Tri-County Photography

# #117 Understanding and Using Photo Pills for Astro Photography – A one Day Workshop starting Sunday July 12, 2026 10:00AM-2:00PM

Photo Pills is a cell phone app that has become the “State of the Art” to research where to go and to determine what time you can optimize photos of the night sky. If you want to shoot the Milky Way galactic core, you must determine moon rise and moon set, where the galactic core will be in the sky and how to plan your shoot. Perhaps you want to photograph the moon above your favorite bridge, mountain top or church steeple. This is the program that will reveal all that and more! Your Instructor Lynne Ellen is very knowledgable on this topic. Best of all; the app is less than $10.00 for use on your cell phone and you can take it in the field while shooting to orient your camera for an exceptional shoot.
Later that day, you can sign up for a field trip and join us to apply what we learned that morning. We will drive to a dark sky park at Lake Hudson State Park and shoot the milky way that very night.

# #625 Photograph the Milky Way at Hudson Lake State Park, – A one Day Workshop starting Sunday July 12, 2026 8:00PM-12:0AM

Join us at this dark sky park at Lake Hudson State Park just west of Adrian, MI. (about a two hour drive) to photograph the Milky Way and its Galactic Core. We will meet at 8:00 PM; well before sunset and help you set up your tripods and cameras to capture photos of the Milky Way. We will be done before midnight so you can still easily drive back home that night. Ideally, you will have already attended the #117 class on Photo Pills earlier that morning to gain a full understanding of this cell phone app (less that $10.00 for the app.) which will reveal the times, camera settings and places to photograph the milky way. Your primary Instructor will be Bryce Denison and Lynne Ellen.

# #502 Sunsets and Swimsuits – Sports Illustrated Style – A One Day Workshop Starting Friday July 17, 2026 6:00PM-9:00PM

This Friday evening workshop will provide not only a wonderful shooting opportunity but also instruction on how to shoot under the late evening golden quality of light to enhance texture in your photograph and bring out the warm quality of light available at that time of evening. Learn to use reflectors rather than suffer a harsh flash to fill in shadows, and how to expand or compress the scene simply by changing lens focal length. Learn how to pose the model to look like the professional calendar models and those gracing the covers of your favorite sports magazine. Bring telephoto lenses and a flash. Students are expected to meet at the Kensington Metro Park Maple Beach shelter (Just east of the Boat Rental) by 5:30pm. We will shoot until we run out of light or the park closes. GPS coordinates: 42°32'2.0178" N 83°38'56.4382" W Rain date is the following week. Park admission is not included in fee. Students are expected to bring: camera with ample media cards, wide angle and telephoto lenses, tripod and a lens hood for each lens. Just like you go to a restaurant, it is common and appropriate to give your waitress/waiter a tip or gratuity, such is the case here. You are encouraged to provide a gratuity to your model at the end of a successful shoot. We may have two models depending upon registration.

# #616 Butterflies on the Wing at Barson’s Greenhouse – Westland July 18, 2026 10-12 noon

This two-hour workshop is an excellent opportunity for students to create portfolio quality images of exotic, colorful butterflies close-up. We will meet at the Barson Greenhouse Complex, 6414 N. Merriman Road, Westland, MI 48185 for a two-hour workshop. Tripods are NOT allowed. MPW will have extension tubes available for the Nikon, Sony and Canon camera platforms. With luck, we will have some macro lenses available for students to use as well. Bring your electronic flash to learn an exciting way to not need a tripod yet still get great photos. This greenhouse is very warm in the spring and summer months. Dress lightly; as inside the converted greenhouse, we will be very warm. MPW will provide special diffusors for your flash and show you how to use them to create soft lighting; so important for flower or butterfly photos. Most of the information learned in this workshop can also be applied equally to visiting and shooting in any Botanical Garden elsewhere.