Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

“Hand in hand, with fairy grace,
Will we sing, and bless this place.”
-A Midsummer Night’s Dream

If you saw Shakespeare in the Park’s summer performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Lethbridge last year, you’ll definitely remember Titania, played by the talented Megan! Between the incredible presence she had as the character and how dreamy her whole look came together, I had to get her to step into the role one more time for a creative photoshoot.

I waited until the wall of leaves turned its vibrant red colour in the fall, knowing it would be a perfect match for Megan’s hair. And it was even more close than I expected!

The most important part of my vision was a light painting portrait once it was dark enough out. Megan and our helper Leslie were amazing and committed – it started snowing on us as soon as we arrived at the final location and I needed Megan to hold still! None of us could feel our hands by the end but it was worth it :)

Gown by Amanda Epp
Makeup by Leslie Van Zwol

???When I saw the birthday outfit Sadie put together for herself, I knew I had to get her in front of my camera for some goth Halloween vibes!? It had been way too long since I last worked with Sadie and I was waiting for just the right photoshoot to have her model for me again. (I love how different this was from our last one too!) I managed to squeeze her in during a golden hour for these goth styled portraits. While the initial goal of my photoshoot was to use some old film, I’m definitely glad I brought my mirrorless camera too.

To celebrate the end of high school, Brooklyn’s family treated her to a fun session of downtown Lethbridge grad photos. Her mom and brother came along in the beginning for a few photos, then let Brooklyn do her thing! She had wanted an urban location so I chose the city hall area for how many diverse settings it gives. Brooklyn’s baby blue grad dress looked amazing with the local architecture and pops of blue sky, plus she knew how to work it!

Why not make your graduation a family affair? Hunter celebrated with everyone for his Henderson Lake family grad photos. Instead of only focusing on photos of himself, his parents and sister also joined in. Since his family was all visiting for his drive in graduation ceremony, his grandfather, uncle, and aunt all decided to come along for photos too! This put a little less pressure on him since he doesn’t like having his photo taken too much ;)

Hunter was able to borrow the blue graduation gown from his high school so we could show off this huge milestone in his photos, but we also did some more casual photos without it. It was awesome to see him at this huge accomplishment after a few years of family photos.

Congratulations, Hunter!

I last saw Lejla when she was a flower girl at her aunt’s wedding, and I hardly recognized her all grown up! Lejla was now graduating high school and I was so happy to catch up with her family during her Galt Museum grad photos. Lejla selected an ornate mermaid-style purple grad dress, which looked so striking against her dark hair and the rich colours during golden hour.

Lejla wanted a bit of nature in her photos as well, so we started nearby at the High Level Bridge in Indian Battle Park. She was up for climbing onto anything for photos (with some family help) and was a natural in front of the camera, already knowing how she prefers to pose. It was hard not to get carried away and photograph her into the night (that particular colour of purple being a favourite of mine did not help this). Even the Lethbridge wind added an amazing element!

Graduations may still have been smaller in scale for another year in a row, but there’s nothing in the way of still having a fun session to celebrate! Teddy had his Pavan Park spring grad photos with his parents and brother right after all the green came out in the river bottom. Pavan Park was gorgeous that evening. Even the new, loud swarms of bugs left us alone.

This family has such great energy together and made each other laugh through the whole session.

Teddy and his younger brother love mountain biking, so they brought their bikes along to use in the photos. This was the first time either of them had tried biking in formal wear, and it went surprisingly well! The true question is whether that will be the last time they bike in suits. :)