Here is yet another view of the Austin Skyline from the Long Center for the Performing Arts. (Can you tell I like this view of Austin?) This photograph was made the same evening the I shot the Austin Skyline Panorama. (You can see that photo here.) When I photograph I virtually always do multiple angles and perspectives of my subject matter. Due to time constraints, I generally only retouch one of the images immediately to post. Later it’s always fun to go back through my files after some time has past to mine another photograph. It’s interesting how an image that did not jump out at me during the first pass will really stand out during a second look. This image was like that. When I was browsing through my photographs for my (sometimes) daily posting I found this shot of the Long Center. It’s hard to say, but I may like it better than the original Panorama.

I know I’ve been doing a lot of Austin Skyline shots lately, but I keep getting request for more images showing the almost “complete” skyline. Of course, it’s never truly complete, but at least most of the cranes are down. Although my exposures were way to long for them to appear in the final photograph, as I was photographing this scene several kayaks silently rowed by. What a wonderful way to spend an evening in Austin Texas!

The new Austin skyline is finally getting to a point where a photograph doesn’t appear to obviously be a “work in progress”. I love this particular view of Austin. The arch at the Long Center for the Performing Arts frames the city perfectly. There is nothing like enjoying a great performance there and then stepping out on the patio during intermission and enjoying the view.
Since panoramas tend to be rather small on my blog I am also including a cropped portion of the photo.

Here is a crop of the image showing the new “Austonian”.

I’ve been meaning to do a more current photo of the Stevie Ray Vaughan statue for awhile. The challenge is getting the rather dark statue to pop out from the evening sky. This image is a combination of light painting & HDR. I did three long exposures of Stevie while lighting the statue and surrounding area with my super duper mini flashlight. You can see my other photos of the Stevie statue here.

While few long time Austinites don’t long for the time not too long ago when Austin was a smaller place without the outrageous traffic and sprawling suburbs, I do like the emerging look of the ‘new’ downtown. The Austin Skyline is developing into quite a beauty.
As a side note, don’t try a multiple exposure HDR shot like this from the middle of a busy road without an assistant (that likes you) to warn of traffic coming from behind.

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

As I wrote about in a previous post (here), a statue of Stevie Ray Vaughan stands on Auditorium shores in Austin Texas. I may very well post another image in a few months with an updated skyline. The skyline has changed a bit since I shot this in early February of last year. Did you notice is the liberty the artist took in the guitar position in the shadow vs. the actual statue?