Lethbridge Portrait & Wedding Photography & Design by Tanya Plonka

Asheley, Greg, and Lola have recently welcomed baby Liam into the world and had me over at their house to capture some images of their quickly growing boy. He’s such a cutie and already totally opinionated…. By the way, this is one of those sessions where the baby cries the entire time, but as you can see he was easily tricked every once in a while ;) Everyone was very patient when he lost patience with us, and I think Lola must have taught them well because Asheley and Greg seem to be doing very awesome as first time parents :) (more…)

Sara’s mom Michelle was in town visiting last weekend so Sara asked me to capture some long overdue mother/daughter photos of the two of them, along with Sara’s sweet little dog Goldie. These photos were a challenge for Sara, because she is normally on the other side of the camera! However, she’s totally photogenic (even though she doesn’t think so), so I think she needs to spend more time in front of the lens too :) These girls were so easy to get beaming smiles out of, and I was glad I picked such a colorful location for photos when they had picked such gorgeous rich colors for their clothes. (more…)

What a way to welcome in wedding season! Sarah and I joined Jonny and Gerda, their families, and their sharp dressed friends last week for their exceptionally fun wedding. Everyone was lively and so happy, and Gerda and Jonny are so cute together. I absolutely loved their stylish, unique choice of wardrobe for the bridal party. (Can you believe Jonny picked out the dresses?) The yellow was so striking everywhere we went, and the guys’ suits were absolutely classic (and a little gangster, which I love!).

We also lucked out with the weather. The week before their wedding, it kept snowing and raining, and the ground everywhere was white and muddy. I begged the snow the night before to melt before we set outside to do the formals, and it listened to me! We even found a lot of green space even though Lethbridge isn’t really in bloom yet. It’s all about faking it :)

I had such a great time with everyone and loved that these two wanted photos that reflected their youthful vibrant personalities… even if that meant climbing up on pool tables! (more…)

After both the family and I rescheduled our sessions thanks to cold after cold all winter, I was finally able to meet little Zosia! She is an absolutely cutie and has such striking blue eyes just like her big brother! She was very patient with us and in a great mood during the session, and when she finally got sick and tired of us changing and posing her, she quickly fell into such a dreamy peaceful sleep, which was also pretty darn cute :) (more…)

For something completely different than some of my last few blog posts, I joined baby Sierra’s family last weekend to capture all the important moments of her Baptism in Cranbrook. Though the crowd of guests were a little smaller than those who had attended parents Krista and Giacomo’s wedding a few years ago, family still came from as far away as Lethbridge and Red Deer for this important occassion. First of all, Sierra is an awesome baby because her birthday date is a palindrome! She’s also quite the cutie as you will see… (more…)

Jeremy contacted me with a top-secret plan: to surprise his girlfriend Phoebe with a sunset photography session at the location where they first met each other several months earlier. After much plotting, we decided he would make fake dinner plans with her that required her to dress nice and arrive in time for their “reservation,” while he arranged a bit of a detour to come meet me at the bridge. He did a fantastic job of keeping the secret, and she didn’t know what was going on until their car pulled up next to mine and he explained it to her!

I had a fantastic time working with the two of them (despite Jeremy’s bleeding “injury” on his ear) and we picked a perfect evening for the session. Phoebe especially had a fantastic smile the whole evening from the shock of the surprise! (more…)