Lethbridge Portrait & Wedding Photography & Design by Tanya Plonka

This weekend I was able to take dog photos of adorable Deuce, the not-so-puppy Great Dane. I had been looking forward to meeting him for a long time, and he is so awesome! He’s not fully out of his puppy stage yet so he’s still full of hyperactive energy and awkwardness, but since he’s a Great Dane he’s already bigger than most dogs. (When I arrived, I had to clarify if that was him in the backyard, or if they had a new foal. It was him.) He was so fun to work with (as long as I was able to avoid the slobber) and I’m happy I could capture his beautiful blue eyes in some photos :) Such a sweet, loving, big dog! (more…)

I love this warm weather we’ve been having, so I’ve been going around stalking out more birds :) (more…)

It finally feels like spring is here and the birds no longer sound angry about having returned to a lot of snow so I felt it was a perfect time to go out and take some photos of them. Any excuse to be out in the new found sunshine is a good one. I was most eager to track down some pelicans, which I’ve been wistfully watching out the windows of the university as they fly like pterodactyls over the Old Man River, but since I’m a little scared of them (their wing spans can be up to 10 feet!!!), I started out slow with some more domesticated birds. I live close to (a) water, and (b) a high school, so the seagulls were an easy one to cross off the list first. Nicholas Sheran had the first of the season’s song birds and ducks, but the pickings were still slim. The Canadian Geese are always easy to find by the nature reserve next to the golf course, but the pelicans (the aloof, terrifying birds they are) took a bit of tracking down… (more…)

As you probably know from the lack of deer and prairie photos on my blog, I am not a nature photographer. It’s not my strong point. However, this past weekend, when faced with Bluejays and Stellar Jays (and some other guy I don’t know, because I’m not a bird watcher) eating from their peanut bird feeder, I couldn’t resist. Rather than show you the “nice” photos, I bring to you… AWKWARD BIRD PHOTOS. It was the accidental moments between the good shots that brought me the most delight.

p.s. If you are wondering, the local chipmunk has had a terrible time since the birds realized how delicious peanuts are. The magpies have also gotten in on the action, but instead of coming close to human dwellers to get the peanuts themselves, they wait until the little birds leave their stash, then sneak in the tree and eat the peanuts. How rude! (more…)

I love doing photos with Sara, so I was thrilled to have another session with her! She and Michel are expecting their first baby in a couple months, so they wanted to get some family photos with their dogs Goldie, Riley, and Buddy before the baby comes. After the dogs decided that photos were absolutely out of the question and it was only time to play fight, we finished off the session with some maternity photos with just Sara and Michel. They are so cute together! (more…)

I’ve done tons of photos of Sarah with her horses before, but usually with her in a dress! She finally wanted some “normal” photos, so we set out with her tall horse Santana to get a few images of her riding him just before sunset. It was probably one of the last few “warm” evenings of the year and we were especially fortunate to chose the night that had the most gorgeous sunset all week! We did quite a few regular riding photos, but I had the most fun when I spun her around and pointed my camera into the lowering sun. (more…)