Sweet Pickle Pictures » Providing family, child, newborn, maternity and studio photography for Manhattan, Kansas and the surrounding areas.

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Beckham’s face is probably pretty familiar if you’ve been around my facebook page or blogsite before. He is the uber adorable son of a good friend and neighbor, and I have been lucky enough to get to photograph all his milestones over this last year from his newborn shoot through his first birthday party just last weekend. And while I am more than lucky to have such a cutie grace my lens on a regular basis, it does have it’s drawbacks. His mom and I now joke that I’ve somehow given her child “photographer’s child syndrome”….the same affliction my son suffers from due to seeing me with a camera to my face a few too many times. The very first photo in this series is as real as it gets. When mommy set him down and I raised my camera up to take a few “pre-cake” shots, you can almost hear him saying “come on, not this again!!”  But alas, the rest of the shoot went amazingly well and I officially am in love with cake smash sessions. I laughed SO hard capturing these. There is nothing funner than watching a baby do what they do best – make a giant mess.

Still quite possibly one of my most favorite shots from this session!

Don’t worry…the tears didn’t last long!

insert cake….

first taste…not too shabby.

happy baby!

making some pretty good headway on that frosting…

gotta love those little toothies!!!

sugar high wearing off…?

and of course, all good things must come to an end.

 

To round this out, I have to post one last little flash back to Beckham a  year ago at his newborn session. I always feel so honored that I get to watch my clients grow

Happy Birthday, Beckham!

Manhattan KS baby photographer   Manhattan KS photographer  Manhattan KS child photography Manhattan portrait photographer

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  • Haley Johnston - Oh my gosh! He is the cutest!! I love these.ReplyCancel

  • Jackie - OMG, these are precious! Just beautiful! That first one made me say “awww” out loud. :)ReplyCancel

  • Shannon - So sweet! I love cake smashes, and it looks like he really went for it. Love all his faces! Gorgeous photos!ReplyCancel

  • Emily Combs - It’s his party and he’ll cry if you wants to! lol I love it!ReplyCancel

  • Becky - These are too adorable!!! Love them!!!ReplyCancel

  • Renee - Love them!!! That last one with the cake in the hair and everywhere- so funny! Great capture there!! Love it!ReplyCancel

  • rachel - I love this cake smash, his face is precious. Perfect captures!!ReplyCancel

  • Fran - Love all these photos!!ReplyCancel

  • Sarah Hawkins - adorable! I love the last one, priceless!ReplyCancel

  • Stephanie - Love this cake smash session! What an adorable lil guy, I simply LOVE the smiley shots with his face covered in frosting! So sweet! But I can’t lie those super serious faces of his with those gorgeous deep brown eyes, WOW… can’t beat that! Great session!ReplyCancel

  • Jessica H - Oh I LOVE these!!! So stinkin’ cute! What an adorable little child!ReplyCancel

  • Carolina - These all look so precious! I also even love one of just the cake up top… you’d make a great food photographer too, Cristen! But my absolute biggest fave is the third from the bottom. GREAT shot!ReplyCancel

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A few weeks back I got the opportunity to do a family shoot with a different spin. I was approached by a fellow photographer who needed portraits of her and her two sisters to give to their parents. Her sisters were in town for only a few days, so despite the super hot, muggy weather we decided to squeeze in a mini session to capture their unique sisterhood! When we were in the planning phase, Stacey said to me that she and her sisters all looked alike, and yet all different at the same time. I wasn’t quite sure what she meant until I met them, and I’d have to say I agree! I love that they are each unique, yet obviously share a genetic bond. I especially picked up on it as I was editing their photos after the shoot. They are a sweet and gorgeous group of women and I’m honored I got to capture some images for them to share with their families! I also look forward to working with Stacey again this winter as she and her husband welcome their first little one. I can’t wait to meet her!

Hot or not, at least we had some lovely evening light!

I love how each works the camera in their individual shots.

And of course there HAS to be a little sibling rivalry…

A beautiful end to a great session!

Manhattan KS Photographer

Manhattan KS Family Photographer

Manhattan Kansas Family Portrait Photographer

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In honor of my own son starting school this year, I am offering a special deal for school-aged kids during the month of September! Let me capture your child’s personality and excitement for this new school year during a special portrait mini session just for him or her. No waiting in line, no boring backdrops! You will receive 3 of your favorite images on disk to print as desired as well as 24 professional die-cut wallets (no scissors required!) Sessions are limited to Wednesday and Friday evenings and will book on a first-come-first serve basis. Have more than one school kid? No problem. Ask me about a multiple child discount! AND…if you share this deal with a friend and THEY book one for their child, you both receive a free 11×14 print, so share away!

Read through my flier below for more details:)Ready to book? Use the contact tab above to get in touch with me or drop me an email at cristen@sweetpicklepictures.com!

 

 

Manhattan KS Photographer

Manhatan KS child photographer

Manhattan Kansas photographer

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That’s right…in just a few short days, my little boy will be turning the ripe old age of 3. Every year around this time I get hit by a wave of nostalgia..how could he be three already? Wasn’t it just yesterday I was holding him and looking at his sweet face for the first time? I still see traces of that squishy little newborn when I look at him these days, but it’s hard. Really hard. He’s becoming such a grown up little boy full of sass, talking a mile a minute at all hours of the day… I love watching him grow, I just wish it didn’t happen quite so quickly:)

Here are some favorites from a little ‘mini session’ we threw together to commemorate his upcoming birthday. We chose a trike since it represented “3” (an idea my neighbor came up with!) and it gave us something to keep him occupied as I was snapping away. The process is always grueling (yes, my child sees the camera a lot, and no- he has no love for it) and yet the outcome is always fabulous (real portraits of MY child? Score!)  I love that we caught some personality, because this boy definitely has plenty of that to go around!

Of course we have to start out with a photo of my little boy doing what he does best…

Some of his ‘usual’ silly faces…

 

So what is the secret to getting your nearly 3 year old to comply? Well, tricks I wouldn’t necessarily use with any other child:)like shouting “poopypants!” at just the right moment to get a genuine smile, or possibly promising a very large marshmallow bunny as a reward? Yes, We’ve had that since Easter. I knew it would come in handy eventually!

Relishing his sweet reward…

 

 

A lot has changed about him in the last year, but one thing that hasn’t is his sassy attitude. I love this little boy. Thanks for letting me show him off!

 

 Manhattan KS child photographer

Manhattan KS children photographer

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I absolutely adore mother/daughter sessions. Perhaps it’s the ‘mom’ coming out in me and wanting to capture the sweet moments that I know will be looked back on as our children grow and change. Miss Yael turned two this spring, and while that’s typically a difficult age to photograph, she did GREAT and even showed off a little bit of her inner ‘diva’ toward the end of the shoot. How adorable is she?

Thank you for being so fun to work with, ladies!

Manhattan KS photographer

Manhattan KS child photographer

Manhattan KS family photographer

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