The Soul of Portraiture: A Four-Day Portrait Photography Immersion
with Fritz Liedtke
May 12 – 15, 2026
Course Description
In this immersive four-day workshop in Santa Fe, fine-art and commercial photographer Fritz Liedtke guides you beyond technique into the true art of portraiture. Together, we explore what it means to see deeply, connect authentically, and create images that transcend the ordinary.
Amid the luminous light and rich textures of Santa Fe, you photograph inspiring models in evocative locations—desert landscapes, adobe walls, and old-world courtyards—to create portraits that are beautiful, moody, and meaningful.
Through discussions, live demonstrations, and guided photo sessions, you refine your artistic voice, learn to use natural and artificial light with intention, direct your subjects with confidence, and develop your editing process to enhance mood and style. With Fritz’s hands-on guidance and immediate feedback, you learn to create portraits that reflect your unique artistic vision.
On a personal level, Fritz also guides you through exercises that help you break through emotional barriers, refine your artistic vision, listen to your intuition, and discover the poetry within portraiture.
In this workshop, we cover the following—and much more:
- Researching and scouting locations that are suitable for portraiture
- Using model releases and building professional relationships with your talent
- Studying the work of master portrait photographers to emulate and expand upon their techniques
- Building rapport with subjects and posing them with clarity and ease
- Finding and shaping natural light to create evocative portraits
- Using portable artificial lighting (flash) effectively and creatively
- Editing efficiently and beautifully in Lightroom and other software
- Developing a cohesive portrait projects or series
- Identifying and overcoming fears and limitations that hinder your portrait photography
Expect to depart Santa Fe not only with striking new images and new friendships, but with fresh insight, confidence, and new ways of seeing and understanding people through portraiture.
Additional Information
WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
What You Should Know:
Participants must be proficient in digital workflow and custom functions on your digital SLR or mirrorless camera. Participants must be able to download, select, and submit images for class each day.
Activity Level:
To get the most from your workshop experience, participants should be in good physical (mobility, stamina) and mental health. Come prepared for the high elevation of Santa Fe, long days, and seasonal weather including high temperatures. You must be able to carry your own photographic and personal gear at all times, both on campus and on location. You are responsible for being open and honest about your physical fitness, and we reserve the right to remove you from the workshop if we find your fitness to be less than that which you have described.
Policies:
View Payment, Refund, Withdrawal, and Transfer Policies for domestic workshops.
Accommodations:
Participants are responsible for making their own housing arrangements in Santa Fe. On-campus accommodations are not currently available.
Meals:
Categories
about
Fritz Liedtke began photographing as a teen, carrying his Kodak 110 Instamatic around on a US tour with his father at age 14, in their little blue Datsun B210. As an adult, he as continued to explore the world, camera in hand.
Fritz holds a BFA in photography and printmaking, and has won numerous awards, grants, and residencies for his work. His images have been widely published by magazines such as National Geographic, Lenswork, PDN, Professional Photographer, View Camera Magazine, Rangefinder, Silvershotz, PhotoLife, Diffusion, and blogs such as Lenscratch, Photoeye, LensCulture, F-stop, and others. His work is held in such collections as the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Griffin Museum of Photography, The Haggerty Museum, Portland Art Museum, Yale University Library, Lishui Museum of Photography, Scripps College Rare Book Collection, and more. View his Vitae here.
Aside from making art, Fritz enjoys creating unique images for his commercial and editorial clients, traveling, and teaching workshops on photography and the artistic life. He is constantly looking for new ways to approach the world through art.
Fritz and his family call Portland, Oregon their home. They live on several acres outside of town surrounded by herons, egrets, ducks, and bitterns. And a few frogs.
Websites: fritzliedtke.com and fritzphotographic.com
Instagram: @fritzphoto1
