The Wildlife in Action Photo Contest pairs photographers and landowners to show the abundance of conservation on private land. Above, a winning photo of Crabby Creek, taken by Bob Smith and John Reuthinger at John and Judilyn Reuthinger and Buccaneer Cove. Courtesy of Wildlife in Focus.
Picture this.
Texas is a big, ecologically diverse state and 93 percent of it is privately owned, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
What if we could see more of the land that is being conserved privately?
That’s the aim of Wildlife in Focus, a nonprofit that helps facilitate landowners and photographers to work together to share images of the land through a photo contest.
The organization's mission “is to preserve and protect the native wildlife and their habitats in Texas,” according to their website.
The photos help educate kids and adults about nature. Get the picture?
PRIVATE REFUGES
A winning photo of a red-shouldered hawk, by Cissy Beasley, taken at Welder Wildlife Refuge. Courtesy of Wildlife in Focus.
With more than 90 percent of Texas land privately owned, ranchers and other rural landowners have been put in the role of stewards of the woods, prairies, wetlands, forests, deserts and mountains.
What they do with the land is up to them, and thankfully a great number of landowners are passionate about taking care of the land and are interested in keeping part of their property wild.
There are tools that ranchers and other landowners can use for this, like Habitat Conservation Plans, conservation easements, and other strategies.
The organization website says that their mission “is to preserve and protect the native wildlife and their habitats in Texas.”
CONTEST RULES
A red-eared slider in its habitat at Sick Dog Ranch, in a winning photo by Robert Rommel. Courtesy of Wildlife in Focus.
Vice president Miles Phillips said WIF started in 2001 with photography events in the Rio Grande Valley.
Today, the Wildlife in Focus photo contest involves partnering photographers with compatible landowners. Each pays a $500 entry fee and then they work together to document the land and wildlife for 100 days, until the contest deadline — May 31. The prize-winning team get to split $40,000 for photos plus video.
There is a separate video-only contest with a $100 entry fee. (The prize is $2,400 if only shooting video).
For the team photo contest, the partners work to put together a portfolio of up to 100 images for judging. The images must show wildlife, plants and/or habitat found on the landowner’s property.
The emphasis is on documenting what was in front of the lens, so that nothing can be added or removed (other than dust spots) as photos are processed. As ethical considerations, no photos can be taken of bird nests or reptile dens because of the likelihood of disrupting the animals’ lives, and photos are not allowed if they show an animal that is overly stressed.
Winning photographs are compiled into books that showcase birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, invertebrates, as well as landscapes and other topics. They include some notes about the photographers and natural history about the places. These books are available for purchase from the WIF website.
Collared peccaries in a winning photo taken by Hector Astorga at Santa Clara Ranch. Courtesy of Wildlife in Focus.
EDUCATION FACTOR
In addition to being available to buy from the website, books are provided to schools at no charge through an education program called Kritters 4 Kids. Lessons have titles like, “What’s My Niche?” and “Let’s Go On a Nature Hunt.” Phillips told me, “The books are made from the winning photos of the contest each year and then the information in Kritters 4 Kids was developed from the images from the books.”
The Kritters 4 Kids program also coordinates through 4-H clubs to provide photos and lessons. The Texas 4-H clubs are for kids and teens ages 8 to 18 according to their website, which says it is the “largest youth development program in Texas.” Texas 4-H is part of the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Service.
Phillips noted that there are many 4-H photo clubs.
“In the past we have sponsored some summer photo camps for youth, and we've got a couple of land owners that are happy to support that kind of thing,” he said.
LANDOWNER SUPPORT
A crab spider on an annual sunflower, in a winning photo by Robert Rommel taken at the Sick Dog Ranch. Courtesy of Wildlife in Focus.
I talked with Russell Graves, a photographer who has been a judge for WIF. This year he is a contestant. He has entered as a photographer but also as a landowner, and will take photos on his Hackberry Farm in Northeast Texas and also his Redlands Ranch near Childress.
“Probably the best thing about Texas is a lot of landowners, myself included, have a pretty strong ethic when it comes to land,” he told me.
For example, Graves said that ranchers will plant native grasses and plants for pollinators to replenish land that was once monoculture hay fields. The ranchers want to leave the land in better shape than when they found it.
This kind of work happens in the context of difficult economic conditions for Texas farmers and ranchers. Among the challenges are ongoing drought and inflationary pressures on the cost of fuel and other supplies. This can lead landowners to file bankruptcy or sell off their land, and the land that is sold may become suburban sprawl or other development.
The nonprofit organization Modern Farmer reports that 31 million acres of farmland were lost to development between 1992 and 2012.
Photography is one way a landowner might keep their land. Many Texas ranches host photography events, and the WIF website lists some of them that are registered for participation in the WIF photo contest. Think of it as home-grown ecotourism.
PHOTO RANCHES
Two of those “photo ranches” belong to Russell Graves. He enjoys his role as host and guide at his ranch and his farm.
“I went to Botswana for the first time I think in 2021,” he told me. “And there we sat in a blind and watched elephants and impala and all kinds of animals come to the water and drink. Fast forward to last year. We put a blind in the ground (at Redlands Ranch) …and you're sitting there and all of a sudden a mule deer walks up and starts drinking, 10 feet away from you, and has no idea that you're there.”
He said it is pretty magical to see people have this kind of up-close contact with wildlife.
“Most people never get to experience animals like that.”
Other landowners and photographers talked about their experiences in a short WIF video.
Video courtesy of Wildlife in Focus.
For those who want to consider entering, the registration deadline for the photographer/videographer and landowner contest is Feb. 1, but the video-only deadline is May 1. See the complete contest rules document at the WIF website.
Wildlife in Focus Photo Contest
About: Landowners and Photographers compete as teams and share equally in the prize purses, up to $40,000. There are two different concurrent contests: 1. Team - Photographer & Landowner and 2. Videographer. Each contest has separate prize purses. See contest rules.
When: All photos are taken on participating private lands during the 100-day window of the contest, Feb. 21 to May 31, 2025.
Where: Private land anywhere within the entire state of Texas on any size land.
Entry Fee: $500 enters you in both Team Contest and Video Contest. Prize money team winners is split 50/50 between the landowner and photographer on the team. Two-person photography teams can split the entry cost. The video only contest fee is $100, with prize purse of $2,400.
Registation Deadlne: Team Photo Contest Registration Deadline is Feb. 1, at 5 p.m. The Video Only Registration Deadline: May 1, at 5 p.m.
Contact: 361-342-9585 or info@wildlifeinfocus.org
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