Brian Amdur
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About

Howdy!

 A lifelong lover of the outdoors, Brian thrives in bad weather and is fueled by hot yerba mate. Brian has spent summers as a wildland firefighter, falls sailing through the Adriatic, winters skiing in Japan, and springs wondering what the hell is next. Behind the lens, he’ll do whatever it takes to capture images that tell more than the story — brining you to environments that celebrate their harsh beauty while candidly capturing the people that play and work amongst it.

lets tell a story.

 
 
 
Lieutenant Amdur...I could get used to calling you that. Congrats on your promotion to an officer bud, you absolutely earned it. The Evergreen community is lucky to have you watching over them. Keep on crushing it Lieutenant, wear that red hat with p
This #givingtuesday, I’m excited to partner with the @wffoundation and release a 2021 calendar showcasing my favorite fire photography from the last three years across the West. The @wffoundation helps families of injured or killed firefighter
Last month, I connected with the @lewistontribune and shared some thoughts and photos about what it’s like bringing my camera into wildfires. At the end of the day, my job isn’t to be a photographer, but when the opportunity presents itse
Missing summer days cruising low and fast over them hazy hills. East Canyon Fire, June 2020
Every year when layoffs come around, I look back at the people that I was  lucky enough to meet and work with. It was one hell of a year, cheers to the 2020 crew of 28HJ. As put best by Hoot: “When I get home people’ll ask me
Not too long ago when the skies were clear and the fires were calm, I got to photograph the Mt. Rainer Helitack perform a short-haul proficiency training. Short-haul is a technique some specialized crews utilize to insert and extract rescuers in ha
Day 69 for our crew on the Cameron Peak Fire and we’re seeing a lot of this: “Nuked” out forest with nothing left in the fire’s path. It’s demoralizing, frustrating, and exhausting fighting fires that beat you back day
Scenes from the Cameron Peak Mobile Retardant Base this past week. You’ve probably seen the pictures of big jumbo jets dropping red “mud” on a wildfire. This fire retardant is meant to slow the spread of the fire and prevent it fr
Our bird going to work on bucket drops as we anchor and begin constructing line on the Squirrel Rock Fire back in June.
Amongst the ashes, exists a light. A light that gets brighter through community, hope, and selflessness. It is in times of tragedy when we often find ourselves coming together the most. It’s the American spirt. A notion of putting aside differe
There’re lots of different people that go into large wildland firefighting support. Not just the men and women on the front lines digging in the dirt, but folks who focus on logistics, communications, finance, food, and supplies. It truly takes
I've never experienced what it means to be living in an extreme climate until the past three days. On Monday, I watched from above as the Cameron Peak Fire grew 45,000 acres fueled by 50 mph winds and what seemed like an infinite number of beetle-kil
Helicopter 8HA slinging in cargo Saturday as fire activity increased during the Cameron Peak Fire in Fort Collins, Colorado. For the last three days, high winds have brought the fire up to 89,000 acres as firefighters work against continuous spotting
The fourth burn operation we did last week on Division Echo of the Pine Gulch Fire. While constructing handline is one tactic, putting intentional fire on the ground is a strategy that reduces available fuel when the fire front arrives. Fighting f
Afternoon blow ups leading to evening burn ops 👌🏻
Hell of a time out on the Pine Gulch Fire with Craig Hotshots these last 14 days. Thanks for the opportunity fellas, it was a wild one🤘🏻 Didn’t have my camera on this one, so had to make due with the phone.
One of my favorite moments of the season so far. Pictured is Senior Firefighter Cass Weidemueller jotting down notes about the fire before calling into dispatch with his fire size up. Amongst turbulent air, low altitude flying, heat from the fire,
Waiting for an end to the desert’s monsoons.
Checking the tail rotor and left main rotor’s clearance as the crew comes in for a hover STEP insertion.
Exposure time. A safety concept we talk about a lot when referring to minimizing the time under our helicopter when the rotors are turning. As a result, the crew has got to be as efficient as possible when loading the helicopter full of gear or perso

Headshot by Jake Smith