Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

This year was my first time photographing the Parkinson Step n Stride walk held in Lethbridge at Henderson Lake. The fundraising event was organized by the Parkinson Association of Alberta and had an amazing turnout and even more amazing weather. Thank you to everyone who came out to support this great cause!

In all the years I’ve photographed the MS Walk in Lethbridge, this is probably the best weather we’ve ever had! The walk was once again held at Henderson Lake and I loved the new starting line being in view of the water and bridges. Everything felt back to normal after the walk couldn’t happen for a few years and the turnout was incredible. It is so great to see so many people come out in support of MS Canada each year!

This year the YWCA Lethbridge & District put on another amazing Women of Distinction Awards dinner on International Women’s Day. It was an honour to get to photograph the event again, especially with the introduction of the new Truth and Reconciliation and Lifetime Achievement Awards. This year we had less of a time crunch so I was able to meet all of the winners beforehand for their promotional photos so the event itself was a little less stressful for them!

This year’s event was held at The Coast Hotel which gave the organizers space to use multiple rooms for a VIP event before the main awards.

Last month I had the pleasure of being involved with the farm to table tour hosted by Lethbridge non-profit The Oldman Watershed Council. The free tour included lunch from The Penny Coffeehouse, a tour of a farm near Coaldale, and a photography lesson from myself. Even though it was cold, we all had a lot of fun!

The photo lesson centred around taking control of the settings on your DSLR or mirrorless camera and we started while on the drive to the farm (courtesy of a party bus from California Dream Limo). Once at the farm, the landowners gave us a detailed tour and explained the work that goes into the farm. We got to meet all the friendly animals who live there, the most friendly being an extroverted goat and a small orange kitten who joined us on the entire tour.

Thank you to everyone who came and braved the rain!

Lethbridge finally has a new much needed medical facility. The grand opening event and ribbon cutting for the Superstore Walk-In Clinic took place in June. A number of medical professionals attended, including local ones and those who travelled in, as well as significant individuals involved in the opening of the clinic. Alberta minister of health Jason Copping and head of pharmacy at Loblaw and president of Shoppers Drug Mart Jeff Leger spoke at the event.

The clinic is a pharmacist run walk-in clinic, the first of its kind offered in Alberta. Clinic manager and pharmacist Justin Jensen welcomed guests at the event and his excitement was (excuse the pun) contagious! Christine Hughes, interim dean at the U of A, was also in attendance as the university will be collaborating with the clinic and sending students there with the help of a grant they are receiving.

I took photos of the clinic space before guests arrived, candids of the crowd during mingling time, and then the official speeches and ribbon cutting that were broadcast on local media.

Congratulations to the nursing grads of 2021/22! The University of Lethbridge was finally able to have in-person convocation ceremonies again and the nursing class was able to have their pinning ceremony. The event was held in the ballroom at the university with graduates, faculty members, and their family in attendance.

This year’s graduates had unique challenges during their education. Their time at school saw a pandemic, online classes, and a faculty strike. Making it this far was even more of an accomplishment than any of them had anticipated.

Thank you for having me photograph your University of Lethbridge Nursing Faculty pinning ceremony!