Fritz Photography

A few more images from Young Life’s Wildhorse Canyon. These kids have so much fun. Young Life knows how to do camp. I spent every summer at week-long camps from probably fifth grade through high school (as did my wife), and they are some of my best memories. Kids here often say it’s the best week of their lives. Many come on scholarships from broken families and troubled backgrounds. It’s pretty sweet to see them have such a blast, be loved on, encouraged. You can see them standing straighter and smiling more by the end of the week.

I had a videographer friend visit me here yesterday, and we spent the day playing pingpong and pool, rock climbing, and blobbing. It was a blast, and I am sore to prove it.

One of the things I routinely advertise when talking about my wedding and documentary/photojournalistic photography is that I ‘capture the little moments’ that make the day special, and that I capture memories that people will cherish. I received an email from a recent groom, Scott, sharing with me about one of the more special ‘moments’ I’ve had the privilege of capturing.

You’ll probably recall Leigh’s grandmother, Heijin (“Mommom”), from the wedding (you took several amazing shots of her). She actually passed away last Saturday, and Leigh is now back East for the services. I also mention this because you captured such an amazing photo of her – the one where Leigh is holding the side of her grandma’s face with her left hand – which now has incredible meaning to it. Leigh’s grandfather, and Heijin’s husband, passed away just three months ago as well. It’s clear that Heijin was clearly hanging on until the wedding, and then was ready to pass on and be with her husband, as so often happen when a spouse dies later in life. This is captured amazingly in that one photo you took – it’s as if her face is full of both extreme joy for being there for her granddaughter on such a happy day, as well as extreme sadness, knowing that this was probably the last time that she would be with Leigh and several members of the family on such a joyous occasion. It’s really incredible how a picture is worth a thousand words – and in this case, it’s more like a lifetime’s worth. Thank you for capturing that moment.

Stories like this make my work that much more meaningful. Having just lost a dear, dear friend to cancer yesterday, I know how precious such memories of the last moments you spent together can be, as you struggle to come to terms with the enduring ache of loss.

I’m not really sure where to start in talking about Meaghan and Damon. So I’ll start with a partial list:

Meaghan is a Naturopathic Doctor and Acupuncturist, rock climber/surfer/dancer/athlete, Gyrotonics instructor. Damon is a banker who is going to ride from Welches, over Mt Hood via Timberline, to Hood River next weekend. They both work out at an exclusive gym here in Portland in which you have to pass a two week boot camp just to see if they’ll let you join. I’m barely scratching the surface here. They’re a pretty cool couple.

And they photograph well. We headed to Cathedral Park for a location portrait session. Here are a few favorites. If you want to see the lovey-dovey stuff, too, watch the slideshow. It’s fun. You’ll see Damon bust a move from Karate Kid, and Meaghan shows off her muscles.

The other day I had a photo shoot on the beach here in Portland. After completing the work I was there to do, I shot a few more images, just for fun. Play is often the best way to learn and grow as an artist. Sometimes I create portraits just to have some new images to play with, to try things on in post-processing. It’s like a painter making sketches, toying with ideas and colors and lines. You refine your ideas, you test your pallette, you learn some things. And sometimes they’re good.

Here are a few that I have been playing with. Sometimes it’s hard to choose which ones to show, so I thought I’d show a bunch.

Ever since returning from Europe I’ve had a dilemma: where to photograph?

Having spent time in such beautiful places as Provence, Languedoc, Paris, Yorkshire, Budapest, etc., the terrain here in Portland seems bland. The villages of Europe have such lovely texture and color–from the warm yellow stone in Languedoc, to the reddish hues of Russillon, to the castles and ruins of Slovakia–that the brick, concrete, and wood of Portland is old and uninteresting to me. So I’ve been racking my brain for other local locations, doing some scouting.

I’ve also been looking for new faces to work with. I love faces. I’m a face junkie.

Oddly enough, today I shot with a model I’ve worked with before, Tierra, in a location I’ve biked up to many times: Rocky Butte. And we did lovely work. The haze from forest fires made for nice light, too. I’m encouraged.

But I’m always open to great location ideas, so if you have some, please send them along.