All NEW - Woolaroc Photo Teaching Excursion 2011

Woolaroc Photo Excursion 2011 - The Frank Phillips Retreat

Join us for this two-night teaching trip to the historic Woolaroc Ranch in Oklahoma and other locations in the Kansas Flint Hills.

This excursion is nothing like any Photo Excursion offered before. On this excursion we will be spending a good deal of time teaching, so it's intended for beginners, or those who wish to get more practice and instruction.  We will be heading to a long day at the Woolaroc Ranch near Bartlesview, OK, and then on to some sites in the Osage Hills of Oklahoma, and the Flint Hills of Kansas.  Departure will be on Friday evening, and we'll travel to the Bartlesville area for our first overnight stay.  Then we'll be up and at the Ranch as early as it opens at 10, but before then, we'll spend a couple of hours with some teaching over breakfast. 

The Ranch closes at 5 and the staff will have to usher us out the gate, so they can go home.  From there we'll head into the Osage Hills in search of some good shots as we head into the Flint Hills of Kansas. Our second overnight stay will be in the southern Flint Hills.  On Sunday we'll be up and teaching more (we will be working on teaching all day both days) over breakfast and then spend the day exploring and shooting in the Flint Hills while we travel back towards Wichita.

EVERYTHING IS INCLUDED

• Transportation - starting at and returning to my studio in Wichita.
• Meals 
  • Dinner on Friday.
  • Breakfast, lunch and dinner on Saturday.
    • Saturday night dinner and Sunday breakfast are prepared and served by the hunting lodge where we'll be staying. Dinner is going to be a great treat too! The lodge is a beautiful, well-appointed facility, with lakes and a great deck, there is even a hot-tub (so bring your swim suite).
  • Breakfast and Lunch on Sunday.
• Overnight lodging
  • Double occupancy on Friday
  • Triple occupancy on Saturday night.
    • Very nice dorm-style, in a luxurious hunting lodge with outstanding grounds.
• Private room upgrades are available in very limited supply for Saturday night.
• Admission to the park.
• Digital Photography Workshop book.

Quoting from woolaroc.com: "Hidden away in the rugged Osage Hills of Northeastern Oklahoma, Woolaroc was established in 1925 as the ranch retreat of oilman Frank Phillips. The ranch is a 3,700 acre wildlife preserve, home to many species of native and exotic wildlife, such as buffalo, elk and longhorn cattle. Woolaroc is also a museum with an outstanding collection of western art and artifacts, Native American material, one of the finest collections of Colt firearms in the world, and so much more. Woolaroc features a nature trail and two living history areas inviting you to experience the natural environment of Woolaroc, the life in a pre-Civil War 1840’s mountain man camp and an early-day oil lease.

With its wildlife preserve, rustic lodge, outstanding museum and rugged natural environment, perhaps the vision of Woolaroc can best be summed up in Frank Phillips' own words: "This isn't all a dream about something, but a place where I can get back to nature. The great difficulty with the American people today is that they are getting too far away from the fundamental things in life. Too much time and money are spent on things which leave no record and which add nothing basically to the present nor to the future. To build permanently and wisely is to benefit all mankind. The conservation of wildlife now will mean much to future generations." "

Our visits to Woolaroc in the past were great fun, and turned into a day full of photo opportunities, learning and adventure. The history in the Museum and the Lodge is a terrific experience and the wildlife park surrounding the Museum is another wonderful treat.  The Native Indian and Oklahoma Oil Industry history is truly fascinating.  Heck there's even an impressive Colt Gun collection that will amaze firearms buffs too!  I've made several visits to Woolaroc and made a decision years ago to include this in my list of annual trips because there's so much to see that's it's like a new trip every year. 

The only extra money you'll spend on this trip is going to be in the gift shop, or if you chose to buy something along the way.