Dad-daughter duo fly in from Minnesota to recreate Timbers axe photo for third time

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    PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) — A father and daughter flew to Portland from Minnesota to recreate a Timbers fan photo for the third time.

A photographer knows when he has taken the perfect photo – the one that captures exactly what he’s looking for.

To this day, Timbers photographer Craig Mitchelldyer remembers the portrait nearly a decade ago that did just that.

“Everything about their look was great,” said Mitchelldyer.

It was the little girl in a pink tutu with soccer cleats wielding an axe, sitting on her dad’s shoulder – both of them with that classic Timbers look that says “No Pity.”

In a marketing campaign featuring about 1,500 fan pictures – it quickly became a favorite, landed a billboard feature, and helped set the tone for what the new Major League Soccer team was all about.

“It felt like they honored us and we honored the team. It was celebrated, it was fun. It felt like it was a family thing,” said Milan Homola.

So in 2015, when the Timbers launched the campaign again, Milan and Ariana Homola knew it was time for a repeat.

“I think we just wanted to keep the same thing going,” said Ariana.

Now 2020, the portraits are back.

Ariana’s quite a bit taller and not such an easy fit on dad’s shoulder, but here they are again. Only this time it means even more.

These Timbers fans have since moved to Minnesota – they came back to Portland just for this photo shoot.

“For me, it’s a little bit sentimental of having this really fun picture with, you know, your daughter as a youth and then another stage, and it’s like, yeah it was a big sacrifice to get out here for a very – just 30 minutes of photo shoot, but it just felt like how could you miss that?” said Milan.

A dad getting to see his daughter grow.

“She makes the picture,” Milan told FOX 12.

And a tradition they’ll always be able to share.

The axe portraits are open to all fans. The Timbers have one more photo session on Saturday, then the photos go online and fans vote for their favorites to be featured on the billboards.

For more information, visit timbers.com/post/2020/01/09/timbers-offer-free-axe-portrait-photo-shoot-public-starting-jan-25-providence-park.

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