Focus on Photography

Last year I had some images published in the photography text Focus on Photography, by Herman Joyner and Kathleen Monaghan. It's a beautiful book, well thought out and laid out.

Today I received the following email from a teacher in Omaha:

Hello Fritz Liedtke,

I am an art teacher and this is my first year teaching digital photography. We have the Focus on Photography book and I looked up your personal photography web site and was blown away. The color in your images is incredible and the subject matters are deep and respectful of your subjects. The compositions are powerful and I will guide my students to your site. Thank You for having your images out for us to view and I wish you lots of luck selling your images!

Sincerely,

Jennie Wilson

Molly McNeal

Actors and models always need headshots in order to apply for theater or advertising or modeling gigs. So when a model or actress calls me and asks for headshots, I always ask: what kind do you want? Do you just want photographs of your head (which are important and useful), or do you want portraits? I usually aim for the latter, since portraits are much more personal and expressive, not to mention a lot more fun to photograph.

So when Molly McNeal called me the other day, asking for headshots, I asked her the same question. She liked what she'd seen of my portraits online, so we scheduled a portrait session at Portland's Rhododendron Gardens, and, after sorting through her extensive wardrobe, went to work.

Molly's friend Amelia joined us, dogsitting Kharma, and assisting us. So we got some photos of her in as well.

I think you can see the actress in her in the portraits....

Meaghan and Damon Got Married

This was one of my all-time favorite weddings to photograph.

Back in July I posted some cool engagement portraits of Meaghan and Damon. Well, now they're married.

I love to photograph at Mt Hood Bed and Breakfast. It's a spectacular site, with a clear view of Mt Hood hovering over everything. Mike and Jackie, the owners, make everybody feel like part of the family. And the girls get ready in an old chicken coop. What more could you ask for in a wedding venue?

Here are a few favorites from their wedding. It's hard to pick, when you have around 600 photographs to choose from.





Meaghan's awe-inspiring wedding dress is from Wai-Ching Clothing, out of Seattle. That girl's got class. And some gorgeous wedding dress designs.





Damon's very cool suit is custom tailored, from Duchess Clothier, in Portland. They do nice stuff.



And the cake was from Saint Cupcake! Yum!



Well, a beautiful end to a beautiful day of wedding photography at Mount Hood Bed and Breakfast. Thanks to Kami Aguilar of WedPortland for her great work as wedding coordinator!

Call us to be your Mt Hood Bed and Breakfast wedding photographer!

Bart and Thea Hafeman and the Four Zs

Bart Hafeman is a musician and DJ; we've known each other for several years, meeting and catching up at various events. I knew he lived in Scappoose, Oregon (Scappoose!), had a studio there, and a family.

He called me up last week, and asked if I'd do some family portraits for him, which I was glad to do. So I drove out to Scappoose (Scappoose!) today, and met his beautiful wife and four children (Zane, Zach, Zander, and Zoie), in their beautiful house.

The photos are fun and beautiful, but my favorites are of his 8 month old daughter Zoie:







And then there's Zander, who became most animated when he changed into his Superman Tshirt, and showed us how strong he was:


I love Portland family portrait photography when the families are this fun to photograph!

The Carney Twins

Who knew that when I photographed Drew Carney and Mia Stevens' wedding in 2006, that 2 summers later they'd have a pair of adorable twin boys? What a handful! And what a delightful family to photograph. Here are a few images from our portrait session.



Call us to be your family portrait photographers in Portland!

Floss Your Teeth Before Your Wedding...

...Or else somebody else will have to do it for you.

That's just what happened at Erica Grossman and Dennis Kurtz's wedding. She didn't floss. So I gave them some thread from my camera bag's emergency sewing kit, and Dennis went to work. Right there in the vineyard. It was, to say the least, hilarious.

But it certainly fit in with the fun/crazy atmosphere of their wedding. We had a lot of fun photographing them and their family and friends. The wedding was held at Garden Vineyards in Helvetia. Let me just say, Garden Vineyards is a lot more awe-inspiring than their website lets on. For only being half an hour from the heart of Portland, it's a fantastically beautiful, classy site for a wedding, and a wonderful place for wedding photography.







This is the type of fun stuff we love about vineyard wedding photography in Portland!

Fritz Photographic Editorial / Travel / Documentary Website Online

I'm pleased to announce the launch of a new website, www.fritzphotographic.com.

I've photographed assignments for magazines and corporate clients for years, and enjoy it. I've been able to work for many interesting clients, including:

• Northwest Natural Gas
• Union Bank of California
• Northwest Educational Loan Association
• Asics
• Adidas
• Avamere Healthcare
• New Seasons Markets
• Schoolhouse Supplies
• Tiffany's
• Response Magazine
• ETC Magazine
• American Bar Association Journal
• George Fox Journal
• Main Ingredient Magazine
• Qualfied Remodeler Magazine
• Photographer's Forum Magazine
• Symphony Publishing / Symphony, Band and Orchestra Magazine
• Portland Bride and Groom Magazine
• Here Comes the Bride
• The Bridal Loft
• Tamron/Bronica
• CoMotion Venture Capital
• 19th Bombardment Association
• Pacific Nortwest College of Art
• Heavywood Records
• MJC Records
• Rescue Records
• Paul Clark Design
• Open Arms International
• GEM
• OM Artslink
• Murphy Model Management

I've also done travel photography all over the world, photographed for advertising clients, and covered many many documentary stories. The trouble was: I didn't have a great place to showcase this side of my work. So I've created a new website specifically for my editorial, travel, and documentary photography. There's photographic work from Europe, Africa, the US, Mexico, India, the Middle East, and much more.

It's live online! Take a look! Let me know what you think!

I'll be adding new content regularly, including slideshows from particular assignments (upcoming: a delightful portrait series on Middle School Superheroes, and a documentary piece on a First Communion Parade in Algeciras, Spain). So take a look, forward it to your friends and magazine editors, let me know what you think.

You might also note the new logo. My good friend Jacie Kirkenan, of Pink Rabbit Design, created it, and I'm pleased as punch. She dies great work.

Prego Pics

I've always thought that pregnancy or maternity photographs all looked the same: a little gauze wrapped around a figure, a serene pose, hands on the belly. As a result, I've never been that interested in photographing a pregnant woman, until Cierra contacted me. She described her fun-loving relationship with Maurice, and her interest in motorcycles and belly dancing. I couldn't resist. We spent a couple hours working with them on some interesting images, and I'm pleased to say, we never once wrapped her in gauzy fabric.