Lethbridge Portrait & Wedding Photography & Design by Tanya Plonka

These photos are going a ways back… and by that I mean they were taken in February! I’ve been in bed this week with pneumonia, and just couldn’t wait until the wedding this weekend to post photos, but since going and shooting for fun this week wasn’t an option, I’m starting to dig through personal photos I’ve been neglecting.

This show was at Slice, and local goodies Bears in Human Suits opened up, followed by The Luna Riot. The Luna Riot is one of many bands my friend Patrick (the bass player, in this case) has been in, and it’s always a treat having him come up from Vancouver to play here.

Excuse the graininess :)

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Last Saturday Lethbridge was graced by the Kabuki Guns Burlesque (KGB) dancers from Calgary who put on a stellar show at Henotic. I was excited to see this as my only burlesque encounters up to that point had been seeing Big John Bates and the Voodoo Dollz, but I knew there was a whole other world of burlesque out there I had yet to experience!

Just after the girls arrived in Lethbridge, they took some time for an awesome photoshoot with myself, Michael (for a brief while before family matters called), and the lovely Starsha who assisted with lighting (and she has a fantastic eye for detail, so she doubled as our stylist!). We started with the girls’ solo outfits, and I loved their fun costumes. Every costume totally reflected each girl’s personality… and I was especially thrilled when Princess Leia walked out…

[No nudity follows, but burlesque costumes may not be the most "safe for work" ;)]
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One last blog for the evening!

New Years was really special this year because our good friend Andrew Scott was down for a few weeks from Japan. Since he’s been teaching English there, we barely get to see him anymore, and we (or at least I) really miss his crass sense of humor. I am huuugely looking forward to shooting his wedding with Julie this July, but it seems so far away! (I can’t imagine what it’s like for Julie being apart for so long!)

On New Years Eve, he got the boys from the Turncoats back together for an awesome gig at the Slice that sold out several days prior (that hardly ever happens here). Everyone was up front, singing along, like the past year and an ocean hadn’t kept all us fans away from the band.

Opening were the Smokin’ Pistols

Then the lovely Shaela Miller

And the Turncoats!

Paul singing “Roxanne” (Police)… and Paul never sings. It was fantastic!

(You can view more of these at my other site)

Andrew had a really busy week recording, playing, and spending time with family (and Julie), and sadly I am always very busy too, so only caught one of his solo shows in that time… However, I am grateful for that extra time with him, because not everyone was so lucky! (Poor Dino was out of town on a gig and only really saw Andrew the one day). This solo show was at Mocha Cabana, a small coffee house / cafe I love going to downtown. It was a really quiet show and had a nice vibe. Andrew was there more as “background music” but a few of us came specifically to hear him play, and helped him out with “If I Had A Million Dollars,” which he hadn’t really played before but took by request.

1. I couldn’t be with the Johnpaul Smith Band this weekend in Banff due to photoshoots and my day job, and
2. I have a moment of free time to catch up on the last of my personal photos from 2008 (sorry Kelsey, yours are soon!), so…

Here are photos of the Johnpaul Smith Band back on January 30th at Slice!

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Here’s another of Lana… but with her face :)

The poster for this year’s Explosion of World Dance and Music, hosted by Ammena Dance Company, is done! If you haven’t been to this show the last two years, the focus is on belly dancing but there is an eclectic mix of many different dance styles, and even a few musical acts.

Tickets for the show go on sale tomorrow! If you are interested in going, buy your ticket early because they sell out quickly.

I’m going to be dancing on one of those drums shown in the poster, oh boy. I’m also putting up a couple other designs I made that we aren’t using, as well as some shots I took of Lana, all after the cut…

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