Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

Eve’s graduation wasn’t quite as she expected it to be with how our year played out, but she was still able to celebrate in less traditional ways! Her class had an outdoor event to celebrate their accomplishment, and it was better late than never for her photography session! We did her Pavan Park graduation photos late in summer instead of our original plan for spring. Once her hair stylist and makeup artists were open again, they had a bit of a waitlist to catch up on!

Her dark blue gown made for such a dreamy look among the bright colours in the mid-afternoon, and still looked amazing in the darker shade of the trees. Plus it had just enough volume for some fun twirling photos!

Eve’s mom and little brother came along to help with her photos and were able to enjoy the gorgeous afternoon outside together. She wasn’t technically a university student yet, so it still counted as being a high schooler ;)

When Anita called me to book her Coaldale backyard family photos, she was in a hurry. One of her sons was ready to travel back to Germany the moment flights reopened and one son had just graduated high school but missed out on the big ceremony. To keep her session easy for the boys to prepare for and make it more personal, I visited them in their beautiful backyard.

We spent the first half of the session focusing on the family, and the second half was dedicated to Steve’s grad photos. Luckily he had been able to borrow a cap and gown from his school, but I think the best photos were of him rocking his suit. You could tell he felt extra confident in it. It definitely “suited” him (sorry I will see myself out).

The year before, T and his sister surprised their parents with family photos. During the session, they lamented that they didn’t bring any of his Tae Kwon Do gear to celebrate the fact he was now a black belt!

The time finally come to focus on all of his accomplishments when he graduated from college.

We started out with some cap and gown convocation photos in Indian Battle Park, as well as some more casual pictures without the grad formal wear on. Then it was time to show off his Tae Kwon Do skills! We headed downtown to somewhere with enough space to go through his patterns plus some different levels to show off his other various skills. (It should come as no surprise he also dabbles in parkour.)

T is already teaching this martial art in youth classes and hopes to one day be a teacher now that he has focused his schooling on physical education. Judging by the skills he showed off during his photoshoot, he should have no trouble achieving his goals!

Torrince enjoys the company of her family, some close friends and the limelight at her Lethbridge graduation celebration

Torrince’s hair was swept up with tiny jewels sparkling inside it. Her makeup was smooth, her eyes smokey, and when I asked her to strike a pose, she moved with ease – like she’d been doing it her whole life! Like a young, Hollywood starlet, Torrince was a natural in front of the camera, and as her parents (dad, Quentin and step-mom, April) proudly looked on, it was all they could do to keep from tearing up throughout their daughter’s high school graduation portrait session – which did happen once or twice :).

Martha is a very dear friend of one of my favorite university professors that I’ve ever had. I’ve seen so many photos of her and heard so many of their adventures that I almost felt like I knew her before I met her! As part of her graduation gift, Martha’s friend treated her to convocation portraits. This year Martha accomplished the huge achievement of graduating with a University of Lethbridge Masters Degree in Environmental Science.

We did the photos at the University of Lethbridge to honour the hard work she put in on campus. However, Martha was feeling a little done with her studies by that point so we stuck to more of the natural landscape around the university rather than looking at the buildings. The lilacs are amazing this year and were still in bloom on campus so we took full advantage of them.

Upon meeting Martha you can immediately sense how kind and positive she is. This was even more apparent in how happy she looked wearing several layers with her cap and gown in the heat! It was super hot that day – unbelievably so! – but Martha was full of smiles and laughter.

Congratulations on your graduation, Martha!

Tyler booked her Lethbridge high school graduation portraits many months in advance so I’ve been looking forward to them quite some time! I love seeing the dresses graduates choose for their big day. This important article of clothing always shows so much personality.

Tyler’s photoshoot was a great trial run for her actual grad, giving her a chance to test out hair and makeup and break in her shoes. If you can walk in high heels over the soft ground of a park, walking inside a building should be a breeze! She chose such a gorgeous red dress for her grad with a high neck sparkly detail, open back, and leg slit on one side. It looked like a gown made for fancy cocktail parties!

We went to the park by the university and mostly managed to avoid the wind by hiding the in trees. Unfortunately our second location I picked out was not so sheltered! We worked quickly there as even the chair was blowing away if Tyler wasn’t holding it down :)

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