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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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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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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Raiven and Jonathan couldn’t decide between a Galt Museum engagement session or one in the river bottom, so why not both? They picked a gorgeous spring evening for it too!

I loved watching how great Raiven and Jonathan are together. It’s obvious they are best friends; whenever we’d have a moment to pause between photos, they’d eagerly be telling each other stories and making each other laugh! I can’t wait to see how happy they are at their wedding later this year :)

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Krysty and Kole are avid cyclists who love riding near Chief Mountain and wanted to incorporate that into their engagement photos. They brought their bikes out for a Waterton bicycle adventure engagement session, finishing the day with a scenic hike to the Bear’s Hump in town. It was my first time doing the hike and I was so excited after wanting to take photos there for so long! I was a little slower making it up the mountain than they were but at least it gave them time to change at the top :)

We started the session just outside of Waterton with their vintage bicycles. I love how they styled themselves for the session! Krysty even picked up a fresh bouquet of flowers for her bicycle basket. They are such a cute couple and so incredibly sweet to each other. I’m so happy they could bring me on their adventure that day!

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