Happy Birthday, baby J! This little guy has the sweetest personality, as you can see in his photos. He was hesitant of the camera at first, but quickly got into the photoshoot groove, playfully interacting with the camera for the whole session.

We’ve had a lot of nautical cake smash themes this year, but nobody had done an ‘under the sea’ set until this one! I loved making all of the creatures, and J was mesmerized by the fish swimming around him. Thanks to Sweet Indulgence for the friendly shark cake!

Storyboards are my favorite product that clients order. These are my favorite because they are super customizable and are beautifully stunning when displayed on a wall.

This weeks featured size is a 16×24 storyboard.  These 16×24′s are very popular for all types of sessions.

16×24 storyboards are one of our most popular sizes by far! The tricky part my clients face is picking the right amount of images and the orientation because it really matters!  This week tip I focus on 3 to 4 image storyboard because thats the average number picked.  I’ve done up to nine images on one board though!  These are great visual layouts to help pick images because whether its a canvas or in an Organic Bloom frame the goal is to make the images look balanced.

Being inspired by all the fashion coverage these past weeks from Coachella festival!  Festival fashion is fun, free-sprited, and fearless! I combined festival fashion with one of my other favorite trend…neon!  I’d love to spend a day in the sun in this bright outfit!  The best part about festival fashion is that its over the top while keeping a laid back feel. So go ahead and put on a large stone necklace while rocking sandals and dance the day away! ~ Caroline

Skirt: H&M Skirt

Feather Earrings: Neon Pink Gold Glitter Dipped – Faux Leather Feather Earrings

Daisy Bracelet: Orelia Daisy bracelet set 

Marc by Marc Jacobs Pink Bracelet: Neon Pink Turn lock Charm Leather Bracelet

Sandals: MM6 Maison Martin Margiela

Crop Tank: Cream Floral Lace Swing Crop Top

Neon Handbag: Tory Burch Snake Cross Body Bag

Pink Necklace: Ombre Gradient Pink Neon Handpainted Vintage Rhinestone Necklace 

Mother’s Day is so special to us here at Heidi Hope Photography because our community of clients and online friends is comprised of so many amazing, inspiring, and loving mothers.  We’ve all had a tough week in the Greater Boston Area.  We have dear friends, family, and clients who call Boston home.  Shaun’s family was standing directly across from the marathon bombings.  They were cheering on his cousin who was just .2 miles away from finishing, near the second explosion.  In a week of heartbreak for our community, we can’t help but hold everyone we love a little closer.  We wanted to do something special this Mothers Day for the mothers who are such a big part of our life at HHP.

Often times, the moments we have with our children go by so quickly in the busyness of life.  We’re so busy LIVING those moments, we don’t have the time to stop and take a picture.

We want everyone to have a portrait with their children to treasure.  Our Mother’s Day gift this year is to thank our 2012 and 2013 clients with a free Mommy-and-Me portrait party!  We want to catch up, see how you are doing, or get to know you before your upcoming session.  Come enjoy sweets from our generous friends at Sweet Indulgence, chat with Heidi and Mariah, and smile for a picture you’ll love looking back on!

Happy Mother’s Day Heidi Hope Family!

Mommy and Me Party:

Thursday May 9th from 10am-2pmLocation to be announced via email (within 5 miles of our studio, or in studio in the event of rain)

To sign up for our Mother’s Day gift:

• You must have a booked session with Heidi Hope Photography during the years of 2012 or 2013 (so our party size remains manageable for us!)
• please email mariah@heidihope.com with your time preference.  We will email you back with the times we still have left available to take your picture (first come-first served for appointment times).  Current availability is from 12-1pm.
• Email us today, we are almost completely full!
• Your portrait will be delivered to you via facebook
• One photo per mama (with up to 5 children)

Sign up for our Newsletter to be the first to know about our future events and giveaways!

If you’ve been following along with us for the past year, you’ve heard me rave about our new video portraits after having them done for my own family.  I want everyone I know to do this for their family!  It is laid back, fun, and the resulting video will take your breath away.  I was so excited when the W family decided to add on our video portraits to their cake smash session.  I first met them back when I was pregnant with Grace and mom was expecting S.  Then, I got to cuddle adorable baby S as a newborn when I was in my last trimester.  I was thrilled to be celebrating S’s first birthday last week and even more excited to capture the milestone for their family through both pictures and the videography.  A cake smash is so much fun on video because it is so full of action!  S dug right into her cake and was soon laughing and clapping at her first taste.  Thank you so much for such a fun afternoon W family, and enjoy your sneak peek.  We’ll be adding in the video sneak preview later this week, so check back for it!

And here is a sneak peek of S’s Video!

Baby S Cake Smash Preview from Heidi Hope Photography on Vimeo.

If you love Pinterest like we do, you’ve surely seen some of these portraits pinned.  It has to be one of our most popular shoots of all time!  Kerri Cupcake and I planned it all out back in 2010.  We wanted to do something creative and fun just for ourselves.  Kerri and Sweet Indulgence designed this amazing confections table with every treat imaginable while the HHP team and I transformed the studio into a Mermaid paradise with hanging lanterns, silk pillows, soft streamers, a real sand floor and bubbles galore!  We gathered up a group of adorable girls ranging from 2-5 and we let them dance and play in their dream world.  Most of them didn’t want to leave.  This shoot made a beautiful spread in the 2012 issue of Bliss Celebrations magazine and has made countless pin boards and blogs since!  Here it is, The Heidi Hope Photography and Sweet Indulgence Mermaid Party from early 2011.

Photography: Heidi Hope Photography

Confections Table: Sweet Indulgence

Shirts: Gigi’s Glitzy Boutique

Pettiskirts: Dreamspun Kids

I loved meeting the W family last week.  They are one of our newest 2013 Baby Plan families!  Their sweet baby girl was a social butterfly.  Approaching 3 weeks old, she wanted to take in the world around her.  She loved to be held and cuddled and fed.  She looked like a living doll with the most gorgeous head of hair and pouty lips.  I had so much fun getting to know her and I can’t wait to spend a year celebrating her as she grows.  Mom and dad were completely in love with their new little one.  We started our session with plenty of family portraits where she cooed and smiled for us.  After 2 hours she finally drifted off to sleep and we captured plenty of dreamy images to end our day.  Enjoy your sneak peek!

I’m a pretty good secret-keeper… when I have to be!  From new pregnancies, to gender reveals, to proposals, we often get to be “in” on some of life’s best surprises!  I was so excited to be let in on the secret of J’s pregnancy back in the fall.  I’ve been photographing their family of 4 for a few years now, and I know just how much this baby will be adored (and already is!).  Big brother and sister are all ready to welcome new baby and I could feel the excitement they had throughout our session.  They are some of my 2013 baby-planners, so get ready to see this baby celebrated into 2014!  Enjoy your sneak peek!

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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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.