THE HHP GUIDE newborn, baby, and birthday
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Contents 4 ............. Welcome to the World: 10 .......... First Smiles: 14 .......... Shining Personality: 18 .......... Celebrate!
Newborns
3 Months 6-9 Months
First Birthdays
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Newborns
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Newborns
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Welcome to the world! Congratulations on this special time in your lives, and and thank you for choosing Heidi Hope Photography to document it! We are so excited to capture all of the miraculous details and joy that your newborn will bring. Newborn sessions are as unique as each baby. Heidi conducts each session based on the style of your family and the needs of your newborn. A newborn portrait session can range anywhere from 1 to 3 hours, depending on how sleey the baby is and whether you’re including family or siblings. Have you started dreaming up the perfect session? This guide will walk you through the newborn shoot process, from wardrobe to what to bring with you!
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Newborns
Session Day! It’s finally here! Make the most out of your session by knowing what to expect. Our goal is to capture gorgeous potraits of your newborn while they’re still sleepy and curly. In the hours leading up to the session, try having some active time with your newborn. Interacting with them, giving them a bath, and keeping them alert and awake can be helpful in getting baby to sleep once you get here! When you arrive, the first 30 minutes of your newborn session are set aside for you to privately feed and settle your baby. We provide a nursery for your family that has a changing table, boppy, and nursing cover. Feeding is the best way to get your baby to sleep for all the sets and poses we go through! If bottle feeding, we suggest bringing at least one extra bottle. If you are pumping, topping baby off with a pumped bottle of breast milk almost always gets baby to sleep if they are cluster feeding. Newborns tend to be sleepier after a formula feeding, so if you’re using a combination of formula and breastmilk, we suggest formula for our session. Once your baby is settled and sleepy, we’ll start the session. We typically involve siblings and family in the session first, then let your newborn steal the show with classic shots on the beanbag and 1-2 custom sets with props.
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We strive to make every session a custom experience for families, so feel free to make requests for sets that might be special to you!
Newborns
What To Wear There is nothing more beautiful than the skin of a newborn baby, so we generally photography newborns in their birthday suits! We have just about everything else you would need at the studio (headbands, swaddles, blankets, hats, bowties, and other accessories). For families and siblings, we recommend light, bright clothing. White may not be what you want to put on post-partum, but we promise: it’s gorgeous, and you will be, too! Skin-to-skin photos are also naturally stunning. The studio is kept at 80 degrees during sessions, so bring lighter clothing for when you’re relaxing.
Siblings We’ve become known for our emotive, adorable photos of newborns with their proud older siblings! Whether shy or outgoing, we have plenty of tricks to encourage older sibs to interact safely with newborns. We’ll start the session off with sibling and family portraits, then focus on just the newborn. Once family portraits are done, you may want to send Dad or a grandparent with the older sibling(s) to get an ice cream or cupcake while they wait for the session to finish! If they stay at the studio, we have plenty of toys to keep them occupied as well.
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Newborns
What To Bring We always love making sessions special for families, so feel free to bring gifts or mementos to include in your session (lace from mom’s wedding dress or a hand-knit hat from grandma!). Moms are still recovering, so make sure to bring anything to the studio that will make you more comfortable. You might also enjoy bringing books or activities to keep busy for the session. Don’t forget EXTRA formula or breastmilk if you’re bottle feeding or pumping!
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Stay in touch! When we book your session, your due-date is added to our calendar as a tentative session date so we know approximately when your session will take place. Once you have your baby, we’ll schedule you for an exact date and time during the first 10 days of your baby’s life. Our schedule frequently changes for babies born early or late. Getting in touch with us as soon as you have any news will allow you a greater selection of session dates and times.
As always, contact the studio with any questions! We’re here to help! 401-864-1919
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Newborns
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3-4 Months
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3-4 Months
First Smiles! Your little one is just starting to show off their unique personality with smiles, giggles, and coos. They’re incredibly aware of sounds and faces, and love the interaction of a photoshoot. Images of your baby’s first smiles are some of the most precious, and we love to capture their budding personality! 3 months is the ideal time to capture your baby when they’re still an infant, but able to interact with the camera and enjoy tummy time and snuggles with mom and dad! 4 months is also a great time to get a little more variety from your shoot- pushing up, more smiles, and more alert time. Sessions usually take place at the HHP studio, but lifestyle sessions at your home are a stunning way to capture your family with your little one.
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3-4 Months
Session Day! The day is finally here! We’ll start the session off with simple portraits of your baby on a beanbag or comfy surface to let them get used to us and the camera. 3-4 month olds tend to stay alert and curious for the whole session, but also get overhwelmed easily, so we keep things slow and relaxed. We let the baby lead the session; if they need a break for an extra feeding or snuggle time, no problem! It’s always a good idea to bring their favorite toys or an extra feeding, just in case. If you didn’t get many family portraits when your baby was a newborn, 3 months is a great age to capture the family together while they’re still an infant! It’s also the perfect time to capture details while they’re still little: the way their hair swirls, or their eyelashes and tiny toes.
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3-4 Months
Clothing If you’re going for a very classic, clean look, your baby’s birthday suit or a simple diaper cover is best. For a more stylized session, we have lots of fun pieces to choose from at the studio. We’re fully stocked with headbands, clips, hats, swaddles, blankets, diaper covers, and fun accessories like bowties, rompers, and pettiskirts! We’re always adding new items to our ‘walk in closet’, so you’ll have plenty to pick from when you get here. If your baby isn’t sitting up yet, we’ll often capture just the top part of their outfit, so when you’re choosing clothes, don’t worry about planning the outfit around their socks or leggings!
Props & Sets Of course you know that we’re obsessed with props here at HHP! We’re likely to have a prop that matches your vision, but if we don’t, we’ve been known to build our own custom sets and props! Does your baby have a favorite toy, or a toy that was yours when you were little? Sometimes the best props for photographs are ones that are meaningful to you or loved by your baby. If you’re not sure what you’d like for props, we’ll take a look at what your baby will be wearing and create a set around that on the day of the session.
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As always, contact the studio with any questions! We’re here to help! 401-864-1919
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6-9 Months
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6-9 Months
Big Personality! By far the BEST time to capture your baby is around 6-9 months, when they’re bursting with personality, smiles, and curiosity. Milestones come a mile a minute, and before you know it, they’re rolling over, sitting up, scooting, or even crawling! This makes sessions with this age so much fun- we get lots of variety, and lots of fun facial expressions! Each of our sessions is tailored to your baby’s personality, and we let the baby lead the way while we’re shooting. It’s like a playdate at the studio for them! Session are typically 30-45 minutes long, depending on the personality of the baby. Some are happy to sit and smile at the camera the whole time, while some enjoy quietly playing with toys while we candidly capture them. Outdoor shoots at this age are also fun, especially on the beach or at the park!
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6-9 Months
Milestones 6-9 month sessions are all about capturing who your baby is and how they’re growing into a little person! Feel free to request a certain detail or pose that shows who they are at that time. If your baby is pulling himself up, we can suggest cute poses and props to show that! If you had a newborn or 3-month session with us, repeating props or sets is a fun way to see how much they’ve grown! We let the baby lead the session; if they need a break for an extra feeding or snuggle time, no problem! It’s always a good idea to bring their favorite toys or an extra feeding, just in case.
Props & Sets Of course you know that we’re obsessed with props here at HHP! We’re likely to have a prop that matches your vision, but if we don’t, we’ve been known to build our own custom sets and props! Does your baby have a favorite toy, or a toy that was yours when you were little? Sometimes the best props for photographs are ones that are meaningful to you or loved by your baby. If you’re not sure what you’d like for props, we’ll take a look at what your baby will be wearing and create a set around that on the day of the session! www.heidihope.com
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6-9 Months
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Wardrobe If you’re going for a very classic, clean look, your baby’s birthday suit or a simple diaper cover is best. For a more stylized session, we have lots of fun pieces to choose from at the studio. We’re fully stocked with headbands, clips, hats, swaddles, blankets, diaper covers, and fun accessories like bowties, rompers, legwarmers, and pettiskirts! We’re always adding new items to our ‘walk in closet’, so you’ll have plenty to pick from when you get here. Clothing that compliments the color of your baby’s eyes is always stunning, and creates emotive close-up portraits. Don’t be afraid of incorporating bold colors and funky patterns, especially if the session is focusing on just your baby! Steer away from large logos or things that may need to be photoshopped out of the picture later.
As always, contact the studio with any questions! We’re here to help! 401-864-1919
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First Birthday!
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Birthday
Celebrate! Hooray! Your baby is one (or two, or three!)! There’s so much to celebrate, and so many pictures to take. We celebrate birthdays in style at HHP, and are known worldwide for the birthday cakesmash sets we create. Did you book a classic birthday session? These sessions simply capture your baby and who they are at their first huge milestone. Classic birthday sessions last up to an hour, and we recommend 2-3 outfits for your little one. Are you adding a cakesmash? You have the option of adding a Sweet Indulgence cake and a custom-made set to the classic session, for a hysterical party on-camera! With either session, you’ll capture the sweetest moments to remember for a lifetime.
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Birthday
Session Day We’ll start off the hour-long session with traditional portraits, then take candid shots of your baby playing and being themselves. We recommend 2-3 outfits: something more formal for the portraits, and then something fun for the candid shots! Some clients choose to use one of these looks for specific products like thank-you cards, and consider coordinating colors with the cakesmash shots. As always, sessions are led by the babies, and we keep everything flexible and relaxed! Sometimes 1-year olds can be shy or nervous around strangers, so we make sure to give them extra time to warm up to the camera.
Family Celebrate yourselves, and your whole family, too! After all, you’ve been parents to an amazing little person for a whole year. At the beginning of the session, we encourage parents to jump in front of the camera for a range of formal to candid shots that commemorate your baby’s birthday. If you think you may use your family shots with images from the rest of the session (in custom cards, for example), think about coordinating the color of your wardrobe to what you have planned for the cakesmash or other portraits. When in doubt, go with light, bright, classic clothing. www.heidihope.com
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Birthday
Cakesmash! This is our favorite part of birthday sessions (and the babies’, too!). At the end of the birthday session, we bring out a custom-decorated cake from Sweet Indulgence and create a completely custom set around it for your baby. How do you plan a cakesmash? First, think of the theme you want. It could be inspired by the decor in their nursery, the theme of their party, or your favorite colors. It could be inspired by one of their favorite books, or even a family pet! We’ll create a set around anything you can dream up. Of course, if you have no idea, feel free to leave it to the experts- we’ll come up with something completely unique and perfect. Second, think of the outfit. They’ll be getting messy, so we don’t want the outfit they’ll be wearing to their party! Some cute ideas: a first birthday crown or hat, a cute diaper cover, a custom 1st birthday onesie (check Etsy or other baby boutiques online!), rolled up jeans with no shirt, just a pettiskirt and pearls, or a lace romper. Some babies don’t like the texture of the cake frosting, and we’ll put one of their favorite snacks on the back of the stand to eat instead. It’s always a good idea to come prepared with favorite snack or toys, just in case! www.heidihope.com
As always, contact the studio with any questions! We’re here to help! 401-864-1919
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