Lethbridge Portrait & Wedding Photography & Design by Tanya Plonka

It’s been a busy season so I’m two months behind on posting this, but better late than never, right?

I had a great time at Photoshop World again and learned many things which I have since forgotten (good thing I took notes!).

On my first day, I went on the Photo Safari with Joe McNally and Moose Peterson. I am lucky I signed up for it when I did because it was sold out several days later! This event is always popular because you get to spend an entire day shooting with these two very influential, talented photographers. They show you how they light scenes, interact with subjects, and see things the way they do. This year the field trip was to Bonnie Springs Ranch, which is a tourist attraction just half an hour outside of Las Vegas. The employees/actors who work at the ranch were our models, and they were great to work with. (more…)

Wednesday at DrupalCon was another full day of learning, and I attended extremely diverse classes from styling maps to talking about internet marketing. I had a few “ah ha!” moments, which are always a treat at these events. (more…)

Last week I had the priviledge of attending DrupalCon Chicago, a nearly week long conference dedicated to my favorite CMS, Drupal (it’s what I use the most to build websites, and since I’ve only been using it for a little over two years I still have a ton to learn). I went with U of L web guys Trevor and Wesley. I have a lot of photos I want to post, so I’ll be breaking this into three blogs over the next few days. (more…)

Each time I go to Disneyland, I intend to blog my favorite photos but never get around to it… well, no more! This time around it was a challenge to find photos of things I have never taken there before, and with a few new Christmas elements and special touches around the park (along with some inclement weather), the task was much easier than I expected! Even though it rained quite a bit, it was nice to get away from the snow for a week and have a break :) (more…)

Photoshop World 2010 in Vegas was even more fun than the Boston one! A few of us from The University of Lethbridge, including Michael Warf, ventured down to Sin City this last week to learn about Photoshop, design, and photography, as well as to do some crazy networking. I averaged around 5 hours of sleep each night, but isn’t that what you are supposed to do in Vegas?

Like last year, pardon the bad point and shoot camera photos. I had to throw a few of the not-very-in-focus ones in just because that’s all I had. Speaking of which, my little Sony is 6 years old now. Does anyone recommend a good, small camera I should get to replace it?

We stayed at THEhotel, since Mandalay Bay had no more openings by the time we made our reservations. Lucky for us! THEhotel was stunning, and easily the nicest place I have ever stayed. It was hard to leave. If it had a kitchen, I would have been just fine living there forever!

Lotsa photos!! (more…)

One of the highlights of my year for the past few years has been going to the annual WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) Convention in Las Vegas, and this year was no exception. The morning after my big dance show I drove out to Montana (cheap flights!) then flew to Vegas, only to go to the convention the next morning at 7am! It was four days of intense classes and a killer tradeshow with few breaks, and I learned so much and came home with a notebook full of ideas. This was definitely the most informative year for me; finally, I was focused! Now onto the photos and stories… (more…)