Missy Timko Photography Blog

Tag: pittsburgh baby photographer

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.

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!

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!

**********************

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.

November 15, 2020
Baby Pippa | Pittsburgh Newborn Photographer

This newborn session ranks high on my list of happiest memories! Jenny & Dan called me when Pippa had just come home from the NICU–she spent some time there after being born a couple months early at about 3 lbs. Pippa was finally approaching her due date and had almost doubled in size since birth, so mom and dad were ready to do some “normal newborn things” and have her photographed. What a celebration!
Baby Phillipa, Pippa, “Pip-squeak”… you are so loved! Here is what your mama had to say about your birth:
“Philippa was born preterm due to complications from severe pre-eclampsia. No matter what though it was a beautiful experience filled with extremely supportive family and friends that made the day of her birth a true celebration (amidst the uncertainty of it all). She spent 27 days in the NICU and had a smooth course coming home in record time. “
Describe life with a newborn. How has your life changed since giving birth? Is it like you expected or totally different?
Since giving birth life is different. There is a slower pace to things where I am able to step back and enjoy the quiet moments with Philippa that I love. Yet at the same time I am worried it is going so quickly. She grows and change everyday before our very eyes and it is a privilege to have this experience. We are so thankful.
Does baby have siblings or pets? Siblings’ ages? How did they react to baby coming home?
No pets or siblings. We plan to get a dog though once the period of sleep deprivation is behind us. Ha!
When did you book your newborn session? Why did you pick me?
We booked the newborn session after Philippa was discharged from the NICU. We picked Powder Blue because of the natural quality to her photos where real life is captured in the home. Plus, Missy understood what it meant to have a premature baby and the timing of photographs. That was unexpected and meant so much to us.
How did you prepare for your newborn session? Any tips for new moms regarding newborn photography?
To prepare for the newborn session we made sure Philippa was fed, rested, and in an outfit she was comfortable in so we could minimize changes. Keeping the house warm was a good idea of Missy’s since that allowed Philippa to be changed easily from outfit to bundled in a wrap.
Do you have a favorite image(s) from this session? Describe the image and why you love it.
We really love all the images. We love the image of Philippa wrapped in the parachute swaddle on the white background. She looks so peaceful and really captures the essence of her (what we think) is her sweet personality. Another favorite is one where you captured her sly smile and her blue eyes. I am not sure how long her eyes will stay blue so I am so happy we captured them during her newborn period.
Missy – thank you so much for taking beautiful photos of Philippa. We were so happy and after everything we went through to get to this point it was nice to do something “normal” like newborn photos and have them document where she is in her life right now. She has come so far and we are so happy and blessed to have her in our life.
I am so grateful to have been a part of this newborn experience and look forward to watching Pippa grow! <3
**********
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 Point Breeze, 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 availabilit

January 19, 2018
Pittsburgh Newborn Photographer | Family of 6 Lifestyle Session | Baby Romy

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.“

**********

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.

Connect with me on Facebook and Instagram!

January 11, 2018