Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

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 :)

(more…)

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!

(more…)

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!

(more…)

I love themed photo shoots so having an opportunity to photograph Amanda as Jessica Rabbit was super exciting. Jessica is such a classic character with so much charisma, and I had to make the photos sensual with a little pinup while still pulling off an over the top cartoon character. Amanda really brought the character to life, and I have to give a huge thank you to the Owl Acoustic Lounge for letting us use a corner of their space that afternoon as it was absolutely perfect as a backdrop. Makeup was once again done by the talented Katt Panic (I love how she cleverly hid the real eyebrows). (more…)

After a very busy summer, I’m finally able to share the third installment in my larger AFI-inspired photo project, this time for Medicate. (You can read more about the project here.)

We needed a spot where dumping gold paint wouldn’t be an issue, so Marcella and I headed out to the edge of the city for this and the blackness of the prairies at night was perfect for the black and white theme. Marcella totally rocked this with her golden locks!

Model: Marcella Etherington
Video: Medicate by AFI

(more…)

Kelsey and Tony are expecting their first baby very soon and wanted to get some photos to celebrate! Along with future not-so-big brother Tequila, they met me in the evening for their session and we got to try a few dramatic images once it got dark out. We had a great time and perfect weather, and I can’t wait to meet their new little baby! (more…)