Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

Kate and Keith used the newly warm weather as an opportunity to update their family photos. The last time I saw them, Avianna wasn’t quite walking age yet, and now she was tearing around the park with her brother Mac! We conveniently have a park in between our homes (where we always run into each other!) so we met there for their spring mini session. The last of the spring blossoms were still out so it was a perfect day!

After a few standard portraits, it was time for a water fight! They came ready with water guns, water balloons, and a backup supply to reload when the first round was finished. Keith was the victim of most of the fight, and the kids delighted in soaking their dad!

Catherine and Douglas planned their event from across the country and returned to Douglas’s home town for their Springbreak Flower Farm summer wedding. With family members traveling from near and far, it was like a mini destination wedding!

Catherine swore she would never marry a military man, but then Douglas came along! The two are so compatible, including their mutual love of taking their cats on backpack adventures. What stood out the most in their personalities was how happy and positive they are. Despite some significant setbacks, from skin burns to a tray of cupcakes falling to the floor to botched dress alterations (Catherine’s mom ended up having to sew her into the dress that day), their positivity never faltered. They were just so happy to be marrying the love of their life! Douglas could not stop looking at his beautiful bride all day.

Catherine was a natural at wedding planning. She is a French language teacher and used to doing lots of planning! (She even laughed about how she had highlighted Douglas’s parts in their speech.) This attention to detail meant the day ran so smoothly, they had plenty of time to relax in between parts of the day (even if that contributed to a few extra tummy butterflies!).

Congratulations, Catherine and Douglas!

Baby C was adorable at her photoshoot with her big blue eyes and toothy grin! We started with an indoor photo session in their home where Baby C is happiest. She loved rolling around on their big bed and grabbing her toes. Once she had her fill of kisses from mom and dad there, we headed outside for early morning Henderson Lake family photos. Not only was I in love with her smile, but I loved watching the joy she brings her parents when they interact with her. Their grins are even bigger than hers!

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Tyler booked her Lethbridge high school graduation portraits many months in advance so I’ve been looking forward to them quite some time! I love seeing the dresses graduates choose for their big day. This important article of clothing always shows so much personality.

Tyler’s photoshoot was a great trial run for her actual grad, giving her a chance to test out hair and makeup and break in her shoes. If you can walk in high heels over the soft ground of a park, walking inside a building should be a breeze! She chose such a gorgeous red dress for her grad with a high neck sparkly detail, open back, and leg slit on one side. It looked like a gown made for fancy cocktail parties!

We went to the park by the university and mostly managed to avoid the wind by hiding the in trees. Unfortunately our second location I picked out was not so sheltered! We worked quickly there as even the chair was blowing away if Tyler wasn’t holding it down :)

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This summer I teamed up with a local organization to build up their image library with Lethbridge lifestyle photography. After running a model call on my website, several families were selected to take part in the project. I got to work with such a diverse group of people, from friends to past clients to some new faces! We ended up with so many natural and joyful images for the organization to choose from. Here are some of my favorites!

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Katelyn and Brendan met with me for Nicholas Sheran wedding portraits immediately following their intimate church ceremony. The smoke from BC rolled into Lethbridge during their wedding ceremony, giving the park a dreamy haze by the time they stepped outside for photos. The pink glow from the smoke perfectly complemented their peach coloured roses while their main wedding colour of red provided a gorgeous pop of colour in the haze.

They kept their wedding party small, including Brendan’s own father as the best man. The small size of their group gave me so much time to focus on Katelyn and Brendan’s portraits. Even better was the fact they got married on a weekday, so we had the whole park to ourselves!

Congratulations, Katelyn and Brendan!

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