Musicowly Speaking, The Long Center in Austin Texas is one of my favorite local venues for music and performance. The acoustics are great, the facility is beautiful and the large patio out front provides a stunning view of the Austin skyline. (You can see more of my Long Center Photos here.) The beautiful cow in the photo was created by artist Robin Tripaldi for Austin’s Cows on Parade.
This past week I attended the Professional Photographers Association meeting in San Antonio Texas. My first night in my hotel room was one of those misty rainy nights that make for an interesting sky as the city lights light up the low clouds above. I love it when the clouds are just at the height of the buildings. San Antonio is such a cool city and the PPA conference was great. All in all it was a great trip!
Just down the road from Waring Texas you will find the Don Strange Ranch. When you close your eyes and imagine a Texas Ranch complete with Longhorn Cattle the picture in your mind is probably pretty close to what you see with your eyes wide open here on the ranch; Old Chuck Wagons, Longhorn Cattle & this very cool little cabin are just a few of the sights. Although I confess I’m a bit skeptical about the “Fallout Shelter” sign on the cabin. Then again, I suppose if you need a fallout shelter it probably doesn’t matter…
By the way, I love comments on this site. If you like what you see or have questions, please comment. I tend to get lots of comments on my Flickr site but few here. You are welcome to help me change that. 
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It’s been way too long since I’ve been here. It’s good to be back!
Today’s photo is from a gig I did in the metropolis of Waring Texas. A few weeks ago I was contracted to videotape an event at the Waring General Store and really had no idea what to expect. After spending a few hours at the store having fun, eating great food and listening to live Texas music, I have to say; if you ever find yourself in the neighborhood on a Wednesday night, stop by the Waring General Store for Steak Night. Waring TX is really just a crossroads in the Texas Hill country between Welfare & Comfort Texas (come to think of it, I’ve spent a lot of time somewhere between welfare & comfort). Every Wednesday night Don Strange of Texas hosts a feast complete with lots of great food, live music and an atmosphere that can’t be beat.
The Frost bank building in Austin Texas looks pretty tall until you view it from the top of the new Austonian. A resident of the Austonian that recently acquired one of my Austin art images was kind enough to allow me into his home to see my art displayed in these amazing surroundings. While I was visiting he also arranged a tour for me to scout locations for a future Austin skyline image. Now I’m just waiting for the scaffolding to be removed from the Capitol building so I can shoot a series of new Austin skyline photographs that show off the views afforded the fortunate residents of this amazing space.
Ok, I know its not Valentine’s Day, but looking at Jena in her red dress just sorta makes you feel like it should be. This is another portrait from her last session here. I love it when I have the opportunity to get some totally different looks in a two hour session. This one more fun & the last one I posted was a much more classic look. (You can see the previous post here.)
This pose would also make a great Christmas card!
This cute guy’s (or girl, it’s difficult to tell from this angle…) ancestors were no doubt partially to credit for us having National Parks. Theodore Roosevelt visited this area to hunt buffalo (bison actually,) when he was young and fell in love with nature. Later during his presidency he created the first National Parks to help protect and prevent development of our unspoiled lands. It was quite a new and controversial concept.
We recently attended a wedding in North Dakota. As first time visitors we really had no idea what to expect. We were quite pleasantly surprised by beauty of the badlands. We stayed in Medora which happens to be the location of the South Unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. This guy (and many of his cousins) greeted us as we made a morning drive through the park.
Amos lives in Fairbanks Alaska. This particular day it was in the mid 70′s, quite beautiful outside and Amos REALLY wanted to go out and play. He spent the majority of his photo session looking out the French doors and doing his best to express his desire to be let out. I pretended to be a stupid human not understanding a single meow while clicking away at my shutter.
I had the opportunity to photograph these adorable cousins a couple of days ago. He is eight months old & she is six months. I’m not sure exactly what he is telling her but she was smiling!
It’s amazing how fast a 6 month old can move. With infants this age it’s great to have pro studio lights (in this case I setup in their home) that allow me to shoot really fast because every second these two had a different adorable expression.
As a side note; I’m actually doing this post from 38,000 feet flying to Seattle on our way to Fairbanks. Pretty cool technology!
Katz’s New York style deli has been a fixture in Austin for over 30 years. For many in Austin Katz’s was the ‘go to’ place after closing down the bars on Austin’s 6th Street or Warehouse district. With it’s parent company recently filing for bankruptcy protection & rumors that they may be looking to move from their iconic 6th street Austin location, I thought I’d better grab a photo of this long time Austin landmark before it disappears like so many others.
