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.

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.

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.

The day I shot this photograph I was not actually out “shooting” but simply playing tour guide to some out of town guest. I actually captured three marketable images that day. Two exterior shots including the garden (one vertical & one horizontal), and a photograph of the “Texas Marquee” inside. As a side note, I was not actually supposed to shoot inside the the museum, but I just could not help myself. Subsequently they became a vendor selling my images in the gift shop including the clandestinely photographed interior shot. I’ll include the Marquee images in a future post. You can see my other Texas History Museum Images here or other Austin images here.

My favorite hotel in Austin Texas is the Driskill Hotel on 6th Street. If you find yourself in downtown Austin and want a nice quiet bar just a few feet from the night time party mayhem of Sixth street, check out this place. You can see some more of my images of the Driskill Hotel (here).

Sixth Street in Austin Texas is always a lively place. During the day their are numerous shops and great places to enjoy lunch or just a cup of coffee. Daytime on Sixth Street in fun, however the real action starts after the sun goes down and the music comes out. After all, 6th Street is pretty much the music epicenter of the “Live Music Capitol of the World” aka Austin Texas. You can see my other Austin shots here.

Ok, I really have no idea what this is. A Google search found another image where the photographer thought perhaps it was a WayStation. In any case I like the feel of the structure. It looks old. It looks like it’s older than me, & I like things older than me because in perspective, they make me look young. Although you would not know it because of the blurred traffic blocking the other side of the street, it’s actually across the street from the Jersey Lilly that I photographed that same evening. You can see that image here.

When most people around Austin Texas think of the Texas Longhorns they are thinking of the University of Texas, or perhaps more specifically, the University of Texas football team. When you say Austin Texas to most folks, they think of the Live Music Capitol of the world, or perhaps of city of a million or so people that serves as the state Capitol for Texas. The fact is though, you don’t have to get very far from the urban city to find yourself next to a cattle ranch. This photo was taken across the street from the Austin International Airport.