I first met this happy baby girl back in 2011 when she and her big brother visited our studio for portraits.  We stayed in touch online and through the wonderful community of moms at Bellani Maternity over the years.

We were on our Holiday break this year when I saw the story spread over facebook.  A family in our community was struggling with the recent diagnosis of their young daughter.  She had gone into the doctors with a stomach bug and then their world had changed.  I soon found out it was Belle and her final diagnosis was pre-B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) .  I just couldn’t wrap my head around the sudden news.   I sent mom a message as soon as I heard.  Whenever she was ready, whenever Belle was ready, I wanted to be there for them in any way that I could.

I have worked with many families fighting childhood illness through The Tiny Sparrow Foundation over the past few years.  It has been the most meaningful part of what I do as a photographer.  I know how much photos can mean to families fighting through treatment and recovery.  I also knew how much Belle’s beautiful curls meant to her mom.  Not for their physical beauty, or the soft way they framed her baby doll face, but because they were a symbol of Belle’s babyhood.  They were a symbol of Belle before their world was turned upside-down.  I know I would have felt exactly like Belle’s mom did.  Yes, those curls will grow back, surely more beautiful than ever, but I would have wanted to hold onto them as long as I could.  I had to get to the hospital and capture Belle’s curls.

Belle and her mom are some of the strongest girls I’ve ever met.  Mom has been incomprehensibly positive and tenacious for her daughter.  They amaze me and everyone else they meet.  Belle had already fought through over two weeks of treatment and wasn’t feeling great the day I visited.  We had endless fun, girly, dress-up toys to make her smile, but she mostly wanted her Elmo, her mommy, and her cozy blanket.  You know what?  That Elmo and blanket looked pretty perfect to me and there is nothing more beautiful than a mother’s love.

Plus, this isn’t the last photo shoot you’ll see with Belle here.  We’ll be catching up again, when she’s feeling much better.  She has plenty of tutu-twirling ahead of her!  This summer, her hair will be growing back and I probably won’t be able to keep up with her as she runs around outside.  For now, I’m happy to have captured those sweet curls before her next chapter begins.  You can read more about Belle’s story in her mother’s words on the Kent Macaroni Kids Blog.

If you would like to help Belle and her family, please visit  Belle’s Youcaring.com Page or check back in with us for the many opportunities to make a difference for Belle in the coming months.

Oh my gosh, is this not one of the cutest babies you have ever seen?  I was totally in love with her from the first second she looked at me with those big brown eyes.  Little Star sessions are some of my favorite and especially when babies are at this age.  It feels like I’m just hanging out with mom and dad, playing dress up with their little one.  Sometimes I have to remind myself that I’m working!  M was so sweet.  She indulged us in plenty of adorable outfits and sets.  I’m wondering how I’ll ever choose favorites for this gallery!  Enjoy your sneak peek!

We’re so excited to be bringing back our December Deals! Every week from now until the new year we’ll be offering a special deal for a Heidi Hope Photography session.  Each deal is available for ONE WEEK ONLY.  After one week, the deal, and the opportunity, expires! If you’re a newsletter subscriber, you’re already in the know about the entire series. To hear about future promotions, sign up for our newsletter here.

This week’s deal (expires 5pm EST, December 21st, 2012): Book a Senior Portrait session for the Spring of 2013 (before May 31st), and receive 32 free wallets of your favorite pose, plus a free yearbook photo!

We’re already thinking Spring for senior portrait sessions, and want to make sure we have sessions free for the class of 2013 and 2014! This deal is perfect for seniors who want to remember their last highschool years with more than just a studio yearbook portrait. We personally make every shoot unique, and provide stylists for professional hair, makeup, and wardrobe styling throughout your session. This Spring, show off your magazine-quality shoot with free wallets and a yearbook photo!

How do I take advantage of this deal??

Call the studio (401-864-1919) this week to schedule and submit your session fee for a senior portrait session. Please note we are here to answer your calls Monday through Friday 9-5pm.  Calls during non business hours will be returned in the order received.  Session fee must be submitted before 5pm EST, December 21st, 2012.

Please visit our SENIOR PORTRAIT WEBSITE to learn more about Heidi Hope Photography sessions!

~ The Heidi Hope Team

It’s only two weeks before Shaun, Giuliana and I have our first professional family portraits taken and I’ve been shopping for our shoot since January.  Outfits have come and gone and I’ve changed my mind at least 100 times.  Now I understand how my clients feel.  You know you’re about to make a big investment on artwork in your home… you want to coordinate, but not overly match… you want to show your style, but still appear timeless… you want colors that flatter you, but also look good on your wall.  So much to consider.  It’s no wonder that clients often resort to all white!

Perhaps my biggest problem in selecting family wardrobe is that I am a match-a-holic.  I want everything to coordinate perfectly.  Unfortunately, that makes for a pretty boring portrait.  So I had to stray from my compulsive need to seek out exact dye lots and choose items that varied in tone, texture, and value.  Well, not surprisingly, me and my credit card were up to the challenge.  Blush was a big color this spring, and given the style and processing of my photographer, and the colors in my home, I decided to run with the color.  It’s also relatively neutral (baby steps with the color mixing!).

Usually my designer Christina comes up with our what to wear guides, but after spending months picking out my family’s outfits for our photo session, I thought I would share them on the blog with you.   So here are my summer portrait picks… well almost… Some of the items that I bought this spring are no longer for sale so I had to find similar replacements when preparing this post.  I also added in my picks for a little boy to round out the selections so they can be applied to any family.  Mom’s wedges wouldn’t be my first pick of all the shoes out there, but I already have them in my closet, so that’s what I’ll be wearing.  Just a note on my love for wedges as I must give them their due respect.  I often refer to wedges, even the 5 inch variety, as my “flats.”  Wedges are my short girl flip flops.  Comfier than stilettos, but still provide me the height I need to not blend in with the 8 year old crowd.  I appear taller, yet can still chase after my daughter if necessary.  Win, win!  If your photoshoot is outdoors and you are mortified by the thought of getting photographed next to your husband in flats, wedges are certainly the way to go.  A few other notes: Giuliana’s actual skirt for our shoot is closer in color to the ruffle chucks and has a bow on the side.  It was originally purchased at Jcrew where I found the similar one pictured below.  I’d make dad and son a bit more casual by cuffing the sleeves of the sport coat and shirt. Even leaving them unbuttoned and layering with a pop of color from a t-shirt underneath would look great.  And of course I still need to decide on accessories… but that’s another can of worms!    You’ll get to see how these outfits look in our portraits in just a few months!

Vendor List

Girl:  Outfit: Jcrew, Shoes: Nordstrom

Mom: Tank top: Gap Skirt: Free People, Shoes: Nine West

Dad: Jcrew

Boy: Jcrew

Phew!  This session was a whirlwind!!  It was almost like 3 sessions in one!  Family portraits posed and candid, individual portraits of the kids, and portraits of the 6 month old twins together and individually for their baby book… all in a little over an hour!!  I’m proud to say we pulled it off and I love all portraits we created together.  At 2 1/2 years old, big sister S loved the spotlight and was a natural in front of the camera.  6 month old little brothers E and J could barely keep up with all of the commotion, but each did eventually give me some smiles.  I don’t know how mom and dad do it!  Enjoy your sneak peek.  Can’t wait to show you the rest of your beautiful family!

What a joy it was to help welcome baby A into this family.  Big brother C was so amazing with her.  Young children always react differently to a new baby.  C was sweet, patient, and gentle throughout our entire 3 hour session and I was so impressed with him!  The family shots are some of my favorites from the whole day.  Baby A was a social butterfly as the session started but with the help of the binky, we were able to get each shot off!  She finally fell into a nice deep sleep and then we really had fun.  Enjoy your preview R family!

Wow!  Baby C is so completely gorgeous, it is hard to choose favorites!  She was so fun and sweet to photograph and I loved visiting with her family again.  They visited us just 6 months ago for newborn portraits.  I can’t believe how fast she’s grown!  6 months is my absolute favorite age to photograph.  The giggles, the smiles, the baby chub!  I love it!  Enjoy your preview G family, and your beautiful baby girl.  It was a pleasure as always :0)

It has been so long since we’ve had newborn twins in the studio! These two 1-month-old twins were so lovely to photograph. As with all newborns, the older they get, the more of a challenge it can be to get these sleepy newborn shots. With twins, everything also takes twice as long to accomplish as we have two babies to perfectly pose in their sleep, rather than just one! Just one move and they can wake each other up very easily. I always have an assistant during twin shoots because, as any parent of twins can tell you, you never feel you have enough hands.

Well, M and I were amazing together! They loved being cuddled up with each other. It took these sisters a little bit of extra time to fall into a deep sleep but once they did, we were able to get some beautiful portraits. In the end, twin sessions are always well worth the extra work because everything is twice as adorable! I think you can agree that our four hour session was worth every moment when you look at these two beautiful girls and the bond between them captured. Enjoy your preview mom and dad!

Baby M was so good to me last week!  He just slept the whole session away.  It was hard choosing a preview because M looks perfect in every image!  Some of my favorite shots from this session were taken at the very end.  I generally save family shots for the  end of the shoot because as long as baby is content, we can still get great shots even if they have woken up.  Baby M was still so sleepy at the end of the shoot that we were able to be even more creative.  I adore the images with mom and dad.  What a gorgeous family!  I can’t wait to show you everything I have of this little star!

My newborns last week were so dreamy.  I have been just gushing over all of these images!  Take baby L for example.  He was so handsome and so easy to pose.  He rocked the hands up shot for a good minute!  Many people ask if that is a composite shot.  About 80% of the time I can get baby to balance up there no problem.  About 20% of the time they are so relaxed that we need a hand to help support them up so we composite it.  And then once in a while, a baby just won’t like being posed that way.  Usually those are the babies who like their arms curled tight into their bodies.  In that case, we just skip the shot all together.  Believe me, babies tell me exactly what they like during our sessions!  Thankfully baby L liked just about everything!  He did such a great job.  And grandmother brought all of the fabulous hats she found on etsy.  Aren’t they adorable?  Enjoy your preview!