Last night I had the opportunity to do some photography of the Austin skyline after dark for a long time client. I decided to get to the location early to grab some personal pre-sunset images as well, and shot this while I was waiting. I’m not sure, but the client may decide they like this better than their original vision. We shall see…
One thing that is obvious (if you look close) is the cranes have returned to Austin. Not the pretty flying kind but the big ugly steel ones. You can see where work has begun on at least one large project. It seemed like it took years of waiting to get a shot of the Austin skyline without numerous cranes in the shot. Finally, last year the skyline was (relatively) crane free. It looks like those days are over as the ‘progress’ continues.
I recently did some additional photography for the Paramount Theatre in Austin Texas. I love this place! This is actually an HDR panorama to try and capture as much of the theatre a possible from the front center stage position. It was shot as multiple images with my 14mm lens and then stitched together. Normally, I would have been able to get the whole room with the 14-24 lens by just backing up a bit. However, the theatre had a large projection screen in place for a summer film series which forced me to the front of the stage. Creating the image this way caused a bit more of a ‘fisheye’ effect which I believe works well for this grand historical theatre.
You can see my other photographs of the Austin Paramount Theater here.
The Paramount Theatre in Austin Texas is one of the very few remaining ‘hemp houses’ left in America that still use hemp ropes and sandbags for the theatrical rigging. It’s hard to believe how much of this stuff it takes to make the curtains, lights, scenery etc. apparently effortlessly fly in and out as needed during a performance. In reality, there is a crew working up here pulling on a lot of rope to make it happen.
You can see my other photos of the Paramount Theatre here:
I’ve photographed the Stevie Ray Vaughan statue in Austin Texas several times & every time I’m there, someone has left a gift for Stevie on the base. Last time it was a red rose, this time it was a guitar pick lying at his feet. Perhaps these are simply a reflection on the live music scene that Austin Texas is so well known for, and therefore should not surprise me, nevertheless I find these little tokens quite touching. You can see my other Stevie photographs here:
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!
A previous client returned last month to get a few updated images. Our previous shoot was in an urban setting so we thought we would do something different for this session. Denise put on her cowboy boots & jeans and we shot in local park that still had some color in the trees. (One advantage of shooting in Texas is the leaves don’t really drop till late December.) The shoot was tons of fun & Denise ended up with some great images to update her portfolio.
Rome obviously has no shortage of water. There are hundreds (perhaps thousands) of drinking fountains scattered around the city. The water runs continuously and I am told is quite safe to drink. I believe you would agree it’s also somewhat more beautiful than a plastic water bottle.
I very rarely use this forum to cast editorial comments, however speaking of bottled water check out this quite interesting & entertaining video about the bottled water industry:
My brother & I just spent a few days walking around Rome on a quickie getaway. On our last evening we tried to time our arrival at the Colosseum to take a few ‘purple hour’ photos. It was a great trip! We did some walking, ate some fine meals & drank some good wine while shooting a lot of photos and visiting areas that are ancient enough to make me feel quite young, if not insignificant .
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.
Also, as with all on my images on my site you may click on the image to load it in Flickr. If you then click again on the image there, you can see a larger version.
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.
.
