Austin’s newest residential tower on the Austin skyline is almost finished. At 56 stories tall, The Austonian is the tallest residential building in Texas. You can see another view of The Austonian here. Although my dogs might disagree, I could easily see myself living in the heart of downtown Austin.

A storm was moving over Austin the afternoon I photographed the new Austin Skyline from Congress Avenue. As the new buildings are providing an ever changing skyline, new ‘icons’ appear. For several years it has been the Frost bank building. (The ‘pointy’ building on the right of this photo.) I believe for the next few years it will be the “Austonian”. (The tall building on the left.) It’s very challenging to find a good view showing the new skyline that also includes ultimate Austin icon, the Texas Capitol.

If you would like to see a larger version of any of my images with more detail you can click on the image to take you to my Flickr site. Then, from the Flickr site choose “All sizes” just above the photo to see a larger version.
One more thing… Since you are here, please make a comment. Let me know what you think, Ideas for future photos, or just say “Hello!” I love to read the comments!
Thanks for stopping by,

John

The annual creative explosion of SXSW is about to begin again in Austin Texas. Every year at this time thousands of Music, Film & Interactive creative professionals & their fans decend upon Austin from around the world. It’s a fun time in our little town.
This shot of Sixth street was taken last year during SXSW. Just for fun I did a little tilt-shift focus manipulation to give it that toy-land feel.

Austin Texas seems to have an ever changing skyline. I do a fair amount of Austin Stock photography sales so I am always looking for new images. Yesterday the clouds were looking interesting so I decided to do a little walking around downtown looking for photo opportunities. I parked my car on Congress Avenue (the main street in downtown Austin) and this wall was directly in front of me. I’m not sure why I had never noticed it before, but it was calling my name. I particularly like the juxtaposition of the ’spear like’ Frost Bank building as though it’s providing an alternate answer to the message on the building.

One of Austin’s Icons is the Broken Spoke Dance Hall. Willie first played here back when he wore a crew cut & sport coat. Bob Wills played here, as have many many more country legends before & since. What I love about the Spoke is, it really hasn’t changed in the 45 or so years folks have been two steppin’ across it’s wooden floors. Regardless of if you are a fan or not of country music, you should stop by the Broken Spoke when you are in town & drink a long neck & feel history dance by. If you are interested, you can see another photo taken at the Broken Spoke (here).

I’ve done several post showing various photos of the Texas Capitol (here). This one is actually inside the Capitol looking down at the floor under the Rotunda. If you look closely, you will see the Texas DPS officers that keep an eye on things standing on the ground floor. To their credit, they have always pretty much left me alone while I photographed this beautiful building.

Springtime in Texas means wildflowers. And Me, , I’m feeling like spring. The sun is out, ok, it’s 39 degrees outside, but there is a gentle breeze, it just feels like spring is around the corner. Very soon flowers will start to bloom along the Texas roadways. With all the rain we have had, hopefully, there will be lots of wildflowers. And, perhaps in the next few months, I’ll have some great wildflower shots to post. We shall see…

It’s getting more & more difficult to find an ‘iconic’ image of Austin Texas. Not too long ago you would photograph the Austin skyline from any hill and be able to include the Texas Capitol & the UT Tower. Now unless you are shooting straight down Congress Avenue the Capitol is obscured by all the new construction. I had a fellow photographer tell me that the Frost Bank Tower (The tall building to the right of the Capitol) is the ‘new’ Austin icon. Me, I still like the old traditional Capitol.