Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

Martha is a very dear friend of one of my favorite university professors that I’ve ever had. I’ve seen so many photos of her and heard so many of their adventures that I almost felt like I knew her before I met her! As part of her graduation gift, Martha’s friend treated her to convocation portraits. This year Martha accomplished the huge achievement of graduating with a University of Lethbridge Masters Degree in Environmental Science.

We did the photos at the University of Lethbridge to honour the hard work she put in on campus. However, Martha was feeling a little done with her studies by that point so we stuck to more of the natural landscape around the university rather than looking at the buildings. The lilacs are amazing this year and were still in bloom on campus so we took full advantage of them.

Upon meeting Martha you can immediately sense how kind and positive she is. This was even more apparent in how happy she looked wearing several layers with her cap and gown in the heat! It was super hot that day – unbelievably so! – but Martha was full of smiles and laughter.

Congratulations on your graduation, Martha!

It’s been a few years since I last saw Julie and Chad, and since then they’ve had an adorable new addition to the family! They used my mini sessions to do some Lethbridge spring blossom newborn photos of Connor. He’s not quite a newborn any more, but pretty close! He was adorable in his little bow-tie and was fascinated by all of the white flower petals falling around him. His mom and dad just gushed with happiness snuggling him!

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The last time I photographed Jennifer and David’s family, it was just the three of them with Kalina. This time we had four with their newest family member, Erwin! As a special addition to their Lethbridge pink blossom family mini session, Grandma and Grandpa came along for a few photos. Kalina hardly left her grandma’s side, leading her around by the hand whenever they weren’t in photos together. Their grandparents were masters at getting them to laugh!

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This Indian Battle Park extended family photography session was a Christmas gift that was meant to take place outdoors back in December, but it was -30C the entire time the family was together! They made the wise decision to postpone until spring when everyone could actually be happy and comfortable in the photos. After a heavy rainfall earlier that day, everything was so green and fresh in the river bottom!

Three generations got together for this family session. The middle generation are part of a blended family, so they had both sets of their parents involved. Without my handy list of how everyone is related, it would have been impossible to tell sibling from cousin, sister from step sister, etc. Even all of the people who married into the family get along so comfortably with everyone that it’s hard to tell who is the sibling and who is the spouse! Everyone makes up one tightly knit family despite moving away, having children of their own, and seeing less of each other. This was such a great environment for the little kids who were happy to run to anyone there for comfort!

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It’s becoming a running joke between Drew, Alyssa, and myself that I’m going to have more photos of them than I know what to do with! After Alyssa’s family had their photos taken in the winter, spring was when Drew’s family had their turn. Marj and Earl have moved to BC and were down for the weekend to visit their kids.

We did their Lethbridge spring evening family photos at Aperture Lake and it was such a beautiful night. You just had to watch your step everywhere. This park has been very popular with the wild animals this spring! With careful posing we avoided any messes and found lots of space for me to force the siblings to give each other huge hugs. I think they secretly loved the chance to hug each other so much ;)

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I love that Nic and Robin have an annual tradition of updating their family photos. They’ll always have memories of how big the kids were year after year, and it has given me a chance to watch their family grow since I first started working with them before their wedding. They came to Lethbridge this year for some Henderson Lake morning family photos at Gunnery Point. It was a gorgeous spring day and we squeezed the photos in just early enough to beat the heat.

I’m always so amazed at how well behaved and happy their kids are. Lucas never seemed to hit the “terrible twos” but instead has always been smiley and great at posing. Now that he’s heading out of that age range, he’s just as awesome and his sister is following in his footsteps. It’s not often you find a one year old who can smile on command, but Olivia has already mastered that! The kids did so great practising their patience as we circled around the playground during the session. They were rewarded at the end with some play time.

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