They’re HERE!  We are finally ready to announce our most anticipated sessions of the year.  Our Holiday sessions often sell out in just a few hours, so this year we’ve opened up plenty of dates, including a long weekend, and both of our photographers will be on hand to capture your memories.  With so many clients wanting the whole family on their cards this year, or in desperate need of some updated family portraits, we decided to make our Holiday special for the full family with longer, fully styled sessions!  We’ve even simplified ordering with special packages and online galleries because we know that the Holiday’s are just as crazy for you as they are for us. Heidi Hope Photography can be your one stop shop for Holiday gifts in 2012.  Don’t forget to check out our gorgeous 2012 Holiday Card designs on the blog by clicking here.

Please note that pricing above reflects session fee only.  All ordering is done a la carte in your online ordering gallery.  Packages begin at $500.  For more information, availability and full pricing for our 2012 Holiday sessions please call the studio at 401.864.1919.

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!

One of my best sessions ever.  Sweet, sleepy, baby girl J and her parents came in on Friday afternoon and our session flew by.  Baby J was asleep in seconds, without a feeding, and was so easy to pose.  She was right at the one week mark which is usually the PERFECT age to get shots like these.  She even let me put her in a watering can!  Mom completed the look with an adorable little flower headband she brought in.  Shaun assisted me for almost the entire shoot… holding the giant stick and sitting very close by that watering can.  I love all of these creative shots but baby’s safety is always top priority!  Enjoy your preview mom and dad.  I hope you had as much fun as I did!

Reinvention inspires me.  Perhaps I just bore easily, but you’ll not often catch me doing the same thing twice.  Every session I’m adjusting, perfecting, trying to top what I did last time!  That is one of the things I love most about photography.  It can be such a transient medium.

Yesterday I had so much fun switching things up.  Now that everyone is doing cake smashes, I started thinking, “This is getting a bit boring.  How can I do it differently?”   I’ll tell you how.  Hike up the steps to the top of Bunker Hill and let this little princess smash her cake there!  This baby girl was one of my favorite newborn sessions to date so I was thrilled to head into Boston and help capture her first birthday in style.  Mom and dad recommended the spot and it was perfect.  Baby D was adorable.  She kept holding up her little finger to show us she was turning one years old!  I had so much fun seeing you all again, mom, dad and D.  Thank you for having me up.  I truly have the most fabulous clients!

How about this cake?!  Kerri Fusco, owner of the oh-so-good Sweet Indulgences, recently stopped into my studio.  I knew of her from some of the fabulous sweets served at Twin Oaks Restaurant.  Kerri and I were fast friends and quickly scheming up some amazing projects for this spring.  I was blown away when I finally walked into her sweet-tooth heaven and I am so excited for our collaboration in the coming months.  Thank you for all of your generosity Kerri and the gorgeous sweets to come ;0)  Visit us on facebook:  Sweet Indulgences and Heidi Hope!

I grew up eating globs of cookie dough from Dear Hearts while throwing stones off of the bridge and into the Pawtuxet River. We have had some impressive weather lately, and when I heard that the Pawtuxet was reaching record flood stages, I had to grab my camera and catch some of history being made. The first photos are from Pawtuxet Village (right near our rehearsal dinner spot!), where the Pawtuxet meets Narragansett Bay. The second are from a spot on Elmwood ave where the bridge is closed. Pardon my shaky hands. Pouring rain, slow shutter speed, plus holding an umbrella with one hand, does not for good pictures make!