The Petersen Hicks

The Petersen family are some of my favorite people. I've traveled and worked and prayed and served and struggled and talked and photographed with them, from France to Florida to Portland. They're great folks.

So whenever I get the chance to photograph their family, I jump at the chance. They commissioned me to photograph their 2 grown daughters and son-in-law at their 5 acre 'homestead' outside of Beaverton. We took a lot of sweet portraits, like the one above. But the fun really started after we'd finished the pretty portraits. That's when the hick kicked in, and we started photographing at their trash pile and porta-potty.

Hamlet asking his questions of a...deer skull.

View more of our Portland family portraits at www.fritzphoto.com!

Introducing the Lovely Laia

Senior photos are so fun to photograph in Portland!  A very enjoyable photo shoot on Saturday with a lovely young lady named Laia. Shooting modeling test shoots for portfolios is a real delight. We photographed on the east side of the Willamette here in Portland in a variety of locations. I think the photos speak for themselves.





Call us when you need your own senior portrait photography Portland!

Cambria and Chantael on the Beach in Florida

Model portfolio photography is some of my favorite photography.  Especially photographing on the beach in Florida!

Models Cambria and Chantael, of Ft Myers, Florida, did some modeling work with me while I was photographing there. We were aiming for a lifestyle look to the photographs: that warm, light, natural light look that I enjoy creating. Reminds me of a J Jill catalog.







I'm regularly posting new images in my website, of model portfolio photography in Portland, Oregon. They also make it into my travel and editorial photography website. Take a look!

Shooting Meredith in the Snow

With the record levels of snow we've been getting around here lately, I've been wanting to get out and photograph a Portland model in it. I was blessed to have a young lady I've photographed with in the past volunteer to work with me again this past weekend. So we went to the highest point in Portland--Council Crest--where it was still 32 degrees and very covered in snow. Meredith was a real trooper, wearing a party dress in this kind of weather for quite a while. And it paid off. We photographed some great, quirky images for her fashion photography portfolio, and were treated to a beautiful sunset at the very end.

Lydia

A couple of classic shots from a studio shoot this week. The photo session was even more interesting when I learned that the model, Lydia, is married to a Moroccan. Since we've both been there recently, we talked about Morocco as we worked, and about the 5 or 6 languages she speaks, and the 5 or 6 jobs she holds.

FamLea

I love all the interesting family portrait photography I get to do with the interesting people of Portland!  The Lea family has a pretty cool house in cozy Multnomah Village. When they invited me over to create some fun family and individual portraits, I didn't know that they also had...chickens! After some tea and conversation, we got right down to business, including down on the play room floor. Later, out at the chicken pen, their little boys were showing us the chickens. As Harper held the chickens up, a couple of them started flapping their wings like crazy and fussing. "It's a chicken debacle!" he cried. I was impressed. That is an eight year old with a vocabulary.







.

Fall is Portrait Season in Portland

For whatever reason, Fall seems to be the season people want professional portraits here in Portland. I've had a lot of fun working with individuals, high school seniors, families, and business and magazine clients to create some cool portraits. Here are some recent samples:









And a little self-portrait, while I'm at it:

Living to the Hilt with Maheen

Maheen saw my photographic portrait work online and fell in love with it, so she hired me. As we walked and talked and photographed, she told me a little of her story.

A couple years ago, she was driving in Florida with her sister. A truck smashed in to her side of the car, and when she woke up in the hospital, she had multiple fractures in her pelvis, and trauma to the side of the head. In just a few days, her nerve damage turned to paralysis.

She tells me that before her accident, she studied hard, worked hard, and was advancing in her field. But after the accident, and after her paralysis lifted, she decided she needed to do a little living. And living, for her, included sky diving. And having her portrait taken every year.

Well, it turns out she just had her portrait taken a few months back, and she was researching photographers to work with next year. When she found my work, she decided she couldn't wait until next summer to work with me, so she emailed me, and we set up a location portrait session.

Even though she said she would freeze up in front of the camera, I assured her she wouldn't. Although I thought she might freeze up toward the end of our portrait session, when she waded out into the Willamette River across from downtown Portland.

I think every time a portrait subject gets into a body of water, the photos are extra cool. I told her later that whenever I tell someone about our portraits in the Willamette River, they tell me how impressed they are by her courage. She wrote back, "ha ha ha! i guess you only live once! might as well live it to the hilt!"

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....

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!