Maximum 6 photographers, Features 5 full days of shooting on historic private ranches

When most people think of Texas they don't think of hills. But the aptly named Hill Country is an exception. A broad band of land north of San Antonio it features hills, rivers and lots of cowboys, scenery, birds and in November, Fall Color...

What makes our Texas Hill Country safari and workshop unique is the variety of subjects. We'll start with the amazing local scenery, ranging from fall color to waterfalls in the woods. Then we'll add specialty subjects including a trick roper cowboy and his horse who will perform for us to photograph with expert instruction from David Langford, one of the great Texas cowboy photographers. And we're planning a raptor shoot and educational session with rehabilitated raptors. And last but not least we'll have some great historic settings to photograph like the fully restored chuckwagon below. For those interested in experimenting with new techniques we'll show how HDR (High Dynamic Range) and Infrared can be used to good effect.

If you're used to heading to South Texas for bird photography, we'll have plenty of that for those who want it. Fortunately for those of us eager to capture images of these hard to find birds and the many other species of birds that make their home in South Texas there are well developed bird photographer friendly ranch properties in the Hill Country.f

Painted Bunting

I'm so thrilled with the photo successes I've had there that I'm delighted to announce that we've updated our very successful Hill Country Bird Photo Safari by moving it to the lovely, cool, fall color season in November for next year. I'm again partnering with the unique Block Creek Natural Area and we're offering a one of a kind Hill Country experience in November, 2011. In addition to the world class photography we'll stay right there on their ranches which have been in the family for generations and are still part of a group of working ranches. Picturesque accommodations will include a creek-side cabin, a restored historic farmhouse cabin dating from the original german settlers and a restored railroad caboose. We'll have home-cooked and local meals including a chuck wagon dinner. The local beauty makes this trip unusually flexible compared to many other Texas photo safaris. We'll have opportunities for scenics, macro and reptile photography in addition to the birds.

For non-shooting companions (or those only interested in a little bit of photography) we're right near the historic LBJ State and National Park, Wildseed Farms and Butterfly Garden, historic Fredericksburg, several excellent wineries and Enchanted Rock State Park.

The workshop & safari fee of ($2250) includes all local transportation (we'll commute to the ranches by van, which helps keep the birds habituated versus a string of cars and allows us to chat & answer questions on the way to and from each shoot), ranch fees (these are private properties which the owners have put a tremendous amount of effort into making bird photography paradise, so shooting on them is not inexpensive), and photo instruction, both in the field and workshop sessions on digital workflow and image editing. We are also providing excellent accomodations right on the grounds of the BCNA ranches as well as meals and drinks during the week for ($1550) per person double occupancy for the six nights.

 
Slideshow of Selected images from my Hill Country Trip

Special bonus for enthusiasts! If you sign up for both my Rio Grande Valley Photo Safari & Workshop (March 12-17) and the Hill Country Safari & Workshop (November 6-12), I'll give you a $200 additional discount.

As always we'll have a digital projector and screen and will be teaching (optional) sessions on workflow, landscape and scenic photogaphy, bird photography and digital image processing techniques as they relate to nature photography. And I'm always available for personal photo instruction, photo critiques and of course everyone is invited to contribute their images to the popular last night slide show. I keep the group to a maximum of 6 photographers so that we all have plenty of time to work together and make the most out of the week.

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Ruby-throated Hummingbird