January 2020 – The Carefree Photographer

There are several rivers running through the Texas Hill Country. These provide numerous interesting photographic opportunities for those who seek out scenic spots with flowing water and cypress and other trees. A small group of us recently spent a day and a half seeking out some of these areas.

Guadalupe River

The Guadalupe runs for 230 miles from Kerr County, near Hunt to San Antonio Bay in the Gulf of Mexico. It is a very popular stream for rafting, fly fishing and canoeing, and runs through larger towns like Kerrville, New Braunfels, Gonzales and Victoria. We found a couple of spots above and below Hunt, TX to check out the scene. Here are a few images.

Medina River

The Medina is sourced by springs in the Edwards Plateau, and runs for 120 miles through Bandera County, merging with the San Antonio River. We found numerous opportunities along the section that runs through the City Park in Bandera.

Frio River

The Frio starts with three tributaries near Leakey in Real County, and runs 200 miles to the Nueces River. The best photo location we found is in Garner State Park north of Uvalde, where there are wonderful opportunities just below the dam. The path winds along the river among numerous cypress trees.

Sabinal River

The Sabinal is a stream in Uvalde and Bandera Counties. The upper parts run through Lost Maples State Natural Area, a heavily visited area in the fall where there are numerous maples and other trees which offer pretty fall colors. This river runs for about 58 miles, sometimes underground.

Many photographers – including this one – like to photograph birds. I have a number of ways to do this, including through the back window toward my bird feeders, at the local Hamilton Greenbelt bird blind (excellently done by Friends of the Park) in Lakeway, bird walks at Westcave Preserve, and our beloved Botswana. But I recently visited two ranches near Uvalde, TX, which offer wonderful access to a wide variety of birds, and close up.

Transition Photo Ranch

This ranch is located near Bracketsville, TX, and was a 19, 000 acre sheep and goat ranch. It is located in the transition area between two great ecological regions of Texas, Texas Hill Country and South Texas brush country. Sandy and Leslee Hurwitz have transformed the ranch into a Photo Ranch, with the installation of four wells, ten game feeders, five blinds and miles of access roads and riding trails.

La Lomita Photography Ranch

This ranch, owned and operated by Pliny Mier and his partner Sandy Hurwitz, is a 240 acre property with loads of mesquites, shrubs, cactus and grass. This is home to over 125 species of birds, along with deer, bobcats, armadillo, rabbit, squirrels and coyotes. The facility has several bird blinds set up to enable the capture of wonderful pictures of birds in their natural state.