Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

It’s not every day I get to take Lethbridge professional wrestling photos, but this summer I found myself capturing the promotional photos for local wrestler Kenn Stevens. (This is such new ground for me that I’m not even sure what category to put this under on my blog!) Lethbridge may not have a big wrestling scene, but Kenn is the now the third person I know who takes part in this amazing form of entertainment! I have a couple friends who retired from the sport some time again so I’m glad to see it alive and doing well in new wrestlers.

It’s always a joy to return to Tayler’s home near Taber and document her and her beloved animals year after year.

Tayler has exponentially increased her husbandry skills with the addition of her herd of little ponies (or a “string” of ponies if Google is correct!), many of whom are adorably named after Game of Thrones characters. Some of these proved to be more challenging to coerce into photos than the cats, while others lovingly followed us everywhere and photobombed us when it was supposed to be another pony’s turn.

Sadly Tayler lost her dog Summer last year, so the photo of her with her remaining dogs was super important. Autumn and Summer had been best buds and now Autumn is also getting up there in age, so we focused a little harder on playtime photos with her.

We had a little less time for photos of Tayler by herself this year after all our pony wrangling, but quickly snuck in some individual portraits each time she did a quick wardrobe change!

Thank you for trusting me with your photos year after year, Tayler! :)

It was truly a privilege to be able to photograph Lethbridge Diva Cabaret for a second year in a row! Once again the event was held at Pure Casino Lethbridge and sold out both of its Friday and Saturday shows. Many of the performers from previous years returned and we joined by new queens, hyper queens, and a few performers from Calgary.

This year marked the 5th anniversary of the Diva Cabaret’s start in Lethbridge. All proceeds went to support the 2019
Lethbridge Pride Fest. Each year the show continues to promote its themes of inclusion and body positivity.

I even spotted a few of my group’s former dance costumes among the performers!

p.s. If you missed the photos from last year’s show, you can check them out here!

Viewer discretion advised: this post contains some burlesque images (without full nudity), so may not be appropriate while you are at work.

Cam is usually more of an important background figure in my business. He’s the sneaky candid photographer at weddings, handles ordering sessions once the camera is put away, and spends hours behind a computer editing.

However, there is one area he gets to shine… I can’t photograph a dance show when I’m in it so that duty falls on him! Cam has really excelled at his Lethbridge dance photography.

He has photographed Ammena Dance Company‘s annual show, An Explosion of World Dance and Music, for several years now and I always love seeing what he captures. Especially because I have no idea what’s going on when I’m so involved in it myself!

(If this show sounds familar, you may remember the photos for the show poster I recently shared. And because I talk about it every year.)

After a year off, we had another show this March at the Yates. Here are a few highlights. Great work, Cam!

p.s. Yes, that’s me with the vertical hair!

After one year off, Ammena Dance Company is back!

It was so fun to return to poster design brainstorming with her. With a number of Beyonce songs in the show this year, we were inspired by both a classic European feel as well as the aesthetics from the music video for Formation. Donning a very Beyonce-inspired wide brimmed hat that will be used in one of the pieces, we explored downtown Lethbridge around her new studio location. We were very generously given access to a private property that made it onto the final poster, and had been exactly the feel we were going for.

This year’s show will feature Bollywood, tango, bellydance, burlesque, The Greatest Showman, Footloose and more, so please come check it out! There will be lots of themes of starting anew :)

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After a couple years of watching as an audience member, this year I had the privilege of photographing the Diva Cabaret drag show. Each spring the event is held at the Lethbridge Casino in support of Lethbridge Pride Fest and has grown in popularity so much that this year they added two additional performances for a total of four shows (two back to back shows each night). Even with the extra shows, the event was still almost entirely sold out!

The extra drag shows this year allowed for variations in performances and outfits each night. Friday and Saturday each offered a different experience, making it extra fun to photograph throughout the weekend. They even added a few drag kings this time around! I was especially excited to hear two songs that my own dance group has performed, including an intense group performance of “Cell Block Tango” by several of the drag queens.

The show explored ideas of race, diverse relationships, body positivity, and self-expression with lots of comedy mixed in. Everyone involved, both on stage and behind the scenes, did an amazing job!

Viewer discretion advised: this post contains some sexual images.

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