Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

Isabelle and Andrew probably hadn’t quite planned on a smoky Indian Battle Park engagement session, but we worked with what we had! The smoke from the BC wild fires wasn’t too terrible that day and cast the High Level Bridge in a dreamy haze. They are both such kind people and could not be happier when they look at each other. It took no effort to make them giggle together and they snuck way more kisses in than I gave them permission for. ;) It was great to finally meet them after conversing from a distance and I can’t wait for their wedding next year!

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Lindsay and Terry love spending time outdoors, especially if it means visiting the Crowsnest Pass. Since their wedding is taking place in Lethbridge, they wanted to include this favorite destination of theirs in their engagement session instead. It’s always so tough to narrow down the scenic locations there! They decided on Lundbreck Falls autumn engagement photos, which was a perfect time of year as nearly all the tourists were gone. We got so lucky with the weather too! Despite a heavy snowfall warning, down below the mountains the fall landscape held on in gorgeous red and yellow tones. Only the mountain tops were dusted with a coating of snow to show the seasons colliding. Terry and Lindsay did an amazing job pretending it was warmer than it was (behind the scenes I was in a poofy parka!) and we were pleased to discover how much warmer it was at the base of the falls!

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Haley contacted me with a great vision for Waterton sunset anniversary photos. She and Stephen wanted to celebrate their anniversary trip to Waterton by recreating some of their wedding photos! They dressed very similar to their wedding day with one exception: Haley’s original wedding dress had been stolen during a break-in, and she managed to track down a nearly identical dress. Luckily they scheduled just days before the smoke got bad so we were able to get amazing views of the mountains with only a little bit of haze. After we finished in the town (which has a crazy early sunset thanks to the mountains!) we drove to the lookout to take full advantage of the setting sun.

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I went out for a bit of a drive to join Monica and Dave for their Claresholm ranch engagement photography a few miles outside of the town. We took their vehicle up to the rocky hill overlooking the ranch, through the herd of inquisitive cows enjoying their dinner. From up there we had sweeping views of the foothills surrounding their property, starting to pick up the soft green tones as spring began to spread throughout the fields.

Monica and Dave were so easy to photograph together. They are always making each other giggle and it’s probably lucky for me I was just out of earshot during when I’m pretty sure he was telling her dirty jokes to get more laughs! Even when my camera was placed down to plan the next photo, they’d pull each other in for another embrace and I’d quickly start snapping again.

I can’t wait to explore the area further on their wedding day this summer when they’re dressed all fancy!

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Last winter, Denise and Craig had an awesome idea to do Coalhurst outdoor ice rink hockey photos, but there was no snow! Winter kind of skipped us that year. Luckily (for their concept, not local travellers), 2018 was the year of snow! The ice rink was well maintained and surrounded by heaps snow, perfect for the winter look they wanted. They put on their favorite Oilers jerseys, grabbed their hockey sticks, and set out onto the ice for their couples photoshoot.

Their cute little dogs Sadie and Piper came equipped with their own matching jerseys. It was their first time “skating” and they did surprisingly well! I think their low centers of gravity definitely helped. The only challenge was figuring out how to run on the ice, but the snow banks surrounding the rink made that part a little easier. Piper especially loved sliding down the packed snow.

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Christine and Joe didn’t quite have the engagement session we were expecting! We had booked their photos many weeks in advance to take place over the February long weekend. Our plan was to drive out to the Crowsnest Pass, and we hoped there would still be some snow left. The last two Februarys have been a little dry here, so we didn’t want to get our hopes up too much! As their photography date approached, we heard tales of daily highway closures. Then it came: yet another heavy snowfall warning on our travel day! In the end, they had a very snowy west Lethbridge engagement session just as the huge snowfall began its descent.

As a substitute “forest,” we met at Aperture Park on the west side and hiked through snow that ranged from one inch to two feet deep. Christine and Joe were such amazing sports about it! Christine feels the same way about winter as I do (which is not favourably), yet they perfectly acted like everything was warm and fine. Even while being pelted by snow, they were so lost in each other. Joe couldn’t resist nuzzling into her and making them both break out in huge grins.

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