RachaelHopePhotography

A personal project the last 6+ years, but rarely seen outside my own home, in collaboration with the beautiful hand lettering of , these floral prints which are dear to my heart are on PRE-SALE NOW! A 2018 calendar full of thoughtful words and scripture to encourage you, and artwork that I hope helps you stop and find the beauty in the small things. I can’t wait to get this into the hands of ALL my friend!

http://www.shopgivewithjoy.com/calendars/2018-floral-wall-calendar

When your sibling is also your bestie...

Feeling super grateful to have captured this sweet family for so many years now. They are adventurous, kind and just plain FUN!

The babes are wild and ready for a long weekend! Wishing you all the same.

"We are all mothers, and that's a tribe we'll belong to for he rest of our lives. Let's let the initiation be one of love, encouragement, Grace and servanthood"

My latest article as a is up! 10 Ways To Help a New Mother. It comes from my heart and I hope you'll read it and pass it on to all the mothers in your life.

Link in my profile AND over on feed. 😊

Being over the half-way mark of this, my third and final pregnancy, this article really came from the heart and I hope you'll read it. It's for mothers of all ages, of all number of children, and in all places. Let's be the friend we wish we'd had in those early days of motherhood.

"Today I write to you from my heart. As a once new mother, an expecting mother, and as a friend of many mothers, I know there is wisdom to be gleaned from this tribe about how to support the new mothers joining our ranks. I write about the friend, mentor, and mother I want in my life during this season. I write as a reminder to myself and to all of us about what a new mother really needs during those precious first weeks of Motherhood." - Rachael

Today on The Blog: 10 ways to help
a new mother written by Click the link to read this touching article in its entirety. http://www.thevillagemag.com/blog/

FRIENDS! Look at your calendar this weekend and shoot me an email to book your summer Haven session! I'll only be booking through August this year so dates are going fast!

I already can't wait to capture every Popsicle licking, sprinkler running, muddy feet and summery moment!

>>>>>>> http://www.havenlifeandphoto.com/contact-me

Feeling all the love for Michelle Gardella, Photographer's new presets! Just dropping by to say I highly recommend them friends!

Baby Lucy showed up on her due date, all fresh and pink. And I love that her Mama and Daddy love to introduce new siblings to one another in the comfort of their Haven bedroom. This is my 2nd time with them here and it's so so special. Worth the wait in bringing baby home from the hospital to have the whole family together in the place where their hearts bond every day.

A Haven is where your heart and family are and I'll never tire of capturing families in that sacred place.

"Maybe you need a quiet place to come and hug your children, reading them a book and drinking in their scent. Maybe you need a place and a quiet moment to remember the blessing of these littles, instead of the burden. Maybe you can't find peace outside of your own home and head in this season, and I can completely relate"

Blogged more about these sessions I've started doing. The closest thing to a 'mini-session' I offer and a limited time opportunity. I hope if this idea calls out to you like it does to me that you'll send me an email.

Http://www.havenlifeandphoto.com/journal

The umbilical cord. Connecting. Sustaining life. Rooting the child to Mother. The cord of life, perhaps under appreciated but so breathtakingly beautiful.

So quiet and cold these days. But the colorful and joyful Compston family will cheer you right up...and inspire you to gather around a good book today, even if only for a moment.

http://bit.ly/1ODhqcx

Always grateful to capture a family so full of joy.

One of the most powerful moments I've ever been witness to...Mom and Dad catching their baby boy together. What an amazing way to close out my 2015 birth calendar. I'm now booking limited births in 2016!

CONTACT ME! http://www.havenlifeandphoto.com/contact-me

When they are so squishy and soft and perfect and ready to be on Mommy's chest.

Grateful today for every service man and woman who work to keep us safe and free. I'm especially grateful today for my Grandfather, and my brother, the handsome cowboy who also has a heart to serve and is at the beginning of what I know will be a long and distinguished career in the Air Force. We love you both. Thank you for your service.

Contact Me!

Discounted Family Sessions in December! DON'T FORGET!

And a REMINDER to all my 2014 clients who haven't used their discount cards yet to CALL ME! I'm only working through December 13th, but I have a few spots still open.

Those cards expire at the end of the year AND packaging and pricing are changing (significantly) in the new year, so don't miss this chance!

I can't wait to see you faces so so soon!

Email: [email protected] or CLICK BELOW!

http://www.havenlifeandphoto.com/contact-me

Contact Me!

Getting back on the horse this weekend with 4 sessions and looking ahead to a busy November, but as always DECEMBER is pretty quiet on the Haven front, which is nice for the Holidays but kind of sad early in the month.
So,$50 off any in-home, One-Room session booked in the first 2-3 weeks of December. ( ) Your images will NOT be finished for Christmas Cards, but perhaps a New Years Card?
January will bring a complete restructuring of my packaging and pricing for the first time in years. So if you've been thinking about a session, this is the last time this price with these products will be offered, including for repeat clients.
Link to contact me in profile. I hope to hear from you!!!

Our first weeks together

I was not only honored to witness but also photograph one of my best friends become a mother earlier this Fall. Now she is sharing the story of sweet Zayda's first few weeks earth side, and not all of it was sunshine and roses. As all parents know, parenthood is joy and heartbreak, all at the same time. This story is one especially full of grace and love. I encourage you to read and pass it on.

Our first weeks together After MANY hours of laboring and 45 minutes of pushing, our daughter Zayda Ruth was in our arms. She came on her due date - love her punctuality! I'll never forget that moment and the moments of watching my high school sweetheart - my husband - become a father. We were eager to start our family as…

When the job of birth is done, but the job of parenting is just beginning, supporting one another through it all is such a gift.

Because when you have 4 babes under 5, and they're all playing in the mud pit next to you and everyone is covered in mosquitoes, a moment of peace together is priceless. And personally, I find this image SO romantic.

Last night this family's Haven was at Grandma & Grandpa's house: reading books, having piano lessons, playing in the corn fields and in the mud pile with Daddy's childhood toy trucks, and being eaten alive by Mosquitos. It was family and Haven and ritual and beautiful craziness all at its best and I hope I did it a little bit of justice.
PS - I would LOVE to keep filling up my calendar with One-Room Sessions before the end of the year. I want to hear and tell the story of your family!
I have ONE weekend in September left for booking and will only be working ONE weekend in October, (after Drew sweeps me off my feet to Europe.) Only Full-Prices Documentary style One-Room Sessions available.
I really hope I hear from you soon friends.

This is my favorite kind of first look.

(Originally posted on Instagram. Hop over there and give me a follow!)

https://instagram.com/havenblog

I'm so honored that Birthing Without Fear shared my post from this morning.

Are you going to BWF Conference in Denver coming up?! And if you're one of the few who haven't already liked their page, go give them a thumbs up now!

I asked my sweet 10 year old to pick a photo to share with you and he chose this one from !
・・・
Oh Mama, Oh Mama,
We'll show you when life begins,
Oh Mama, Oh Mama,
I am the Universe wrapped in skin -Joy Williams, Woman (Oh Mama)

The strength to bring life into the world, the gift of birthing a new one into this universe...I always stand in awe.

Oh Mama, Oh Mama,
We'll show you when life begins,
Oh Mama, Oh Mama,
I am the Universe wrapped in skin -Joy Williams, Woman (Oh Mama)

The strength to bring life into the world, the gift of birthing a new one into this universe...I always stand in awe.

Rachael Hope (@havenblog) • Instagram photos and videos

I drop by here on Facebook to share new blogs and information about Haven on a semi- weekly basis. However, I don't know about you but I kind of hate going from Instagram to Facebook just to see all the same updates. SO....

if you like my work and updates, PLEASE find me, my family, lots more family documentary photography, and other daily inspiration over on INSTAGRAM:

GO FOLLOW ME ! (https://instagram.com/havenblog)

See you there!

Rachael Hope (@havenblog) • Instagram photos and videos "THE BEAUTY OF BEING IS IN THE BECOMING" I'm becoming wife/mother/artist. Documenting raw life & love is my ❤️ coloRADo >> birth & family photography

Haven Blog Birth Photography Magazine

Did you know I have a whole magazine dedicated to information about Birth Photography?! Beautiful images, answers to all your questions and hopefully more information than you need to contact me today!

Please pass on the love and information to your pregnant friends and loved ones! I'm a growing business and your referrals mean the world to me. :)

http://issuu.com/rachaelhopephotography/docs/2015_birth_magazine_trial_1/1?e=15779422/12154138

Haven Blog Birth Photography Magazine Everything you need to know about booking your Birth Photography with Rachael Hope.

"I will always be a truth-telling, brutal-honesty-seeking, come-wash-your-dishes, let’s share-our-hearts-over-too-many-margaritas-but-watch-out-for-my-sh*tty-timing-and-bitch face, bad-ass, love-you-so-hard-you-can’t-breath, kind of friend." wrote this today in my blog along with some other thoughts on friendship. Also, I posted it with a bunch of new Fine Art prints from my shop. Also, sorry to my Grandma the swearing. I do that sometimes.

A personal post is up today about friendship, authenticity, and about how these things being sideways can directly effect our artistic abilities. I hope you'll check it out!

http://www.rachaelhopephotography.com/journal/to-be-or-not-to-bea-good-friend-our-haven-denver-documentary-photography

I'm officially a soccer Mom to Henry and wife of the soccer coach. I seem to be more excited than everyone else, obviously by this picture.

My new portrait session format leans more documentary than portrait. I like to call it the ONE-ROOM SESSION, and it's replacing everything from the Engagement Session to the traditional Family Portrait Session.

Today on my blog, see how one family took this idea and made it work for them as they welcomed home their new baby boy and he met his sister for the first time.

Check it out and leave me a comment on how you think you could make a One-Room Session work for you!

http://www.rachaelhopephotography.com/journal/4a755ahgcbjds5bcqaooqrxrnndccj

I'm so honored to be guest blogging over on my friend Green Chair Stories blog. I'm sharing about taking photos with intention. Give it my super talented friend Rachel some love!

http://www.greenchairstories.com/blogs/guestposthavenblog

Last week I wrote about how I'm unplugging this month and it just so happened that one of my dear friends was doing the same thing.

I'm so pumped that Rachael from Haven Blog agreed to do a guest post on how she is changing the way she uses her phone, specifically the camera on it. I love the way she writes and her incredible perspective on life. You will do yourself a favor by reading her words today:

http://www.greenchairstories.com/blogs/guestposthavenblog

(photo cred: RachaelHopePhotography)

You know it's a good recipe when the page it resides is covered in food and notes.

Coming soon to my blog: a series about recipes that make your home a haven because of their comforting magic. Whether generational or newly discovered, some recipes have the power to unite a family.

Do you or someone you know have a recipe like this? I want to hear about it! Comment below and pass it on. I want to hear all the recipes!

Honored to have taken this class with the The Define School & forever talented Michelle Gardella.

"Michelle, thank you from the bottom of my heart for Family Tapestry. It was just what I knew I needed, but SO much more. Your wisdom, vulnerability and availability have touched me and how I view life and work in a way that I simply do not know how to express. Thank you for sharing these secrets. I will take every little piece, every little word, and store it in my heart, go back to it often, and forever feel changed by it. You have given me tools for the mission I already had in my heart." DEFINE student Rachael Hope MacFee

You too can be deeply and positively impacted by Michelle Gardella, Photographer's Family Tapestry class. It's open right now for registration and class starts June 6th.

// image by DEFINE student, RachaelHopePhotography. inspired by week 2 of Family Tapestry

"Using photographs as an instrument of memory is probably a mistake because I think that photographs actually sort of impoverish your memory in certain ways, sort of take away all the other senses-the sense of smell and taste and texture, that kind of stuff." Sally Mann, Photographer I'm so challenged right now in my artistic and photographic capabilities. I'm being stretched in my ideas and belief in photography. I love this quote because it doesn't take away from the beauty and importance of photography, but it calls the art form into something deeper I think. I'm challenged to pick my moments. To photograph those moments and people that truly inspire me. To share less than I experience. I'm taking regular days off and away from screens this summer. It may take me longer to email you back. It may not grow my business exponentially. But I'm wrapping my brain around quality and not quantity in art and life. It's a lot harder than I thought, and super discouraging at times because business is so slow I couldn't reach 'quantity' if I wanted too, but the journey will be rewarding, if for no other reason than the face time instead of screen time with those I love.

She killed it.

Today in my blog, my dearest friend of is talking about what it means to be a part of a sisterhood of supportive Mothers. This girls is the dearest sister to me and my family and I hope I can be the same to her as she prepares for her little girl coming later this summer. She knows what she is talking about and it will bless you. >>>link in profile

Aneta of give with JOY is writing about sisterhood and how it can be a support from one Mamma to another, today on Haven Blog! Aneta is an amazing artist and small business owner. Leave her a comment on the blog to encourage her as she prepares to welcome her FIRST BABY GIRL!

https://rachaelhopephotography.com/journal/guest-post-aneta-of-give-with-joy-denver-documentary-photography