Texas Hill Country Photography Workshop

May 23-26, 2014

Hosted by The Saving Grace Ranch, Bulverde, Texas

Walter, Beth Moore ©2014

The Texas Hill Country is truly the deep heart of Texas. Geologically, it was formed as an ancient sea floor lifted and buckled into limestone hills. You’ll find more water underground than above—our limestone caverns are some of the most spectacular in the world. And you’ll readily find fossils, dinosaur tracks, and other prehistoric artifacts. Culturally, German settlers heavily influenced the Hill Country. They began arriving in the 1840s, founding towns like New Braunfels, Boerne, Gruene, and Luckenbach. You’ll see the German influence in the rock houses, tidy towns, and hospitality. Another influence here is Mexican. Our favorite foods, besides BBQ and chicken-fried anything, is Tex-Mex. And that’s why we have Fiesta every year, the mariachi festival, and breakfast tacos instead of bagels. Ranchers make Texas, Texas, and here livestock include cattle, sheep, goats, and exotics (zebra, wildebeest, dahl sheep, axis, blackbuck, elk, and the occasional giraffe). Enjoy your stay. There’s nowhere else like it.

The Workshop

Join us for a Memorial Day weekend full of outstanding teaching, Texas Hill Country hospitality, and unique photo opportunities. Our base will be an historic private ranch, and we’ll travel light as we visit Hill Country locations and private venues. Be prepared to be active. We’ll be on the move, learning how to use the gear and light you have to get fantastic images. Whether you love portraits, travel, documentary, architecture, or landscape—you’ll find it here.

Agenda

Friday, May 23    Meet at the ranch for a welcome dinner. We’ll visit over supper and preview the weekend. Afterwards, we’ll do twilight shooting and light painting around the ranch. 

Saturday, May 24    After breakfast tacos, we’ll carpool to a San Antonio venue for the day. Whether it’s the restored Pearl Brewery, the Riverwalk extension, food, or historic missions, we’ll have a variety of subjects. We’ll end mid-afternoon to review our images, rest, and meet back at the ranch for rodeo and boot scooting that evening. 

Sunday, May 25    Breakfast on your own and meet at the ranch to share our work from Saturday and receive critiques. After lunch, we’ll head out to an historic town or local artisan’s workshop to learn how they ply a Texas trade. It might be whiskey, BBQ, handmade knives, lavender, tamales, or goat cheese! Dinner on your own and optional shooting at the ranch.

Monday, May 26    Meet at 9 am for a show of our best work from the weekend with instructor critique and voting on our favorites. Done by noon!

Cost

$900 per person

Fee includes all instruction; welcome dinner; Saturday breakfast; Sunday lunch; Monday morning

snacks; parking; and rodeo entry. Lodging accommodations not included.

•  Credit cards accepted

•  Nonrefundable deposit of $350 required to confirm by May 1, 2014

•  Balance due Friday, May 23, 2014

•  Upon deposit, you’ll receive a workshop packet, with hotel suggestions and additional detail

What to Expect

A minimum of 5 students will be required to run the workshop. If there are not enough to run 

The workshop, all deposits will be completely refunded. Class limited to 10 for maximum

personal attention. Bring your laptop and photo editing software to share your work.

For More Information

Hotel suggestions are available on request. 

For more information, contact Beth Moore at bam@savinggraceranch.com, or call

830.228.5226

Instructor

For more than 30 years, Randy has told visual stories to raise funds, motivate action, and see behind the scenes. He has the unique ability to be inspired by his subjects and pass that inspiration on to us.  Randy has staged the entire length of Wall Street for a corporate shoot with the Budweiser Clydesdales. But he finds it far more creative to extract visual opportunities from an ordinary place. He works with the location, coaching and directing subjects, controlling light, and using materials at hand to deliver compelling stories every time. Randy earned an A.A. in Liberal Arts along with a B.S. and an Honorary Master of Photography from Brooks Institute of Photography. He has studied with Jay Maisel, and taught and lectured at Brooks, F.I.T., SVA, MS 51, in Brooklyn, Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, National Arts Club, Salmagundi, and other institutions. His images are collected by corporations and are in the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Public Library Archives. Visit http://www.randyduchaine.com to see his work.

The Saving Grace Ranch

The Saving Grace Ranch was originally a 640-acre land grant from the Republic of Texas to Spencer Morris for guarding the baggage at the battle of San Jacinto. The first person to build a home here was Johann Startz, an original founder of New Braunfels. The original 1850 rock house still stands, including the cellar with shooting holes, pegged cedar roof structure, and the magnificent 18-foot high cedar–and-rock fireplace. Additions in 1938, 1960, and 1978 expanded its footprint considerably. Native pecans and 200-300 year-old giant oaks grace the remaining 90 acres. You’re likely to see deer, armadillos, gray fox, bobcat, elk, jackrabbits, and red-shouldered hawks along with the horses and longhorns.