The Texas Hill Country is a unique region filled with diverse wildlife, clear springs, sprawling rural landscapes, historic towns, and some of the starriest night skies in the country. With a rapidly growing population and increasing development coming into the region, many of these special qualities are at risk of being lost forever. Each year the Hill Country Alliance (HCA) holds a photo contest encouraging photographers to capture images of the Texas Hill Country they would like to protect forever. Winning photo contest entries are then selected and displayed in the Hill Country Calendar, now available for purchase on the Hill Country Alliance website.

While 2020 has challenged us as a region, a state, and a country in ways that no one could have anticipated, through it all the Texas Hill Country has given us a steady stream of beauty, resilience, and inspiration. Those of us who have the privilege of calling this place home found that in moments of great difficulty and unrest, our spirits could be eased, for a moment, beside a spring-fed creek. In tumultuous times, the quiet of the stars at night could bring peace.

Between March and May, HCA received over 400 entries in the 2020 Hill Country Photo Contest from amateur and professional photographers alike. Submissions, ranging from flittering hummingbirds to the brilliant beauty of fall on the Frio, encapsulated this year’s theme: The Wild and Wonderful Texas Hill Country.

The four winning photographs were selected by a panel of judges and will be featured in HCA’s popular 2021 Texas Hill Country Calendar, available now on the HCA website. For the third year, the public had the opportunity to view the photo contest entries and vote for their favorites. The People’s Choice recipient, Steger Chapman, received a cash prize and a photo feature in the 2021 calendar for his image titled Wimberley Reflection.

Tricia Daniel captured the grand prize-winning shot, Green Heron, in Austin, Texas. While this photo was taken in Travis County, green herons are a common sight across the Hill Country and are often found standing at the edge of shallow water, searching for their next meal. Hill Country birders will recognize the familiar face of this patient heron, waiting to surprise a fish with its daggerlike bill.

Mike Jones earned first place with his photo Fall into the Frio, taken on the Frio River in Uvalde County. While Texas is well-known for many things, ample fall colors are not typically one of them. However, Hill Country rivers hosting deciduous trees get plenty of love from Texas photographers in the autumn months. This image, taken on the hike down from Mt. Baldy at Garner State Park captures the beautiful gradient of rich green, brilliant turquoise, and fiery red. Now who says Texas doesn’t have seasons?