Hill Country Alliance announces 2024 Photo Contest winners and new 2025 Calendar for sale!

Jesus Corona’s grand prize winning “Sunset” – taken in Bexar County.

The Texas Hill Country is a beautiful 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. Each year the Hill Country Alliance (HCA) holds a photo contest encouraging photographers to capture features of the Texas Hill Country they would like to protect forever.

This year, the 2024 Hill Country Alliance Photo Contest received more than 550 entries with head-turning submissions, ranging from enchanting wildlife to wide open fields of abundant wildflowers. The final four winning photographs were selected by a panel of judges and are featured in HCA’s popular 2025 Texas Hill Country Calendar, available now on the HCA website.

Sunsets took the spotlight, receiving both grand prize and the first runner up awards. Grand prize-winning photographer Jesus Corona submitted “Sunset” an idyllic shot of a field of wildflowers in the setting sun in Bexar County, while Gary T. Ray’s “Gruene Nights” took home first runner up for a brilliant pink sky over the lively small town. No matter where you live, sunsets captivate us with their vibrant colors and ephemeral beauty, reminding us of the natural world’s wonders. However, just as a sunset is fleeting, the health of our region can also be precarious. This balance is particularly evident in current drought conditions, and HCA’s water program is focused on protecting our most delicate resources – like clear, flowing waters and the natural infrastructure we rely on to keep springs bubbling.

Additional Winning Photos Shown Below:

View and purchase the 2025 Hill Country Calendar

Bill Weekley’s “Danger in the Wildflowers” – a close-up on a rattlesnake in Kerr County – took second runner up and third prize went to Mike Zarella for “Gray Fox up a Tree,” taken in Blanco County. So much of the photography submitted in this annual contest reminds viewers of their own connection to the region’s delicate web of life. This urgency underscores the importance of the HCA’s work to advance local land stewardship and conservation efforts that directly benefit the wild creatures and open spaces of the Texas Hill Country.

You can enjoy all these photos and much more in the 2025 Hill Country Calendar, available for purchase now on the Hill Country Alliance website. HCA’s annual Texas Hill Country Calendar features stunning photography from the prior year’s photo contest, highlights the beauty of the region, and provides an informative resource on Hill Country conservation. Both the photo contest and the calendar aim to highlight the beauty of the region, provide an informative resource on Hill Country conservation, and inspire folks to learn more and become involved in the issues important to keeping the natural resources of this unique region intact.

In addition to these photo contest winners, the Hill Country Alliance would like to recognize the following contestants whose photography is featured in the 2025 Hill Country Calendar:

P. Michael Jones
Patty Robertson
Paul Huchton
Shelby Sckittone
Steffen Baumgart
Stephen Isenhower
Tim Speer

About Hill Country Alliance:
The Hill Country Alliance is a nonprofit organization that brings together a diverse coalition of partners to preserve the open spaces, starry night skies, clean and abundant waters, and unique character of the Texas Hill Country. Visit us at www.hillcountryalliance.org.

Contact: Leah Cuddeback, Storytelling and Public Engagement | leah@hillcountryalliance.org

Click here for a PDF of the full media release.
Click here to view shareable copies of all winning photos.