Parker | Pittsburgh Senior Photographer

Read more about the article Parker | Pittsburgh Senior Photographer
© 2020 Missy Timko Photography. www.missytimko.com

“Parker is kind, compassionate, smart, caring, funny, creative, and sincere.” -Mom

Parker’s mom called me over the summer to see about having a yearbook photo taken for her son. She told me that he was not very excited about the idea of having a portrait taken because he was in a unique time of his life and just didn’t know how to approach the portrait process. It seemed to me like they just wanted to get it over with and submit the requisite yearbook photo to the editor and be done with it.

After a phone call with his incredibly compassionate and kind mom, I discovered that there was more to the story. It felt to me like it wasn’t that Parker didn’t want to celebrate the accomplishment and excitement that comes with graduation, he maybe just didn’t know how to be himself in front of the camera. I rallied my styling team, got Parker and mom on board, and we planned a day that goes down in my 10-year history as a photographer as one of the most fulfilling and beautiful shoots I’ve ever had. Mom describes the shoot below.
trans high school student wearing pink coat in the park

DESCRIBE YOUR SENIOR IN A FEW SENTENCES.

Parker is kind, compassionate, smart, caring, funny, creative, and sincere. He is honest and true with himself and others. His courage, strength, and perseverance are inspiring. Parker’s beauty radiates from the inside out making those around him feel appreciated and cared for.

black & white portrait of transgender high school man taking a senior portrait

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE MISSY TIMKO PHOTOGRAPHY?

I wanted to have something other than the “usual” senior photo for Parker. He was going through a transitional stage in his life and I wanted his senior picture to mark the milestone as well as reflect his personality and represent him honestly and authentically. When I reached out to Missy, I immediately felt that she understood the vision I had and embraced the opportunity to help capture the moment and celebrate Parker.

trans high school student leaning against urban area wall

HOW DID YOU PREPARE FOR YOUR PORTRAIT SESSION? ANY TIPS FOR OTHER SENIORS REGARDING PLANNING A PHOTOGRAPHY SESSION?

Missy connected us with her amazing wardrobe, hair, and makeup team to help Parker find just the right look for the photo shoot. Even more amazing than the physical clothing and styling that her team helped coordinate, was the way in which they all made Parker feel about himself. His confidence was shining in every shot and pose!

trans high school student senior portrait with pink jacket in park

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE IMAGE(S) FROM THIS SESSION? DESCRIBE THE IMAGE AND WHY YOU LOVE IT.

Such a hard choice! I love them all!! If I have to choose, there is one of Parker outside. He has his “Protect Trans Kids” shirt on, just removing his pink coat, and looking up towards the sky with a smile. It makes me smile every time I see it:-)


trans high school student black and white senior portrait in park

ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE?

Missy went above and beyond throughout our whole experience. She was both passionate and compassionate. She understood our needs and absolutely went out of her way to embrace Parker and the vision he was going for. Missy helped to make Parker look and feel amazing, bringing out his confidence more and more with each shot. She is extremely knowledgeable and well versed in suggesting just the right pose, expression, or turn of the head to complement the subject, creating a sense of comfort and ease. In addition to embracing the subject through the lens, Missy clearly has a genuine connection with her clients. She is sincere, warm, and thoughtful, all of which comes through in her work.

Thanks to my amazing team:

Wardrobe by Flourish Styling Co.

Hair & Makeup by Lisa Johnson

Missy Timko Photography is a boutique photography studio located in Mt. Lebanon, PA. Missy specializes in children from newborn to senior, families, and adults. Missy’s style is simple, natural, and clean, both posed and lifestyle photography with beautiful natural backdrops, and Missy also has a gorgeous custom studio space in uptown Mt. Lebanon.  There are many session options, from full length custom sessions to quick & easy headshots, inside the studio or outside in a beautiful natural or urban location in Pittsburgh.  Contact Missy for availability.

New Blog Series: Our Most Loyal Families

Read more about the article New Blog Series: Our Most Loyal Families

I am working on a new series dedicated to my most loyal repeat clients! I have quite a few families that have done portraits with me 4, 5, 6, even 7 years! When I moved here in 2012, Mimi was born just three months later, so my first PA families were in 2013. I started my business as Powder Blue Photography in 2010 in Portland, OR, and we have now celebrated 10 years in business! 🎉

I am overjoyed when a familiar client (friend!) gets in touch to schedule a shoot. I am even more excited when someone texts me with baby news! These are families whose kids I’ve known since they were teeny tiny, some of them newborns, and their moms and dads are devoted to documenting their childhoods through newborn, family, and senior portraits. Many of the moms and dads have done their headshots with me as well, some of them multiple times throughout the years. These are also clients that are responsible for many of my referrals, so I owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

fall family portraits with changing leaves color pittsburgh pa

There is nothing I enjoy more about my job than forming relationships with the kids and babies I photograph. I was able to form meaningful relationships when I was a public high school teacher (art, photography, AP Art) on the West Coast from 2000-2012, and my favorite part of teaching was my relationship with the kids as well. I didn’t realize when I opened my photography studio in 2010 that I would enjoy this benefit as a photographer as well. Some of the kids I photograph have said “I love you Missy!” and their parents have told me that they look forward to seeing me, or they talk about me often… the kiddos consider me a friend, and that means the world to me!

family portraits in pittsburgh

Many of these clients have walls of portraits in their homes and shelves full of albums that I have crafted for them. I work with them every year to update their gallery walls or add a new grouping. I have lately been making suggestions on how to handle it when you have run out of wall space! (Move oldest portraits to the family room or an upstairs hallway, or create a grouping for each kiddo in their room using their individual portraits from every year.) These wall displays tell their kids, “You are loved and valued in this home, and family is important!”

So my goal this winter is to honor each of the families that have worked with me for multiple years with downloadable slideshows of their children and families as they have grown each year. I am honored by their love and trust!

I never delete photos that have been purchased by my clients. I delete the RAW files, plus any images that have not been selected for purchase, pretty much right after the ordering appointment since they take up a LOT of drive space. I don’t guarantee image archival after very much time has passed, and that is only because I cannot guarantee that my backups won’t fail. That said, I have a comprehensive system that consists of multiple external drives as well as multiple cloud-based storage systems containing every image I’ve delivered to clients. It is extremely unlikely that I would ever lose any of my work. In 2021, I plan to start including free multi-year galleries with the purchase of image files! Currently, image galleries and download links are active for one month, but I am thinking that should change!

Throughout this post, you are seeing a peek at just some of the families I may feature. Let me know if you would like to be one of the featured families by liking and commenting on my Facebook post. Ask your friends and family to comment as well if you want to get my attention! 🥰 Featured clients will receive a link to download their slideshow(s) as well as a special gift in the mail!

Thanks so much for 10 years of Missy Timko Photography! I can’t wait to share these wonderful memories with you!

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Missy Timko Photography is a boutique photography studio located in Mt. Lebanon, PA. Missy specializes in children from newborn to senior, families, and adults. Missy’s style is simple, natural, and clean, both posed and lifestyle photography with beautiful natural backdrops, and Missy also has a gorgeous custom studio space in uptown Mt. Lebanon.  There are many session options, from full length custom sessions to quick & easy headshots, inside the studio or outside in a beautiful natural or urban location in Pittsburgh.  Contact Missy for availability.

Pittsburgh Newborn Photographer | Family of 6 Lifestyle Session | Baby Romy

Read more about the article Pittsburgh Newborn Photographer | Family of 6 Lifestyle Session | Baby Romy
© 2017 Powder Blue Photography. www.powderbluephoto.com

I was thrilled when my friend Tess called me up to schedule a newborn session.  First of all, she (at the time) was mom of three of the most adorable kids you can imagine, plus she is an artist and has a great sense of style.  She clearly had a vision for her shoot (lifestyle but not too candid, posed but not stiff or fake), which was right in line with the types of images I love shooting, so everything went great.  I’m including some of her words below describing this session as well as life as the mom of four kiddos.

pittsburgh lifestyle newborn photographer. newborn family portrait on a bed.

Baby Romy was born on December 2 at Magee in Pittsburgh, so we got to use moms cool/retro holiday decorations as a backdrop for some of these!

newborn family session with family posed on a couch. Family of six with 4 kids.

Mom Q&A

Describe your birth experience.

Induced Dec 2nd at 39 weeks (the day after my birthday!) Easy & quick- 5.5 hrs start to finish which is about how long all 4 were.

Describe life with a newborn. How has your life changed since giving birth? Is it like you expected or totally different?

Still full of chaos and very loud…. but even more love and snuggling! Adding #4 hasn’t been too hard at all. Transition to #3 was hardest for us. Helps that we have relatively good sleepers all around. 

Does baby have siblings or pets? Siblings’ ages? How did they react to baby coming home?

Pippa (6), Rex (4), Casper (2) – everyone is in love with her! Even Casper who regularly asks to “hold baby?” -we were really worried with how he’d do since he’s still quite a momma’s boy and baby himself. Pippa is a huge helper!

pittsburgh newborn photography session with a lot of color and patterns. rose blanket, mustard blanket.When did you book your newborn session? Why did you pick me?

Summer- because of how much I love all of your work! Last baby- important to commemorate “completing” our family even though we never really did newborn sessions for other kids. 

How did you prepare for your newborn session? Any tips for new moms regarding newborn photography?

Kept an eye out for outfits as soon as we booked the session- coordinating 6 people is hard! Go with the flow!

Do you have a favorite image(s) from this session? Describe the image and why you love it.

Several! LOVED the pom bonnet images- fun and silly- full of personality! Loved the one of me with baby by the window in b&w- didn’t expect to since my goal was more of the whole family or the kids together.

pittsburgh newborn photography session with four kids. pom bonnets.

Mom also said… “Loved doing some of them in the kids’ room because of the quilt on the wall as background. It looks fantastic in the photos, but it is very sentimental! Was a wedding gift from my grandfather, made by my grandmother who was exceptionally talented but passed away when I was only 1.

Love how well you nailed blending a ‘lifestyle’ feel with capturing group ‘posed’ images. Exactly what I was hoping for!

It was super helpful how much you helped with the pinterest board and helping me make decisions on outfits and what would look best- having your green light on those decisions helped me to feel confident and chill for the shoot.”

pittsburgh newborn photographer. family posed on a bed with a dachsund.

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Missy Timko is the photographer behind Powder Blue Photography, a boutique photography studio located in Pittsburgh, PA. She specializes in newborns, maternity, families, seniors, and headshots. Missy’s style is simple, natural, and clean, a mix of slightly posed and lifestyle photography with beautiful natural backdrops, and Missy also runs a studio in the West End Village in Pittsburgh.  There are many session options, from full-length custom sessions to little sessions, inside the studio or outside in a beautiful natural or urban location in Pittsburgh.  Contact Missy for rates and availability.

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