Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

JJ and Shaun didn’t let COVID get in the way of their annual fall family photos, but instead chose to embrace it with masks for the whole group!

We had to WORK to find these fall colours in the park. After days and days of Aperture Park looking vibrant and saturated with colour, the typical Lethbridge wind came through the night before their photoshoot and blew it all away. Luckily there was still enough colour left if you angled the right way!

We had used the park for their annual family photos a few other years, so Shaun was excited to recreate a few of the photos the girls posed for when they were younger. Now that the girls are older it was easy to recreate any photos we wanted, and a lot less stressful for their parents chasing them around ;)

Nicole and Cody had such a vivid fall family session with how amazing the colours were last autumn! Their photography session in Indian Battle Park allowed us to escape the wind and make use of the golden tones in the river bottom.

I had already photographed Nicole and her daughter on the fun mothers-daughters New York trip we went on, but this time the guys (including dog Coco) got to be included. I’m not sure they were as excited about it, but they did good for following Mom’s wishes for family photos!

Coco and the kids climbed whatever they could and were super excited to be out on our photo adventure. Nicole was happy to learn how easily I caught all the moments between the chaos ;)

When both parents turn the big six-oh in the same year, you throw a party! Patty and John had their three generations come together for their 60th birthday celebration family photos. I was so excited to return to their beautiful farm for this session. All of their grandchildren had a great time playing together, with the adults, and on the swings (my favourite part every time!). We finished the session with some super fun props… they asked me if they would be too cheesy, and I insisted it was just the type of cheese I love ;)

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Lochlan’s newborn photos were very special to his parents. He was their rainbow baby, a term many families know all too well. (A rainbow baby is a baby born to a couple who has experienced a previous pregnancy loss.) We celebrated this adorable boy by including a rainbow cloth in a few photos, as well as a special bear in honour of his sister.

This adorable red head had his newborn session at his grandparent’s house in a beautiful bright room with sunlight streaming in. The warmth from the sun had him peacefully sleeping the entire time! Big brother Bodhi helped grandma and grandpa make dinner during the photos, taking a few breaks to come hold his new brother and get some special photos together.

Lochlan notoriously never kept his eyes open during his first few weeks home from the hospital. His grandma lamented that she never gets to see his beautiful eyes! At the end of the session we had a big surprise when he opened his eyes long enough to get a few different photos! We were still using the rainbow cloth at that point, and the colours really made the blue in his eyes vibrant.

Siblings Carter, Payton, Maddie, and Jase needed some updated photos (at least according to their mom!) so I went out to their grandma’s awesome farm for their Welling autumn children’s family photos. The kids love hanging out here and helped me find all kinds of neat hidden spots, like a rustic barn loft. Even though the wind had hit our region hard that day, the gorgeous mountain ash tree in the yard had held itself together. Any of the leaves that didn’t survive the afternoon made perfect leaf tossing arsenal!

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My friends have all been pretty quiet in the last couple years with life change news, so it was an extra big deal when I found out one of my best friends was having a baby! Normally I hop into my clients’ lives just before the baby arrives. I wasn’t used to this anticipation for months!

Alice arrived nearly right on schedule and within a week she was home and ready for her baby girl photo session. Everyone was starting to fall into the routine of having her around, but there was still so much excitement and joy. Alice was so sweet and quiet through her session and loved being snuggled by everyone. I look forward to watching her grow up… but not too fast!

p.s. One perk of doing photos for friends is being able to feast on cake at the end of the session. Cake eating usually doesn’t factor into the time, but I’d never be opposed if offered ;)