Lethbridge Portrait & Wedding Photography & Design by Tanya Plonka

What a perfect way to end wedding season! Kallie and Wallie were married at the Coast Hotel (where they also partied later that night) on the cusp of autumn, and lucky for us it stopped raining and we had a beautiful day. These two are so freaking fun; Wallie used to be a wrestler so he’s constantly performing, and Kallie is pretty good at keeping up with him! On top of that, I can’t get over how cute they are – c’mon, even their names match. I often found myself teary-eyed along with them because their stories were so sweet and the happy emotions were so high. It felt much more like spending the day with friends than working :) (more…)

Christian contacted me a little while ago to do photos of her and her boyfriend Riley with a “country theme,” which was super fun because I often try to make Lethbridge look more forested than it actually is and ignore what we have here!

Though they’ve only been serious for a year, they’ve known each other since middle school… aw! I can’t believe they were nervous about having photos taken; I mean, look at them! They just ooze cuteness. This blog post ended up being longer than my portrait ones normally are because I couldn’t narrow them down to just a few that I liked! :) (more…)

Ed and Lindsay met up with me just after the leaves started changing colors to take their first family photos since they’ve had their baby Oliver. Oliver was so incredibly easy to photograph since he always looked at the camera and I found just the right sound effects to make him laugh. What a cute family! (more…)

This was a show I had been looking forward to for a LONG time. I can’t remember when I was first shown Awolnation’s music (maybe a year ago already?), but his first full length CD is by far my favorite release this year. I have been obsessed with that album, and with him not being a big name yet, a Canadian tour wasn’t looking promising. I checked the Facebook page constantly for concert updates, and I finally I saw that he was coming to Alberta. However, it was in Edmonton… so what did I do? Buy tickets the moment they came out, and drive the 6+ hours to see him, of course!

The show ended up selling out a month before because he’s really blown up lately, so I’m very thankful I plan everything far in advance. He performed with his band at the Starlite Room, and holy crap, they were fantastic – he needs to keep them on as his regular band because they are so tight together. Not knowing the venue, I didn’t want to take any expensive gear so I went equipped with only my old Rebel XT and my 50mm lens. It was a challenge, especially since most of his lighting was that gross purple-red that destroys skin tones and any facial contrast, and we were packed in so tightly, but I managed to dodge all the arms flying up around me to get some shots. The only issue is that sometimes we were too close and I couldn’t fit him in the frame… but I’m not complaining, being in the front is the best :) (more…)

It was great to see Liz, Aaron, and their little Amelia again. The last time I saw her, she wasn’t even walking, and now she only runs! (As a result, these photos weren’t as easy to get as they looked.) She is adorable and so full of energy. I’m glad we tricked her to pause enough times for photos :) (more…)

I’ve been taking photos of Eva since she was born, and it’s so fun to see how fast she’s growing and to see her personality develop. She’s starting to learn independence, and I love that the easiest way to get her to do what we wanted was to threaten that her mom, Alisa, would do it first! Eva would charge past us to be the trail blazer each time :) (more…)