The Lance Krueger Whitetail Dream Bucks Up-Close Masterclass
Was it worth it?
I attended the first Masterclass offered by professional photographer Lance Krueger in South Texas. The class made some big promises - learn from someone with 35 years of experience in the industry, get up-close to big South Texas whitetail bucks, and be privied to valuable information that took Lance decades to develop. With a hefty price tag of $3,500 for 4 days of photographing, totaling 6 sits, it was hard to justify if signing up for the Masterclass was going to be worth it.
I have been speaking with Lance for a couple of years now, constantly bombarding him with questions and asking for critiques. It's amazing that he hasn't gotten sick of me. However, even if it takes a week to respond, Lance always took the time to get back to me with the information I needed. More importantly, the information he gave me free-of-charge was always spot-on. I figured if this man could take the time out of his day hundreds of times over to talk to an up-and-coming photographer such as myself, he is deserving of being taken seriously when it comes to offering a Masterclass.
Long story short, I paid the $3,500 for access to the class, dropped another $1,000 for a plane ticket and rental car, and waited anxiously for the end of November to arrive. When it finally did, I sat in a cramped middle seat for the 4 hour flight full of anticipation. When I landed in San Antonio Lance texted me that due to the recent rain the roads to Las Raices Ranch would be impassable with anything less than a 4x4. As luck would have it, the rental car company decided to outfit me with a beast of a machine - a Kia Sportage.
Clearly the Kia wouldn't be able to navigate miles of deep muddy roads, and I wasn't going to park the car in town nearby due to risk of theft - we are within walking distance of the Mexico border after all. Lance suggested I hop a ride with another participant of the class who was going to be a few hours away, and that I could park my car at his ranch for safekeeping. With that weight off of my shoulders, I set out from San Antonio to meet up with the other member of the Masterclass, named Colin, bringing way too much luggage and camera gear along with me.
After arriving at Colin's ranch and beginning the carpool with him, we spoke about how we knew Lance and what we expected out of the trip. Colin was a good guy - he treated me like I was an old friend from the start. Before we hit the road we took a ride in the Polaris around his ranch and saw some of the deer he had been feeding. Colin explained that he was taking the class to be better at photographing the deer on his land, which was understandable for anyone who is looking to sell whitetail hunts in Texas. Colin had also, just as I had, chewed Lance's ear off for help with this endeavor, even going as far as purchasing camera gear from Lance to have better equipment for the task at hand. While we drove 2 hours towards Las Raices we both shared our hesitations and concerns for if this class was going to be the real deal.
What was interesting for me on this leg of the trip was seeing the contrast between who was taking these classes and why. I was doing it for 2 reasons: learn from Lance and see some big deer. Colin was in it for those reasons as well, but he also had a longer game plan concerning his own ranch and its future. I had never considered the reasons why other people would take this class, or at least I didn't think about it further than the reasons I would do it.
We were the first to arrive at Las Raices, and we were immediately greeted by Lance and the ranch owner Marko. Lance was already setting mock blinds up by the carport while Marko stood with us and had some friendly conversation. Once the rest of the crew had arrived we immediately began a crash-course in instruction on how to set up and photograph from a blind. After all, in a few hours we were going to be sitting in one ourselves!
I appreciated Lance giving us that quick instruction before we set out, because otherwise that first evening sit would have been a complete luck game. I won't go into the details of what Lance taught us, as those are his lessons to give, but I will say that it was quick and easy nuances that really raised our chances of seeing some big deer up close.
I dropped my things off in the room, gathered my camera gear, and before I knew it I was sitting alone in a blind waiting for some magic to happen. Lance promised each of us that we would have a day where we sat with him in the blind and learned one-on-one in the field - 6 people, 6 sits. I was very excited to experience that, but I knew that 5 out of the 6 times I was out there I was going to have to operate solo.
I sat in the blind, silent and still, peeking out to see any movement. It wasn't long before a few young bucks came walking out no more than 50 yards from where I sat. Lance and Marko had done an excellent job scouting and preparing these locations prior to our arrival - the views were breathtaking and the deer were moving. It was everything I had hoped it would be. In my very first sit in the blind I captured well over 2500 photographs, of which 277 made the cut as "keepers". Out of those 277, about 20 of them would be suitable for print / publication. One of those photographs was of a giant 12 point typical whitetail buck who currently ranks as one of my top 5 favorite photographs of the entire trip.
That evening we all arrived back at the camp and started pulling photographs off of our cameras. The members of the class had various levels of skill and background. I felt outmatched by a lot of their equipment. I was using a Nikon Z5 and a 500mm PF lens, a combo that costs in the realm of $5000. Most of these guys had lenses that cost double my entire setup. It wasn't a competition of who could get the best photograph, but you could feel a little competitive tension in the air as people showed off their work. That tension was quickly cut when someone would show the photos they took and everyone else had nothing but excitement for them. It was similar to being out deer hunting - if one guy at your camp comes back with a big buck in the truck, everyone is happy for him. There was no jealousy. Each person offered critique, praise, and sometimes banter towards one another. Even though we were all strangers, we felt as if we had been friends for a long time.
The ranch itself helped that kind of environment grow. Marko and the guys helping run things were very accommodating. Food and drinks were always available, the lodge was clean and comfortable, and although Lance could talk for hours about photography, Marko was there to tap his watch and say "Time to get out there".
The following days were on a schedule. Wake up at 5am, say good morning, have some coffee, gather our gear, and hit the trail before 6. By 6:15 we were out in our blinds waiting for the sunrise, and with it the deer. Around 9-10am we would head back to the lodge, pull our photographs from our cameras, eat breakfast, then spend a few hours listening to Lance's instruction. The "classroom" period was very informative, and it covered a wide range of material from scientific theory to practical application. At 3pm we were out the door again to wait out the sunset, and by 7pm we were back in the lodge pulling more photographs and getting critiques from Lance himself.
This wake up, go out, come back, go out, go to sleep schedule was easy to follow. Nothing felt rushed or off-pace. There was enough time in the day to do what we needed to do without a sense of missing out, and with each classroom session we each got better at what we were doing. Some of us were struggling to grasp photography fundamentals, while others were looking to perfect more advanced techniques. The beauty of Lance's instruction was that it applied to everyone regardless of skill level. Everybody went out each morning and evening with a small change to their game plan, and every time it paid off.
Fast forward to the final day, the last morning. My turn to sit with Lance had finally been drawn. I was excited to be able to have those few precious hours learning what I may be doing wrong, or what I could change, in real-time. Lance had showed us in the field the day prior how an existing blind setup could be improved for a good photograph opportunity. We got to see these changes, the reason for them, and exactly what his eyes were seeing about the area, so I was even more anxious to see if the plan would come together. Sure enough, it did. A massive 200+ score whitetail buck came out EXACTLY where we wanted him to, with the resulting photographs being nothing short of world-class. The only drawback was that it was very early and the sunlight hadn't broken the clouds yet, however everything we could have placed into our control was done flawlessly. Lance and I spoke about the business side of things, as we both make our money selling our work, as well as what the future holds for wildlife photographers. Being able to pick his brain on things he has decades of experience with was invaluable. Lance has a wealth of knowledge at his disposal, and each lesson he teaches is the direct result of his own trial and error. I already decided after the first day that the trip was worth the $5,000 I was in the hole, but after that last sit with Lance in the blind I felt I had gotten multitudes more for my money.
So the answer to the question, "Was it worth it?", is a resounding YES. Everything that was promised was delivered and then some. Every bit of instruction and information was a piece to a perfectly laid puzzle. I know that the money I spent on this class may seem like a lot now, but when I look back at the knowledge I gained from it 10 years from now I'm going to feel like I made out like a bandit.
Leaving the ranch was a bittersweet feeling, much more bitter than sweet. I didn't want the ride to end. I wanted to go back out in the field and start filling up SD cards, chasing the next best shot. I wanted to spend more time learning from someone who not only had the answers to my questions, but consistently showed his methods to be effective. As Colin and I chatted on our ride back, we both concluded that we learned more than we thought we would. Overall, it was a huge success.
"Masterclass" is an overused term peddled by various Internet "gurus" and people trying to scam a quick dollar out of susceptible people, but if anyone asks me if the Lance Krueger Masterclass was worth it I'll be sure to tell them my story.
