Wisconsin Lighthouses
Half the lighthouses in the United States are in the Great Lakes, where they have helped guide ships across vast waters and stormy swells for over 150 years. And of the Great Lakes states, Wisconsin boasts the second greatest number of lights, with 66 beacons shining brightly in the night. This workshop will explore the lighthouses of the Badger State that stand sentinel along the shores of Lake Michigan, from the greater Milwaukee area up into the far reaches of beautiful Door County.
Workshop Details
Wisconsin Lighthouses
July 9-15, 2027 — 2 Spots Left
This is a 7-night, 7-day workshop. Your adventure begins on the morning of July 9, and ends after the night shoot on July 15.
$3,495 + applicable taxes.
Skill level
Intermediate+. Participants should have a firm grasp of the basic principles of photography and of their cameras, and have a comfortable understanding of night photography fundamentals.
Group size
14, with 2 instructors — 7:1 ratio
Workshop Leaders
Add-On: Plum and Rock Islands
July 16-17, 2027
This is a 2-night, 2-day add-on available only to attendees of the main workshop. Your adventure begins on the afternoon of July 16 and ends after a night shoot on July 17.
More information below.
$1,395 + applicable taxes.
Group size
10, with 2 instructors — 5:1 ratio
Registration
| • Deposit of $TK is required to reserve your spot at the workshop. |
| • Balance of $TK is due on TK. —> Pay balance here. |
| • You may choose the “Pay in Full” ticket if you desire to pay all at once. |
| • Last day for a cancellation request is TK (see cancellation and refund policy). |
| • You may choose the “Pay in Full” ticket if you desire to pay all at once. |
| • The workshop fee does not include lodging, food, airfare, entrance fees, or transportation to or during the workshop. |
The Wisconsin Lighthouses Experience
Our Wisconsin Lighthouses workshop will start in Milwaukee, kicking off with a traditional Wisconsin “supper club” meal at the oldest restaurant in the state to offer such an experience. From there we’ll explore the lighthouses along Wisconsin’s southeasternmost shores, including the beautiful North Point and Wind Point lights. We can even stop at the Kringle home bakery in Racine for some yummy local treats.
From there we’ll road-trip northward for a brief stop in the Two Rivers area, where we’ll have access to the private grounds of a lighthouse on a beautiful wooded section of shore, with trees on three sides and rolling dunes on the fourth. Along the way we’ll be able to day-stop at multiple lighthouses and visit a lighthouse museum.
Then we’ll head up for the second half of the trip, to the stunning stretches of Door County. We’ll have permit-based access to several lights, including one on an island we’ll walk to, a couple of active Coast Guard stations, ones that stand at the end of long piers and a couple on the shores of Green Bay. We’ll also indulge in the regions famous cherries, both in pies and covered in chocolate. And we’ll head out for a traditional “fish boil” dinner.
All told we’ll visit and photograph about 20 lighthouses, day and night, while enjoying the beautiful weather of a Wisconsin summer. If you have a lighthouses passport, you’ll have lots of opportunities to stamp it up!
The Plum and Rock Islands Add-On Experience
Optionally, after the main workshop ends, head out to Plum Island and Rock Island with us to photograph three more lighthouses at night: Pottawatomie Light, and the Plum Island Front Range and Rear Range lighthouses.
Both islands are off the tip of Door County, and both are the sites of lighthouses not often visited. But we’ll be there for night shoots, with special night access from Wisconsin State Parks and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Each evening a private charter boat will bring us to an island before sunset. We’ll have time to explore in daylight, shoot in sunset light, and then keep shooting through twilight and into darkness. Then the boat will pick us up for a return trip to the mainland.
On one of the days, we’ll even pass by Pilot Island for a water-based view of the lighthouse there.
Due to boat capacity, the add-on is limited to 10 attendees.
Note: This optional add-on is available only to workshop attendees. You’ll get a link to purchase a ticket after registering for the main workshop.
What You Should Know
This workshop caters to knowledgeable night photographers with an intermediate or higher skill set. Participants should have a firm grasp of the basic principles of photography and of their cameras, and have a comfortable understanding of night photography fundamentals. We will be happy to offer advice and answer questions about both day and night photography, but the focus of the formal education will be photographing lighthouses and dealing with the special challenges that come with that at night.
If you would like to join us on this trip but are unsure whether you have adequate night photography skills, we can offer pre-event tutoring to get you ready for your adventure with us. Additionally, a few of us have written books that may be productive pre-trip reads.
What You Will Learn
We hope to push you to step outside your comfort zone—to test the limits of what you and your camera can do. Photographing lighthouses at night is challenging and rewarding. We’ll challenge you to capture a variety of different interpretations of each of these beacons of the night.
TOPICS COVERED WILL INCLUDE:
balancing the exposure of a bright lighthouse lantern in a dark environment
timing a lighthouse flash with an exposure
compositional concerns with lighthouses and seascapes
controlling perspective distortion in the field and in processing
using a shift lens to avoid perspective distortion in lighthouses
creating a “beam” effect—in-camera and in post
star trails with a lighthouse
and more …
Night Conditions
Logistics & General Info
Travel
You are responsible for arranging and paying for your own transportation. You may wish to book a round-trip flight going into and out of either of the airports below, or book your arrival flight to Milwaukee and your departing flight from Green Bay.
Nearby Airports:
Milwaukee (MKE) — 15 minutes from first hotel
Green Bay (GRB) — 1 hour from final hotel
Rental Car
You will need a rental car to get to the workshop and to the shoot locations.
There is no need for four-wheel-drive.
If you are interested in carpooling or sharing a rental car, let us know and we will try to connect you with another attendee looking for the same.
Lodging & Food
You are responsible for arranging and paying for your own meals and accommodations.
Lodging
We will stay at three hotels during the trip, at our bases in Milwaukee, Two Rivers and Door County.
You are not required to stay at the official workshop lodging, though doing so does make it easier to meet with the group each day.
Info and group code will be sent once our lodging partners are ready to begin taking reservations.
If you are interested in sharing a room, let us know and we will try to connect you with someone like-minded in the group.
Food
All of our stops have plenty of good nearby food options.
We encourage eating two meals per day—a good breakfast and a great late lunch.
When on the night shoots, you may wish to bring snack food or a sandwich and plenty of water.
Weather
Expect daytime highs in the 70s F, and nighttime lows in the 50s.
Recommended Attire
Shorts or pants and short-sleeve shirts for daytime, pants and long-sleeve shirts for night.
A sweatshirt and medium-weight jacket will likely be useful.
Comfortable and protective shoes are recommended for getting around. There won’t be long hikes, but we will be on rocky lakeshore, so quality trail shoes or hiking boots would be optimal.
Exertion Level
The exertion level of this workshop is Easy. (See more about our classifications.)
No vigorous activity will be required during the workshop, but please consider your physical abilities prior to registering. There won’t be any long hikes, but we will be doing short hikes on unmaintained trails, and you should be comfortable carrying your own equipment over uneven ground in the dark.
Considerations
IMPORTANT: We encourage reading our FAQs page for more information about skill and gear requirements, and other information that pertains to all our workshops.
If you have questions, please contact us—we're happy to talk it over with you.
Winter in Wisconsin …
“The power of creativity can be quite affirming.”
Last year I found myself in Wisconsin. In winter. For a guy who lives in the southern states, winter in Wisconsin is cold. Even for a guy who grew up in southern New England, winter in Wisconsin is cold. Heck, even for Wisconsinites, winter in Wisconsin is cold. I went out shooting lighthouses on several nights where negative temperatures were boring right through my layers. I ate a lot of hot soup on those trips.
I spent a fair amount of time exploring the lighthouses of the Badger State, on a series of excursions from October through February. I met a lot of wonderful people, ate a lot of wonderful food and explored more lakeshore and lighthouses than I might be able to remember.
One of those nights came during a particularly dark time. But the experience lifted me—the experience of working on one photo in difficult conditions and making something I was happy about and proud of. The power of creativity can be quite affirming.
Another memory was with my daughter, Maggie, who accompanied me a couple of times. She was almost 13 years old, so I didn’t expect her to be too interested in the stuff that tickles Dad, but when I mentioned checking out a lighthouse, she said yes right away. We visited one we could climb, and we climbed. We visited two we could walk out to on piers, and we walked. She loved the lights, and I loved sharing the experience with her.
One night I was alone, in very, very cold air, and walked far out on a pier toward a lighthouse. All the water around me was frozen, and the night was quiet. The frozen breeze stung the little facial skin that was exposed. I had to be careful where I stepped, because the pier was covered in ice too. Even in that moment, I knew the time was special—one I’d keep in my memory for the rest of my days.
