Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

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 :)

(more…)

When Denise and Koos planned their wedding, I think they were expecting a little more spring than the winter wonderland they received! The tiffany blue and gray color theme they chose looked gorgeous for their Lethbridge snowy late winter wedding, offering a great compliment to the cool hues and bit of blue popping out of the sky.

After their ceremony at the Lethbridge Netherlands Reformed Congregation, we met with them and their family and luckily could keep everyone inside and warm for their portraits. Next we were off to the Broxburn Cafe who generously let us take a few photos inside to warm up. Everything about that location looked fantastic with the wedding colors and their rustic touches. The wedding party was so awesome about sticking it out in the cold and smiling despite the temperatures!

Denise and Koos were so lost in each other throughout the day that they hardly noticed the cold. Their embraces kept them warm and showed off how sweet and caring their relationship is.

At the end of the night we returned to their reception at the Lethbridge Lodge where they had both hilarious comedy sketches and moving presentations from the family.

Thanks to Melanie at Photo Expressions for assisting that day.

Congratulations, Koos and Denise!

(more…)

I currently have the honour of having my photography on display at the Galt Museum. Last year I was contacted by curator Tyler Stewart to contribute to his music inspired exhibit “From Pianos to Power Chords” and I eagerly jumped at the chance. Music has been very important to me my whole life, from my first concert at the age of 8, to the various instrument lessons I have taken, to being heavily involved in dance for the last 12 years.

Concert photography is literally the reason I became a professional photographer. What started out as a hobby quickly grew into a passion. It was this passion and the overwhelmingly positive feedback I received from the local bands I photographed that convinced me to switch my major into photography and I have never regretted that decision. It is such an honour after all these years to see my band photography as a part of this exhibit of Lethbridge’s history. A couple of my photos go WAY back… for example, the Grady photo (Gordie Johnson) at the Roadhouse was taken the first day I owned my first digital SLR!

The exhibit runs until April 30 at the Galt Museum and I highly recommend checking it out! My photos here only show off my contribution but there’s so much more on display that paints an amazing picture of the history of music in Lethbridge.

(more…)

After an entire day of torrential downpour, the clouds cleared and left behind gorgeous, lush green colors for Kari and Henry’s Fort Macleod spring wedding! We met up with the couple for their first look in the Fort Macleod Wilderness Park, where Henry couldn’t stop smiling hearing Kari approaching him. Once they had a few extremely happy moments alone, we went down by the river and the landmark green bridge with their wedding party (with their family helping out controlling traffic!).

After family photos in the park and their early afternoon ceremony, we met back up with them at the Galt Museum for the rest of their photos. They are so happy together and their friends seemed absolutely excited for them, making our job so easy!

Congratulations, Kari and Henry!

(more…)

Occasionally I love to take a back seat in the process and second shoot for other photographers. Chaisson and Krystal’s Coaldale warm winter wedding at the Canadian Reformed Church was my first time working with Andrea Hulst… at least in this way! She was a bridesmaid in one of my weddings last summer so it was really neat to work with her in a totally different way!

Despite the wedding taking place in February, the weather was like spring, allowing us to go outside for gorgeous golden photos.

(more…)

We loved finally starting out the fall season with Greg and Lasca’s autumn Galt Museum wedding here in Lethbridge. They chose a rustic theme with blues and whites that looked great against the yellow outside.

After their ceremony in the Galt Museum’s viewing gallery, we were joined outside by their families. Lasca comes from a large family of brothers so it was a really big deal their only sister got married!

We stuck around the museum area while they had fun with their wedding party and their cute little dog Ketta gave them lots of kisses, then headed over to the west side to make use of the changing leaves. I loved watching when Greg and Lasca let loose and acted silly around each other (including a stick sword fight) and everyone was proud of how well Greg did in the spotlight all day when he’s quite shy :)

Congratulations, Lasca and Greg!

(more…)