Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

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. :)

Mackenzie moved out to Alberta for school and only planned to stay during her studies, but soon those plans involved falling for Chase! Her family surprised the couple with a portrait session for Christmas. The two of them chose a gorgeous spring day to head down to Indian Battle Park with me and take some photos!

The white and purple lilacs were fully in bloom throughout Lethbridge’s river bottom. Everywhere we turned was a beautiful spot for photos! Mackenzie and Chase were so easy to get laughing, whether through piggyback rides or tickle fights with each other. Judging by how sweet they are together, I can see why Mackenzie stuck around Lethbridge!

The spring blossoms in Lethbridge in 2020 were amazing, and I think we may have had the nicest May long weekend ever! Piper’s family took advantage of this perfect spring and their extra time together during quarantine for a spring blossom mini session. We found tons of beautiful pink flowers only a block from their house. They walked over with their dog Poppy for their cute family session.

The quarantine meant I couldn’t photograph any real people for a while, so I grabbed all my Barbies when I was by my parents’ place and gave them a try at modelling. One of the biggest challenges was selecting outfits out of the strange collection I had (which totally will inspire a future photoshoot), though I was glad I had a diverse collection of doll types. Oh, there’s also the challenge of how none of the old Barbies had movable joints! I am amazed at some of the poses I balanced them in (plus a good chunk have Cam just out of frame holding feet).

I used this opportunity to play in the spring blossoms and try out a few experimental lighting techniques and multiple exposures. I’m so glad to have finally tried Barbie portraits!

(For behind the scenes videos of some of the more creative shots, you can check out my Instagram story highlights.)

Our spring lilac family photos finally happened! Sarah was super stoked to make use of the pretty purple flowers for their spring blossom mini-session and even did the location scouting for me. Right when it was time for photos, a HUGE storm came in – our first hail and lightning storm of the season!

We rescheduled for the week after and crossed our fingers – both for the weather and that the lilacs would hold out! As photo time approached, the forecast didn’t look good. Sarah and I strategically texted back and forth throughout the day and rushed out to do photos a little earlier than planned. Success! Indian Battle Park was still full of lilacs and the day was lovely, although a little chillier than we had gotten used to.

Sarah and Kyle are some of the loveliest people I know from my university days so it’s always great to catch up with them again. The last time we did photos, Josephine was a lot shorter, and Levon was barely standing on his own! They now giggle wildly at each other and love exploring the nature reserve as a family.

Each time I photograph Jennifer and David’s family, it seems to increase by one! This last year we welcomed Adelyn into their spring blossom family session. Big sister Kalina had already honed her baby sibling holding skills the year before with Erwin, and it was a little easier this time after a whole year of growing taller! Erwin loved hanging out with his sister and even wanted to be included when it wasn’t his turn for a photo.

Their family was massively taken out for a while with the kids passing colds back and forth to each other, so we just about missed the spring blossoms but caught the last of them just in time! (The kids survived their session thanks to lots of goop being wiped out of eyes between shots.) After being stuck at home for a week, they were all so excited to be outside playing! Luckily photos hide the fact that most of them lost their voices ;)