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About Us
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Teaching Philosophies
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Instructors
Midwest Photography Workshops (MPW) has provided quality workshops and classes in the Midwest area for over 39 years.
With over 200 classes, Workshops and Extended Photo Trips, together with a staff of 20, Midwest Photographic Workshops offers wide range of photographic subjects, including: the landscape, nature, wildlife, portrait, macro, fashion, boudoir, nude/figure in studio and on location, tabletop, wedding, model portfolio. Instruction is also available for Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe Lightroom and a host of others. All classes and workshops have small class sizes designed to provide an optimum student to instructor ratio.
Each instructor is an expert in their field and provide the students an opportunity to learn from someone who has both practical and theoretical knowledge of the workshop subject matter. Many of our workshops have more than one instructor present at the same time, and our students often remark that it is exciting to learn that there is more than one approach to shooting the same subject.
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The concept that more than one way to approach composition and the interpretation of a scene has been an excellent learning experience for our students.
Bryce Denison is the director of Midwest Photography Workshops. He has been teaching photographic workshops and courses for over 38 years and has put together guidelines to ensure that students have the finest workshop experience possible.
All workshops are taught on location in the environment, at our modern studio (with complete lighting setups, props, and backgrounds), or at our computer lab (12 stations). Midwest Photography Workshops' teaching methods center around a commitment to a hands on approach, where the majority of the student's time is spent in the field with the instructors. This translates into some classroom instruction, with most of the workshop time spent photographing on location with personal instruction and demonstrations. To achieve this optimum experience, we limit class sizes to an ideal student to instructor ratio. Because of this low ratio, workshops often have two, three, or more instructors present. In workshops where a model is used, the maximum student to model to instructor ratio is kept at one instructor per model for every 6 to 10 (or less) students. Each student receives personal help as he or she may need. Instructors are always present to answer questions and assist with composition, metering, and exposure. Student groups rotate to each instructor at the workshop, giving them exposure to a variety of philosophies and techniques. In our artistic nude figure, fashion, and boudoir workshops, instructors help students develop confidence in the areas of posing, makeup, and lighting. As a result, our students are capable of working independently in their areas of interest rather quickly.
Our students often comment on the advantages of having more than one instructor at some of our workshops. Each instructor usually has his or her own viewpoint on which elements to include in the composition and how to frame those elements in the final image. By exposing the students to different concepts on how to photograph a scene, the students feel free to experiment with composition and develop their own vision as they become aware that there is more than one correct approach to making a photograph. By the end of the workshop most students have progressed to the point of making personal statements by previsualizing the finished image and by experimenting with composition, posing, and lighting to achieve these statements.
Many classes and workshops will provide the student with a CD or DVD containing notes, images or a Powerpoint presentation of information relevant to the class they are enrolled in. Model releases are not provided for images made with models in workshops. Our goal is to provide instruction in order to make students self sufficient to to hire their own model, shoot, print and display works as independent fine art photographers. Images taken in MPW workshops can be used in camera club competitions or placed in the students portfolio, but may not be offered for sale. Images taken at a Midwest Photography Workshop workshop may be included on the students personal web site provided that photo credit is attached that the image was taken during a Midwest Photography Workshop workshop.
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Bryce Denison - holds a BFA from the College for Creative Studies; The College of Art and Design, and a MA from Wayne State University in photography. He travels and lectures around the country at colleges and at various photographic events, and presents workshops in both the U.S. and Canada. Bryce lectures on behalf of Ilford Corporation and is a representative for Westcott Corporation at national meetings and conventions. He currently works as a forensic photographer for the City of Detroit Fire Department. His work has been exhibited nationally and his work is represented in the permanent collection of several museums and galleries, as well as private collections across the country. |
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An artist by training and education, Rich obtained a degree in art from the University of Detroit Mercy. While in graduate studies at Wayne State University, he painted the official portrait of William R. Keast, past president of the University. Before becoming a professional photographer, he taught Graphics and Design at Mercy College and Wayne State University. While working as a photographer for a national manufacturer, he rose to the position of creative art director. Starting when the industry was using film and wet darkroom, airbrushing, and keylining, he progressed to digital technology and brought his department with him. At that time Photoshop 2.5 had no layers and only one undo but the tools intuitively mirrored the drawing board and wet darkroom and so were a natural. He has gone on to using Photoshop on a proficient level ever since. A “hands on” art director, Rich is now owner of Market by Design, Inc. where he has been utilizing his skills of digital photography, Photoshop retouching and graphics, along with fine art, on a daily basis. Rich approaches Photoshop from a visual artist’s as well as a photographer’s perspective with emphasis on maintaining the professional quality and creativity necessary to compete in the marketplace. His philosophy is that Photoshop can help make your images yield maximum impact, detail, and technical quality in an efficient and nondestructive manner if your goals are to harm no pixels and to understand the principles behind the techniques. |
Jim Zuckerman left his medical studies in 1970 to turn his love of photography into a career. He has lectured and taught creative photography at many universities and private schools, including UCLA, Kent State University, the Hallmark Institute of Photography, and the Palm Beach Photographic Center. He also has led both domestic and international photo tours for 31 years to Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, and the American Southwest. He has been to 73 countries, searching for the most compelling subjects in the world to photograph. Zuckerman was a contributing editor to Photographic Magazine for 32 years. He now writes for Shutterbug Magazine. His images, articles and photo features have been published in hundreds of books and magazines including several Time-Life Books, publications of the National Geographic Society, Outdoor Photographer, Omni Magazine, Conde Nast Traveler, Science Fiction Age, Australia's Photo World, and Greece's Opticon. He is the author of twelve books on photography and is currently writing his 13th. His work has been used for packaging, advertising, and editorial layouts in forty five countries around the world. Jim's images have also appeared in calendars, posters, greeting cards, and corporate publications |
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Marilyn Zimmerman is a communitarian photography, installation, performance artist and an Associate Professor of the Department of Art and Art History at Wayne State University. Her interrelated social documentary photographic projects involve re-envisioning the urban past, the (post) nuclear family and images of the aging of women and most recently honoring the crones; large-scale portraits of octogenarian women who are vivid personalities. In each, she investigates the inherent limitations of these over-romanticized systems by means of research and autobiographical images and experiences to incorporate a social critique inclusive of gender, race and class. She was cofounder of Urban Margins, an artists collective addressing issues of race, class, gender and is the Director of the Woodward Re-Photographic Project which was exhibited at the Detroit Historical Museum during the Detroit Tri-Centennial year of 2001. Marilyn holds a B.F.A. degree from Purdue University and an M.F.A. degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work also serves to bring balance to the imbalance of these hierarchal structures. Her work is collected in the Detroit Institute of Art, Victorian, Albert Museum, Art Institute of Chicago and she was the co-founder of the collaborative arts organization URBAN MARGINS and has exhibited internationally. Marilyn has recently collaborated with Carol Jacobsen and Shaun Banert on a documentary film addressing 30 years of woman's work that has been censored. It has played at the 2007 Feminist and Lesbian Film Festival in Paris, France. |
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Stela Zaharieva Born in Bulgaria, she graduated from the French Language School and later majored in Bulgarian and French Literature and Linguistics at the University of Plovidiv. Stela holds a degree in Photography from Oakland County Community College and has won numerous awards from various exhibitions and shows. www.stelazaharieva.com/ |
| Photography has been apart of my life since I was around 12 years old. My father let me use a 126 Brownie box camera and I was off from there. While studying business and computer technologies at Macomb Community College and Wayne State University, I discovered digital photography. This led me to continue to explore this new method of photography. I think I understand how past photographers must have felt when they were given their first roll of film instead of a stack of film plates. Over the years I have always had a camera and took pictures everywhere I went. Recording the places I visited and things I did. As my children grew up I continued to photograph them in their many activities. Today my favorite subjects are my grandchildren. There is nothing more fun than chasing a toddler with a camera. Creating photographs for others has always brought great joy to me. Having fun and helping people step out of their shell in front of the lens has and will always bring a smile to my heart. My mission as a photographer is to use my skills and abilities to capture my subject in a setting and manner that will show the person in a natural state. As an instructor with Midwest Photography Workshops, I have been able to pass on my passion of using both my creativity and knowledge of technology to make great photographs. |
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Paul McKinney holds a A.B. degree from Georgetown University and a J. D. degree from the University of Michigan. He is an avid nature and wildlife photographer. Paul enjoys sharing practical ideas and solutions for the field and his passion for photography with his students. |
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Paul Bednarski, a nationally recognized photographer, has been lecturing, teaching, exhibiting and demonstrating his creative work for over 20 years. Illustrative best describes Bednarski's predominate photographic style. A Detroit native, Bednarski spent his early years at the renowned Cass Tech High School studying fine arts and design which led him to the distinguished Center for Creative Studies where he pursued his natural gift and love of photography. As Graphic Designer and Director of Visual Communication in the corporate sector for many years, along with leadership positions in a national photographic organization, Paul has established himself as a creative artist blending the tools and roles from the past into today's world of digital photography. Paul's ability to execute great images – whether working with creative directors and architects in the corporate arena to professionals, authors, and actors – comes from his ability to see the beauty in the detail and transform an image that communicates the essence of the project or the individual. When not at work, his lens never leaves his side which allows him to capture "present moments" whether traveling and exploring new cultures, creating succulent dishes from his kitchen, or sailing the high seas. Paul understands the holistic image. "Because all visual detail is part of a collective beauty; an illustrative approach to photography is simply my style of clarifying, reducing and enhancing visual elements that are invisible in the movement world and so prominent in the still." ~ Paul Bednarski |
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CJ Elfont is a co-founder of Midwest Photographic Workshops (MPW) and has been teaching workshops since 1978. Currently, he is an instructor for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Clemson University. His “Isolate Theory” forms the basis of many of his students’ understanding of composition, and is briefly described in Vincent Versace’s book, Welcome to Oz: A Cinematic Approach to Digital Still Photography with Photoshop. Having begun as a black and white, large format, nature photographer, he has since used a wide spectrum of formats and techniques, concentrating in the past several years on digital photography and Adobe Photoshop. Among his credits are three coffee table books (Sand Dunes of the Great Lakes, Harbor Wanderers, and Roar of Thunder, Whisper of Wind) and one instructional book. His work has been shown in approximately 25 galleries and 2 museums in such cities as Toronto, San Francisco, Carmel, New Orleans, Denver and in many locations throughout the Midwest. Over a span of 25 years, he has been the sole photographer of myriad magazine articles in publications such as Travel & Leisure, Sierra Club, Great Lakes Travel & Living, and numerous others. CJ received both a B.S. and a D.D.S. degree from the University of Maryland. Photography and dentistry were his twin professions until he retired from dentistry in 1996. |
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Taro Yamasacki started his career in photojournalism as a staff photographer for the Detroit Free Press in 1977. During his six years there he won a number of journalism and photojournalism awards including state and national American Bar Association awards, and the 1981 Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for Feature Photography. In 1983 Yamasacki started freelancing working on assignment for a number of magazines including Time, Life, People, Fortune, Forbes, and Sports Illustrated. In 1985 he became a Contributing Photographer at People, traveling throughout the United States and the world, photographing in-depth, between the-headline, human interest stories. In 1999 and 2000, Yamasacki served as Distinguished Visiting Artist in Residence a the University of Michigan School of Art and Design. For the last several year he has traveled to Asia, Europe, and the United States photographing travertine architecture. A book of these photographs, his second on the subject was published in November 2003. |
Alan Hoskins has over 20 years experience in computer technology, He currently owns his own documentation and imaging company responsible for documenting large and mainframe computers. Allen has been active in digital imaging and astronomy from the start of the digital imaging revolution. Enjoying all types of earthly and celestial photography Allen has spent countless hours perfecting his celestial workflow. Allen is proficient with a number of specialized software applications specifically used in celestial photography as well as photoshop, noise ninja, capture one pro, stack register. Allen has been published in a number of technical magazines. Allen holds a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Oakland University. |
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Lewis Dennison is a photographer living and working in the Detroit Metropolitan area whose primary artistic thrust is in the area of Fetishism. He perceives the fetish subculture as a vehicle for the natural extension and progression of normal sexual fantasy. His images portray the fetishist as an artist whose art form takes shape in a world of blatant exhibitionism. Restraints and bindings are overlaid on a palate of form and grace, often contrasting the opposing values of beauty and anti-beauty as a mirror of the societal wars which rage over these conflicting viewpoints. As these opposing viewpoints are debated in our national media, it is refreshing to find an artist whose vision transcends the conflict and presents a personal view unfettered by the bias of either opinion |
At the age of 5, I decided that I would be an artist for the rest of my life. I was born in Roswell, NM and raised on a family owned farm near Dexter, NM where my journey into art began. I started taking lessons at the age of 10 from a local Art Teacher, Dorothy Steinberger, continuing through High School with instruction from a highly respected Artist and School Teacher, Paul Drum. Mr. Drum inspired me and still does to this day. After graduating from Dexter High School, I attended the Colorado Institute of Art and have spent my life doing fine art and graphic design and murals. My face painting career started in 1994 as a hobby at small festivals using acrylic paints. In 2002 at a festival in Grapevine, TX, I made the acquaintance of another face painter, Judy Kubik, who introduced me to professional make-up. At that time I had no idea how profoundly this would change my life. Since then I have held the position of lead painter and art director for Living Color in Dallas and have done live demos on Channel 8 in New York at the Great New York State Fair and on FOX 4 in Dallas at the Texas State Fair. I was a featured Artist in the Face and Body Painting International Magazine Vol 9 in 2004 and won “Best Over All” at the International Face and Body Art Convention in Orlando. I was also Co-Owner and Art Director for Enchanted Body's in Dallas, a company that specializes in custom body art and photography. http://www.markreidart.com/index.html |
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Nancy began studying art at the age of ten through the Cleveland Museum of Art and under the tutelage of her mother Mary Gardiner Nutting, a renowned Cleveland portrait artist. Swearingen became one of the charter students in the world famous Interlochen Arts Academy and continued her education at Michigan State University, Northwestern Michigan College and Western Michigan University, the latter from which she received her B. A. in Fine Art. While she pursued selective graduate studies at Eastern Michigan University, she exhibited her paintings, drawings and etchings in juried art shows and fairs throughout the eastern United States. She also designed and created commissions from residential and commercial projects as chief designer at Adams Mill Studio, a flat (stained) glass studio in Alexandria, Virginia. Swearingen moved to southeastern Michigan to concentrate on portrait and landscape painting and soon met with critical acclaim. Her works exhibited at the Scarab Club, the Michigan Gallery, the Detroit Artist's Market and other venues throughout the greater Detroit area. Fate played a critical part in her decision to focus on photography in 1992 when the onset of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome made it difficult to paint. The camera became her paintbrush and her portraiture work soon received national notice with clientele throughout the United States. She is an award winning photographer from the Professional Photographers of America and her work was displayed in its 2001 Showcase of Photographershttp://swearingenportraits.com/ |
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Linda Denison holds a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Eastern Michigan University and a masters degree in Education from THE University of Michigan (Go Blue!). She is an award winning photographer who's expertise in the natural sciences: geology, Biology zoology and other ologies make her an excellent teacher. In addition to teaching at Midwest Photography Workshops she also teaches "short people" in the Grosse Pointe Public Schools system. She likes taking long walks with her black Labrador Retriever Einstein (who thinks she is a scientist because she comes with her own "Lab Coat". While Linda is a master teacher, she is also particularly adept in the use of duct tape. |