind Jammer at Rocky Point.  But the very best part was finishing the day at Twin Oaks. My grandparents were regulars in the Oak Room (the back bar as we called it).  We would meet them for a late lunch, they would prop me up where everyone could see, and I would dance for the room as all of their friends passed a cup around!  If you’ve met me before, you know I’m currently about the size of a 12 year old.  Approaching 30, I still get carded.  I’ve been that way my whole life.  When I was 6, I looked 3.  (Just by looking at the photo above, you can see my dance shoes were smaller than a 4×6″ note card!)  I had strawberry hair, freckles, the whole Irish bit.  Everyone gushed.  “Who is that red-headed toddler dancing so well???”  Of course I was 6, but they didn’t have to know.  Those early days of Irish Step dancing pretty much paid for my first car!

My grandfather once said to me “I don’t get it.  When I was a kid, nobody wanted to stick out.  We all wore the same thing, parted our hair the same way.  No one wanted to be different.  Your generation, everyone wants to be unique!”  But, deep down doesn’t everyone want to shine?

Well, St. Patrick’s Day is that day for the Irish.  A day to shine.  A day to celebrate.  A day to remember your smiles and forget your troubles.  And for anyone who isn’t Irish, go throw on some green and join us in the party!

“May the sound of happy music, And the lilt of Irish laughter, fill your heart with gladness, that stays forever after.” – Irish Toast

Head into Twin Oaks today for some corned beef and cabbage and one of these delicious Sweet Indulgence cupcakes.  Unfortunately I won’t be dancing in the back bar, but perhaps you’ll see some other Irish Step Dancer in your travels, enjoying her day to shine!

The W family has been patiently waiting for this preview and I’m so excited to finally share it!  This was my last newborn session before jetting off the the Bahamas for a week with my husband so I’m just catching up with everything now.  Baby C gave me such a nice send off.  He was perfectly sweet and sleepy and adorable.  Mom and dad were SO easygoing and one could tell it was because they were so happy gazing at their newborn boy, they didn’t have another care in the world.  Enjoy your preview!

Inspired by Heidi’s well deserved tropical vacation, we’ve put together a Spring what-to-wear guide for girls that coordinate nicely with some of the new props here at the studio.  For this what-to-wear we used pieces from the adorable crewcuts collection by  j.Crew.  Check out our other what-to-wear guides here and here.

Another one of my 2010 newborns is already 1 year old!  MJ is just as handsome as ever.  Thank goodness he is so photogenic because he was not having a good afternoon when he came to visit this week.  He might have spent a total of 10 minutes actually in front of my camera, but in between crying, he flashed a few adorable smiles and we ended up with some adorable portraits after all!  Poor little man.  It’s hard work being so cute!  Don’t worry mom, these all look great!!

Talk about a beautiful pregnancy! I was prepping this preview and one of our editors said “What is with our maternity clients lately? They all look like SUPERMODELS!” Seriously! I have been just loving our maternity sessions lately. Moms-to-be come in feeling a little timid with their changing body. You know how the last trimester goes, what you bought last week already doesn’t fit, never mind finding matching jewelry and shoes! They say “I don’t care what you do, just please make me look good again!” Well, these women already look amazing, but I love capturing their beauty and making them realize it. It feels so good when a couple walks out of a maternity session and the dad says “that was actually fun, thanks!” and mom says “that was so much easier than I thought it would be!”, but the best part is when they see their gallery. When mom says “I can’t believe that’s me, I feel so beautiful!”, THAT is why I adore maternity sessions.

Well T and H were a gorgeous young couple from Boston. I was SO SAD to hear they will be moving back to California shortly after their newborn sessions because they were so much fun to work with. Hopefully they’ll fly that baby out for me to photograph again some day… or maybe I will just have to come to them! Hmmmm, Southern California isn’t sounding too bad right now (currently 20 degrees in Warwick)! Thanks for the fun morning. H, you look beyond amazing. Enjoy these last few weeks and I can’t wait to hear your good news.

Baby A is quite the fashionista!  I joke with her mom that I would love her to style all of my shoots as I’ve loved every outfit I’ve seen A in over the past year.  But I’m only half joking!  A has a greater wardrobe than I, that’s for sure!  This week we celebrated her first birthday with a fabulous cake smash.  She just loved the cake and I just loved capturing it all.  Especially the little details.  It just so happened that baby A saved her first steps for our studio!  It was so thrilling to watch and photograph :0)  Happy birthday A!  Enjoy your preview.

Baby N is surely one of the happiest babies I’ve ever photographed.  I feel like it was just yesterday that I took her newborn photos, and here she was standing in front of my camera already as a birthday girl!  N’s grandmother made her beautiful birthday skirt, perfect for her lady bug party theme.  The lady bug cake by sweet indulgence was the perfect way to end our session.  N smiled the whole way through it all!  Her joy was infectious!  Enjoy your preview :0)