Visualist Images Photography, Austin Texas » Austin Texas Photography

Rainy San Antonio Night

John Rogers — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 03:28:52 +0000

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!

Austin Texas Portrait of Denise

John Rogers — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 17:11:00 +0000

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.
You may see a few images from the urban shoot here: http://johnrrogers.com/austin-texas/austin-portrait-session-with-denise-holyn/

and a couple of more images from this shoot on my flickr photostream here:

www.flickr.com/photos/visualistimages/5343458286/ and here:
www.flickr.com/photos/visualistimages/5343425492/

Las Vegas Bellagio Fountains

John Rogers — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 02:34:59 +0000

Last week we took a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate our daughters 21st birthday. We all had a great time. We saw a couple of shows (“Love” and “The Mac King Show”) “Love” was very good, although acrobatically not on a par with the other Cirque shows we have seen. So far “O” is my favorite. “The Mac King Show” was a last minute addition to our trip and a very pleasant surprise. He was quite entertaining & easily worth the inexpensive (for Las Vegas) $35.00 cover.
The above shot was taken from our daughters suite at the Bellagio. A couple of months ago I booked a couple of rooms at a cheapo rate through Hotels.com. I was rather surprised when we checked in and the front desk clerk notified me we actually had a suite and a standard room. Since it was Audrea’s birthday, we gave her the suite. A few hours later we were notified that there was an error & the suite was actually reserved for another John Rogers, however we were welcome to stay in the suite for the previously paid rate. Sweeet! (Or should I say Suite!?) Later that evening the four of us watched the amazing choreographed fountains perform their magic to the music of “Chorus Line”
This is actually a crop of the full image. Since panoramic images end up so tiny here I thought I’d do a square crop for the blog. Click here to see the full un-cropped version.

Blue Eyed Rose

John Rogers — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 17:55:36 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to shoot some portraits of Rose along with her family. As an Austin photographer I have the opportunity to shoot everything, including Austin stock images, Austin commercial photography, family portraits baby portraits & senior portraits. It’s all fun and I love the opportunity to make each of them look their very best. Of course when you have a subject like Rose, my job is pretty easy!

Window on Sports

John Rogers — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 15:52:24 +0000

Last night my mom and I had a great time at a Texas Rangers game in Arlington. The game was great (we won), the staff was wonderful & the hot-dogs were only a dollar. When my mom talked to me about going to see a Rangers game I was excited. I also was really hoping to be able to bring my camera. I was very pleasantly surprised when I checked out the Rangers website to see what would be allowed. In fact, the Texas Rangers have amazingly reasonable rules regarding photography equipment. They basically state that cameras are fine as long as they don’t interfere with another guests enjoyment of the game. That makes sense. Heck, they even allowed me to bring my tripod. The whole attitude at the ballpark was very friendly. While shooting the photo below I was approached by a security officer. I was anticipating the typical reprimand for taking photographs and a bit of questioning as to what I was photographing. I was amazed to discover the officers mission was to suggest I also take a look at the view from one level up as a possible photograph. Unbelievable.

In contrast, the Dallas Cowboy’s (and many professional & college sports venues) have rules that approach the ridiculous. For instance, the new Cowboy’s Stadium rules state:” ONLY small cameras are allowed, video cameras and cameras with zoom lenses are prohibited.” I suppose they are now confiscating guests new iPhones at the gate since they have zoom lenses… Anyway enough of my ranting. I just hate ridiculous rules created my lawyers to protect people from taking photographs. Speaking of the Dallas Cowboys; The Rangers Ballpark in Arlington has an amazing view of the new Cowboy’s Stadium. I’m sure the reverse is also true, but I would never be able to do a similar photograph of the Rangers Ballpark. The Dallas Cowboys would never allow me to bring my camera into their stadium.

Austin from the Austonian

John Rogers — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 16:11:56 +0000

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.

Valentine’s Day Portrait

John Rogers — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 18:36:58 +0000

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!

North Dakota Prairie Dog

John Rogers — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:33:38 +0000

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.

Katz’s Never Kloses?

John Rogers — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 04:28:46 +0000

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.

Long Center Patio & Austin Skyline

John Rogers — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:46:39 +0000

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.