Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

Elsa and Larry’s adorable interactions together stood out at a family member’s wedding last year when we first met them. I was so excited when they called me to photograph their own wedding. As I expected, they got even cuter when all the attention was on them! They were full of non-stop laughter during their Lethbridge winter engagement photos.

We chose the river bottom as their photo location because of the importance the area has to them. It’s been the location of their favourite dates and was where Larry popped the question. Elsa had a few spots in mind for their wedding photos later in the year, so we picked an alternative this time and ventured into the Helen Schuler Nature Reserve. It was such a gorgeous winter day, which was ironic since the wedding where I met them was much colder and snowier but in the autumn!

When I first planned out a photoshoot with Shaw & Associates Chartered Accountants, they had been using mismatched cell phone photos on the staff portion of their website and wanted a more cohesive, professional look. We set out downtown to update their accounting staff headshots to give the photos a natural, approachable feel. I based their wardrobe suggestions off of the colours of their website and they did a great job coordinating so many people’s outfits. Every staff member now has a matching photo on their site that compliments the design. Even Chase, their office greeter dog, got a headshot of his own for the website!

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Our unusually warm January last year continued to surprise us with morning rain before Bill and Sue’s portraits. We nearly moved things indoors but the sun came out just in time for their Indian Battle Park warm winter photo session. The ladies showed off their intense hiking skills by traversing the river bottom’s many puddles, ice sheets, and mud patches in high heels.

I appreciated how committed they were to the photos! The wind was cold and the sun kept vanishing, but their jackets repeatedly came off for the sake of the photos.

This session was a much needed update for the family, now that they have added a son-in-law to their children!

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It was another year of continuing our fun tradition of a family session with Melissa and Schuyer and their children! This year we switched things up again with Indian Battle Park fall photos, where it looks so beautiful in the autumn mornings. Melissa and Schuyler’s session was one of the few I didn’t need to reschedule due to snow this year. Last year they weren’t so lucky, so I was glad they scored a beautiful day this time!

Just days before the photoshoot, their youngest son Branegan decided he was truly a two year old and started exercising his independence. His siblings helped us out by leading him back when he’d run away, grabbing him in hugs, and distracting him long enough to stay in front of the camera. His most valuable item that day was his red comb that needed to be safely in his hands for all photos. Luckily it matched the clothing colour scheme his parents had picked out!

The kids got so excited when a slight breeze made the trees we were under rain down all their leaves. It was magical! (This was even enough to exchange a red comb for a leaf.) We did a lot of exploration in the river bottom and candid photos to keep their little brother distracted.

I love JJ and Shaun’s annual tradition of an autumn portrait session. As was a common theme this year, it took a few reschedules for us to escape the snow blizzards but we ended up with a beautiful evening and lots of vibrant orange colours remained. This year we went with Helen Schuler fall family photos. Each year they have me choose so I try to pick a different location, and we haven’t run out of new places yet!

Shaun’s career has him working for the railway so we made sure to get a few photos with the high level bridge, and spent the rest of our time exploring the nature reserve in the river bottom. Even though the girls are getting older, their energy hasn’t diminished and their antics (including asking their parents hilarious and inappropriate questions) had me laughing through the whole session.

Nic and Robin got lucky this year! They scheduled their Indian Battle Park fall photos two days before the blizzard hit us, meaning they are my only family who truly got the fall colours.

Each year I love seeing how much they have grown. At last year’s photos, Olivia wasn’t even walking yet. Now she was chasing after big brother Lucas and easily keeping up with him! These two are so adorable and made sure to make their mom and dad laugh whenever they were behind the camera with me.

We had lots of fun in the river bottom climbing on the logs and running through the grass.