Transcendent Portraiture
with Fritz Liedtke
March 3 – 20, 2025
Course Description
Great portraiture is about more than the right lens and the right lighting. It’s about having a vision and connecting with your subject to make images that transcend the simple headshot. In this workshop you fine-tune your vision and technique to approach portraiture like an artist and create gorgeous, surprising, moody, atmospheric images.
Fine-art and commercial photographer Fritz Liedtke leads you first through the “why” of portraiture and then through the “how to” as we explore—and learn from—the work of master artists. In addition to learning how to develop an authentic rapport with your subjects, you discover ways of posing and lighting them to look their best.
Through live instructor demonstrations and discussions, we cover multiple methods for directing and posing our subjects, working with natural light (and modifying it to your advantage), working with artificial lighting and off-camera flash equipment, and combining existing light with artificial light. Demonstrations also include post-processing of images to create the final look you originally envisioned. In this way, you understand the complete process of creating gorgeous portraits, from start to finish. Also discussed are strategies for locating and connecting with volunteer subjects to photograph.
Weekly assignments help you gain fluidity and confidence in your work, and by experimenting with portraiture post-processing, you accentuate the mood, feel, and style that best expresses your vision. You finish the workshop with new experience and insights—not to mention stunning images you can be proud of.
Additional Information
WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
What You Should Know:
Working knowledge of digital workflow and manual mode on your digital SLR or mirrorless camera. Participants must be able to download and select images using image editing software for class sessions.
Special Notes:
Class will meet 9:30-11:30 am (Mountain Time) on Mondays and Thursdays starting March 3 and ending March 20 (six online group sessions). Enrollment is limited to 12 participants.
Zoom Video Conferencing software (available for no charge from Zoom.com) will be used to facilitate the class sessions. Further details will be emailed to registrants.
Santa Fe Workshops always aims to produce a high-quality experience for our online attendees. That said, variables including regional and local internet provider speeds, traffic on Zoom's servers, and your own computing hardware can contribute to a less than ideal streaming event. While we do our best to minimize the impact of these variables, they are outside the control of Santa Fe Workshops.
Policies:
View Withdrawal and Transfer Policies for online programs.
For the convenience of participants, recordings of each class session are posted privately for one month after the end of each session. Santa Fe Workshops takes the recordings down after one month to protect the intellectual property of our instructors.
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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. Twenty-five years later, he continues 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
