Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

Shannon and George celebrated their 50th anniversary with their children and took some time for casual autumn family photos. It was especially a big deal for their granddaughter Ainsley since her family doesn’t live in Lethbridge and seeing her grandparents is a special occasion! Her energy level kept everyone going through photos, and at the end the adults were glad to sit down when she hit the playground :)

It’s been a while since I got to photograph an AARCS adoptable rescue dog (most are located in the Calgary area) so I was super excited when I got a message that our local dog foster home had a new one! Doogan is still in his puppy phase even though he looks grown up. He has so many cute features like his single floppy ear and heeler spotty feet. He had such a good head tilt for me when I made noises and had a blast playing with his ball at Henderson Lake (though he’s still working on a few skills around that).

Doogan is available from Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society (AARCS) and probably won’t be for long!

Marija and Cooper chose a special spot for their river bottom winter maternity photos. The location was right next to Marija’s parents’ home with no public access and opened to a beautiful calm area of the Oldman River. While she had been hoping for a winter wonderland, Marija’s long green dress and red shoes still looked amazing with the muted warm colours – and maternity photos aren’t really something you can schedule to wait for the right weather ;)

They brought their very high energy dog Ellie along for the photoshoot. She spent most of the time excitedly zooming from stick to stick, pausing occasionally to pose for a photo. She definitely “enhanced” a few photos when she accidentally popped in!

Why travel anywhere when you have a fun pop of colour at your own home? Lynn and Ward celebrated the arrival of their first grandchild Wesley with backyard fall family photos. Their yard came with a real statement piece with their red barn-style shed, which complemented the fall leaves on the ground.

Wesley was definitely the star of the show with everyone taking turns holding him for photos. I loved his little red vest – major Marty McFly vibes!

Micah & Steven had a very chilly Lethbridge winter engagement session in November. With enough warm car breaks we were able to take full advantage of the winter wonderland that was the coulees that day! The snow around the river bottom looked so beautiful, and especially magical in the golden hour we lucked out with on this sunny day.

Their dog Korra came dressed in the finest formal wear a dog can have, and lasted for a little bit before the cold tippy taps started. (The couple wisely brought a dog wrangler along so Korra could hide out in the car earlier.)

The three of them make such a cute family and I’m glad the snow couldn’t stop us from having a fun outdoor photoshoot.

Congratulations, Micah & Steven!

Last year was so much fun doing Santa Paws photos at both of The Bone & Biscuit’s Lethbridge locations that we decided to do it again this year!

The outfits just keep getting cuter. We had way more doggie-sized Christmas sweaters this year, a beret-wearing Chihuahua, and a full on gingerbread man/dog with baker! I love seeing the same families year after year and meeting the new ones. It’s especially great when families have grown by a dog, kitty, or (to quote mom) a “skin puppy.” ;)

Money was raised for Wag-A-Muffins Animal Rescue and we thank everyone who brought their pets for helping support this rescue.

As usual it was so hard to narrow it down, but this year had some of the funniest bloopers like doggie tantrums and our first full on howl!