Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

Desirée and Craig wanted to reflect their love for the live music scene by hosting a Crowsnest Pass night time wedding at The Greenhill Hotel in Blairmore. With Craig being a musician, their concert-themed wedding was perfect! In addition to closing out the evening with an open jam stage with their friends, their decorations were accented with records and musical notes.

I noticed back at their engagement session that they have such huge emotions around each other and the wedding day was no exception. Craig was so overwhelmed during the ceremony while Des acted as his rock, wiping away his tears. They later had this hilarious exchange…

Des: Are you okay to drive?
Craig: I haven’t been drinking…
Des: I mean emotionally!

One special touch in their wedding was how much they included Desirée’s son. Not only was he their ring bearer, but he joined them in a hug after the first kiss and had a special marriage certificate to take part in the signing of.

Congratulations, Desirée and Craig!

p.s. Special thanks to Nate at Rydography for filling in for Cam as second shooter / assistant!

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A lot of love and hard work went into creating Christina and Joshua’s wedding. Nearly every little detail was created by them or their friends and family! Most notably, their bouquets were all handmade; Christina’s aunt performed the ceremony; and Christina baked almost every item on the dessert table, with her bridesmaids filling out the rest such as their cake.

Their wedding day was so joyous. Everyone was constantly joking, laughing, and hugging. Christina and Joshua lit up every time they were together and totally melted into each other arms. It was so fantastic that their children could spend the entire day with them.

The rain held off just long enough for them to get the Norland summer wedding photos they had hoped for. When we finally had a moment to go outside for some evening photos, luck would have it that that’s when it decided to rain! Christina’s parasol fortunately doubled as an umbrella and they were awesome being willing to stand out in the rain for a few minutes to get those pictures.

At the end of the day they held their reception in the new ballroom at The Norland Bed and Breakfast. The entire room smelled like Christina’s homemade cookies :)

Congratulations, Joshua and Christina!

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It was an honor to photograph the CNIB Night Steps Lethbridge fundraiser held at Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens this month. CNIB is a great organization that provides services for the visually impaired and the walk is held at night to represent blindness for all participants. The organization chose to have the very first Alberta Night Steps in Lethbridge and they pulled off a really great event.

In addition to the walk, there were addresses by Mayor Spearman and MLA Maria Fitzpatrick, as well as a performance by Lethbridge taiko group Hibikiya and other activities at the gardens.

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Early on it seemed like nature was conspiring against Jori and Shawn’s Castle Mountain summer wedding. On Thursday the air was hazy with smoke from the forest fires, and on Friday everyone had the shock of August snow! When Saturday rolled around, they got the beautiful summer weather they had hoped for with clear sunny skies.

Jori and Shawn are so passionate together, having their portraits secluded in the forest was just such a natural fit for them. I had immediately noticed how romantic they were at their engagement session, but it was even more so with all of the wedding day emotions.

Castle Mountain Resort was such a beautiful choice for their wedding venue and I hope we can go back there soon.

Congratulations, Shawn and Jori!

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As soon as I found out fantasy was a theme, my mind was full of superhero images rather than the traditional medieval concepts that are associated with the term. Originally I thought of putting Kayla in another theme but I’m glad I switched her around because she was so perfect as the heroine in this series. The timing was so tricky because we needed a bright blue twilight amidst a week of rain, but everything came together perfectly, including violent Lethbridge wind to assist with our cape. Kayla was amazing at holding still and resolute in the gusts that nearly knocked us all over on the overpass!

I got to recycle a few pieces of old dance costumes for this shoot; it pays to be a clothing hoarder, right? ;)

Model: Kayla Avison
Theme: Fantasy

This photo is part of the Lens Factor Photo Project in which 5 photographers were given teams of 5 models and given 5 themes to work with. The results were kept secret until all final images were revealed at once. I took a number of photos for each theme and my out-takes appear below!

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I’m glad I was indecisive and went with two very different looks for Eva’s photos, because my second choice of concept with the playground equipment ended up being my favorite! We started out with my first idea of dramatic contrasting colors in the woods and playing with the motion of fabric, then headed to the playground where Eva got an intense workout doing gymnastic poses for me. She’s such a champ that she climbed up there with her heels on!

Model: Eva Richardson
Theme: Fashion

This photo is part of the Lens Factor Photo Project in which 5 photographers were given teams of 5 models and given 5 themes to work with. The results were kept secret until all final images were revealed at once. I took a number of photos for each theme and my out-takes appear below!

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