Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

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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I had so much fun doing Elizabeth’s costume photos last year so I was really excited when she contacted me again this year to do another fantasy concept shoot. This time the theme was around light based magic, inspired by a book series she is reading, and night portraits involving light painting were the perfect way to pull it off.

We found a flat spot near Lethbridge’s Pavan Park to get lots of wide open sky just after sunset and started with her blue and white fan veils she has been learning. The nice thing about fan veils is you don’t need to wait for the wind to make them look really cool :) We did a few ghosting photos with those, then it was finally dark enough to pull out the light painting tools!

Elizabeth was awesome at holding still while I ran around her and we all dealt with a swarm of mosquitoes :)

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What started out as a Hawaiian themed engagement party eventually turned into a Hawaiian themed evening backyard wedding at Emily and Kelly’s Lethbridge home. Emily had her dress and since invitations had already been sent to their family and closest friends, they decided to take the plunge a little early!

Their party started just before sunset, giving their ceremony a gorgeous glow as it went into twilight. They did a spectacular job decorating their yard for the event and ended up with a gorgeous ceremony location. The service was so emotional with lots of laughter and happy tears. It was wonderful to be a part of such a happy event :)

The evening was full of dancing, coconut and pineapple flavored treats, and everyone having an amazing time celebrating the couple.

Congratulations, Kelly & Emily!

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I knew I’d be working with Hope for her modeling portfolio, but it wasn’t until I saw her awesome black vinyl bodysuit that I knew these were going to be some Tron Legacy inspired photos!

I’ve been wanting to do this photo shoot for a long time and had been flip flopping between being the photographer or being the model. The only problem was that I LOVE doing light painting, something a Tron photo shoot would definitely need, so I didn’t really want to give that up to someone else! (You know, the hour of patience it takes to do it through trial and error!) When Hope came into the picture with the most perfect wardrobe for it and perfect hair to pull off Gem’s style, my decision was made.

Lorelei Hoffarth and I teamed up for these photos and the funny thing was that we both independently decided we wanted to do light painting with Hope, but it wasn’t until we discussed the idea further we realized we were on the same page! It was so fun seeing the differences in our photos starting with the same model, wardrobe, hair, makeup, and even basic lighting techniques… We ended up with SUCH different images, and even our light painting techniques were vastly different.

Our lovely and talented model was Hope Vande Beek, who did a great job holding reeeeeaaaally long poses while we ran around her with all sorts of crazy flashlights and blinded her with flashes in a nearly pitch black room. Makeup was provided by Cayley Blande at Colors Salon and hair was styled by Jenn Burton, who both did a wonderful job. Last but not least, thank you so much to Lorelei for opening up your studio for this fun concept shoot!

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