Texas Capitol from Austin SOCO Sunrise – A view looking up Congress toward the Texas Capitol in downtown with the Austin skyline at sunrise. This was taken from an area refered to as SOCO which stand for South Congress. The soco area is a hip and trendy spot full of restaurants, shops, and night life which just happens to be in view of the Austin downtown along with the Texas capitol. There are very few times you can stand in the middle of the road in this area without being hit by a car so we haven’t been back here in years. Austin Texas is a vibrant active city it is hard to find times where you can photograph some scenes because this city doesn’t seem to stop. In this view you can see the capitol, the Frost Tower, the Austonian the second tallest building along with many others. The dividing line for south congress to north congress is Lady Bird Lake.
Texas Capitol from Austin SOCO Sunrise – A at sunrise. This was taken from an area refered to as SOCO which stand for South Congress. The soco area is a hip and trendy spot full of restaurants, shops, and night life which just happens to be in view of the Austin downtown along with the Texas capitol. This was taken in the early hours as I waited for the sun to come up rather the pre-dawn as it is still pretty dark but the capitol is nicely lit.
Austin Skyline Dawn Pano -Lady Bird Lake Austin Texas – We captured this Austin Skyline before sunrise which is the best time to get some color in the sky right at dawn. Butler Shores was the only place where you can park now as many parking lots are closed in downtown due to the covid19. We wanted to capture the latest Austin skyline before downtown Austin has another transformation as we have two more high rises that they have started on in the last year that will change the skyline again very soon. The two new skyscrapers will be two hundred feet taller than the Independent or Jengal building seen in this image. The Independent now has the top crown lit which many had been waiting to see. In the last couple of years the skyline has added at least a dozen new skyscrapers along the shoreline, many which have blocked some of the old high rise buildings like the austin 360 and the Frost Bank Tower. The frost can still be seen from this angle but in many cases it is not visible any longer. This area is popular because of the many parks and hike and bike trails that are so easily usable in downtown. The city of Austin had a thriving convention business till the covid19 virus that brought many to the area which I am sure will come back soon. Austin has a population of a million people and it sometimes seem they are all downtown with all the condos they have built. Austin Texas has alway had a reputaton of a city with a vibe with it music industry like the SBSW and the ACL festives along with so many small events it too hard to name them all. We have taken many of the Texas skylines and non have had the transformation that Austin Tx has, especially along Lady Bird Lake or town lake as many old timers call it which is part of the highland lakes colorado river chain. Austin is also the home to theTexas Capitol which is one of the largest employer in downtown Austin, along with the many high tech company like Amazon, IBM, Adobe, Google to name a few. Today Austin’s population has reach one million and is one of the fastest growing city in the south.
Austin Skyline Dawn Pano – We captured this Austin Skyline before sunrise which is the best time to get some color in the sky right at dawn. Butler Shores was the only place where you can park now as many parking lots are closed in downtown due to the covid19. We wanted to capture the latest Austin skyline before downtown Austin has another transformation as we have two more high rises that they have started on in the last year that will change the skyline again very soon. The two new skyscrapers will be two hundred feet taller than the Independent or Jengal building seen in this image. The Independent now has the top crown lit which many had been waiting to see. In the last couple of years the skyline has added at least a dozen new skyscrapers along the shoreline, many which have blocked some of the old high rise buildings like the austin 360 and the Frost Bank Tower. The frost can still be seen from this angle but in many cases it is not visible any longer. This area is popular because of the many parks and hike and bike trails that are so easily usable in downtown. The city of Austin had a thriving convention business till the covid19 virus that brought many to the area which I am sure will come back soon. Austin has a population of a million people and it sometimes seem they are all downtown with all the condos they have built. Austin Texas has alway had a reputaton of a city with a vibe with it music industry like the SBSW and the ACL festives along with so many small events it too hard to name them all. We have taken many of the Texas skylines and non have had the transformation that Austin Tx has, especially along Lady Bird Lake or town lake as many old timers call it which is part of the highland lakes colorado river chain. Austin is also the home to theTexas Capitol which is one of the largest employer in downtown Austin, along with the many high tech company like Amazon, IBM, Adobe, Google to name a few. Today Austin’s population has reach one million and is one of the fastest growing city in the south.
Austin Skyline Sunrise – We captured this image Austin skyline before the sun acually broke the horizon on this morning in the downtown area of the city. The sky painted the sky with some pinks, yellow, purple and blues which was a lovely backdrop on this day. We have been trying to capture this shot from congress bridge for some time but there was so much going on with the protest and constant building that we waited for break. Austin Texas is a popular place for tourist to visit with so many things to do, with a great music scene, art events, sporting events and many parks and lake in the area. Austin is on the edge of the Texas hill country another popular place to visit especially in the spring for the wildflower season. Downtown Austin is beautiful modern city with some unique architecture and new high rises almost yearly. We will need to come back in a few years as their are plans for two more buildings in the city that will be two hundred feet taller than the tallest building the Independent in Austin now. Austin skyline has been constantly changing so we have tried to catch it as the latest batch of building have been finished. This images captures the congress bridge that leads your eye to the Texas Capitol in downtown Austin. The Texas Capitol is a landmark and favorite tourist attraction to visit when people come to town. Also University of Texas is the largest university in the city and draws a large crowd for their many sporting and school events. In this Austin aerial image you can see the second tallest building the Austonian and the Frost and many others along the water front. Lately the Lady Bird Lake which is this portion of the Colorado river has been getting more and more crowed as they are constanly building new high rises along the colorado river water front. In any case it is a constantly evolving City of Austin skyline.
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Austin Skyline Sunrise – We captured this Austin skyline image before the sun acually broke the horizon on this morning in downtown . The sky painted the sky with some pinks, yellow, purple and blues which was a lovely backdrop on this day for the austin skyline. We have been trying to capture this shot for some time but there was so much going on with the protest and constant building that we waited for break. We will need to come back in a few years as their are plans for two more buildings that will be two hundred feet taller than the tallest building the Independent in Austin now. Austin skyline has been constantly changing over the years so we have tried to catch it as the latest batch of building have been finished. This images captures the congress bridge that leads your eye to the Texas Capitol in downtown Austin. The Texas Capitol is a landmark and favorite tourist location to visit when people come to town. In this aerial image you can see our second tallest building the Austonian and the Frost and many others along the water front. Lately the Lady Bird Lake has been getting more and more crowed as they are constanly building new high rises along the colorado river water front. In any case it is a constantly evolving City of Austin skyline
Austin Skyline Sunrise – We captured this Austin skyline image before the sun acually broke the horizon on this morning in downtown . The sky painted the sky with some pinks, yellow, purple and blues which was a lovely backdrop on this day for the austin skyline. We have been trying to capture this shot for some time but there was so much going on with the protest and constant building that we waited for break. We will need to come back in a few years as their are plans for two more buildings that will be two hundred feet taller than the tallest building the Independent in Austin now. Austin skyline has been constantly changing over the years so we have tried to catch it as the latest batch of building have been finished. This images captures the congress bridge that leads your eye to the Texas Capitol in downtown Austin. The Texas Capitol is a landmark and favorite tourist location to visit when people come to town. In this aerial image you can see our second tallest building the Austonian and the Frost and many others along the water front. Lately the Lady Bird Lake has been getting more and more crowed as they are constanly building new high rises along the colorado river water front. In any case the Austin skyline is a constantly evolving skyline when it will be completed is unknown.
We captured this panorama image of Austin Skyline sunrise before the sun acually broke the horizon on this morning. The sky painted the sky with some pinks, yellow, purple and blues which was a lovely backdrop on this day. We have been trying to capture this shot for some time but there was so much going on with the protest and constant building that we waited for break. We will need to come back in a few years as their are plans for two more buildings that will be two hundred feet taller than the tallest building the Independent in Austin now. Austin skyline has been constantly changing so we have tried to catch it as the latest batch of building have been finished. This images captures the congress bridge that leads your eye to the Texas Capitol in downtown Austin. The Texas Capitol is a landmark and favorite tourist location to visit when people come to town. In this aerial image you can see the tallest building the Independent along with the second tallest building the Austonian and the Frost and many others along the water front. Lately the Lady Bird Lake has been getting more and more crowed as they are constanly building new high rises along the colorado river water front. In any case it is a constantly evolving City of Austin skyline.
Austin Skyline Sunrise Pano – We captured this panorama image of Austin Skyline sunrise before the sun acually broke the horizon on this morning. The sky painted the sky with some pinks, yellow, purple and blues which was a lovely backdrop on this day. We have been trying to capture this shot for some time but there was so much going on with the protest and constant building that we waited for break. We will need to come back in a few years as their are plans for two more buildings that will be two hundred feet taller than the tallest building the Independent in Austin now. Austin skyline has been constantly changing so we have tried to catch it as the latest batch of building have been finished. This images captures the congress bridge that leads your eye to the Texas Capitol in downtown Austin. The Texas Capitol is a landmark and favorite tourist location to visit when people come to town. In this aerial image you can see the tallest building the Independent along with the second tallest building the Austonian and the Frost and many others along the water front. Lately the Lady Bird Lake has been getting more and more crowed as they are constanly building new high rises along the colorado river water front. In any case it is a constantly evolving City of Austin skyline.
Bluebonnet Railroad Tracks Sunrise – We have come to this old abandoned rail road track in the past years, but this year instead of catching a sunset we decided to try for a sunrise and we got lucky. Today we had a great sunrise over this railroad tressel right before the sunrise pop over the horizon with some fantastic colors. I managed to get a few shot before some heavyier clouds moved in the predawn but cleared a bit for a sunrise shot later on. Any case the pre dawn sunrise over these bluebonnets were a great catch in the Texas hill country. Texas bluebonnets at the rail road track in the texas hill country is alway a reason to celebrate! We love our Texas Wildflowers that Lady Bird Johnson promote heavily in our state part of the highway beautification from fifty years ago.
Bluebonnet Railroad Tracks Sunrise – We have come to this old abandoned rail road track in the past years, but this year instead of catching a sunset we decided to try for a sunrise and we got lucky as the bluebonnets were much better today. This great early morning sunrise colors over this railroad tressel right before the sun game up gave some fantastic colors over these tracks with bluebonnets. I managed to get a few shot before some heavyier clouds moved in the predawn but cleared a bit for a sunrise shot later on. Any case the pre dawn sunrise over these bluebonnets were a great catch in the Texas hill country. Texas bluebonnets are a favorite subject of ours to photograph but add a sunrise over the tracks and bluebonnet and you can beat it. Always a good day in the Texas hill country where you can find bluebonnets and other texas wildflowers growing.
Big Bend Bluebonnets – Last years memories of the super crop of texas bluebonnets down in Big Bend National Park We went this year and didn’t find much in the park mostly patches along the roads So decide to post this capture we took in the early morning with a bit of sun kissed texas bluebonnets on the side of this sloping hillside cascading down into this field toward the distant landmark Cerro Castellan and the Chiso mountains in view. This is a desert landscape that reguires a hardly plant to survive so these are special native bluebonnet design to exist in this harsh desert landscape. The 2019 year crop of texas bluebonnets was the best we have ever seen with thick patches of one to two foot tall lupine flowers along the roads and on the hill sides through out the park. Some call these texas lupines the Big Bend bluebonnets or Chiso Bluebonnets which only grow in Big Bend National Park and the Chihuahua desert regions. Whatever you call them it is site to see hope we will see it again in the future!
Chiso Bluebonnets – The early morning sun kisses the texas bluebonnets on the side of this sloping hill side in Big Bend with the distant landmark Cerro Castellan with a touch of light. This is a desert landscape that reguires a hardly plant to survive so these are special native bluebonnet design to exist in this harsh desert landscape. This year crop was the best we have ever seen with thick patches of one to two foot tall flowers along the roads and on the hill sides. Some call these texas lupines the Big Bend bluebonnets or Chiso Bluebonnets which only grow in Big Bend National Park and the Chihuahua desert regions.
Prada Marfa Sunset – On our way down to Big Bend National Park in Texas we decided to see if we could capture image of Prada Marfa Sunset and at first we didn’t think we would see any color in the sky but a last minute bscklit color pops up. After the sunset it started backlighting all the clouds so we were able to capture a great Texas sunset with these wonderful clouds with pinks and oranges colors. You can see the scenery in west texas is pretty much flat till you get to the mountains so it is such a contrast to have this just sitting on the edge of the road in Valentine Texas about 30 miles west of Marfa.Why it has been called Marfa Prada. I guess that they just pick the biggest town nearby to name it. The permanet exhibit was created by two artist Elmgreen and Dragset in October 2005 to resemble an actual Prada store. The two refer to their work as pop architectual land art with a bit of humor. They built this structure about 24 miles outside of Marfa in a city called Valentine Texas population around 200. To make it more interesting they found the least likely place to find a store like this and stuck in in far west texas. They added only right shoes and the purses have no bottoms. They have been vandalize several times now I guess people in this area like prada more than they knew. As far as the artist are concerned I am not sure what they were saying or not saying about their art. Maybe they were making fun of consumerism but you would have to ask them. As a photographer it great fun to shoot such a unique image. After the latest vandalism they have install cameras and the purses have GPS devices inside that detect movement so making it more difficult to shop there in the future. Who knew shopping in the desert could be so swanky ok it for looks only, This area has become a popular destination since it was installed in 2005 people were ariving by the car loads while we were there. What else are you going to do in far west texas on a Saturday night!
Prada Marfa Sunset – On our way down to Big Bend National Park in Texas we decided to see if we could capture a sunset image of Prada Marfa and at first we didn’t think we would see any color in the sky. After the sunset it started backlighting all the clouds so we were able to capture a great Texas sunset with these wonderful clouds with pinks and oranges colors. You can see the scenery in west texas is pretty much flat till you get to the mountains so it is such a contrast to have this just sitting on the edge of the road in Valentine Texas about 30 miles west of Marfa.Why it has been called Marfa Prada. I guess that they just pick the biggest town nearby to name it. The permanet exhibit was created by two artist Elmgreen and Dragset in October 2005 to resemble an actual Prada store. The two refer to their work as pop architectual land art with a bit of humor. They built this structure about 24 miles outside of Marfa in a city called Valentine Texas population around 200. To make it more interesting they found the least likely place to find a store like this and stuck in in far west texas. They added only right shoes and the purses have no bottoms. They have been vandalize several times now I guess people in this area like prada more than they knew. As far as the artist are concerned I am not sure what they were saying or not saying about their art. Maybe they were making fun of consumerism but you would have to ask them. As a photographer it great fun to shoot such a unique image. After the latest vandalism they have install cameras and the purses have GPS devices inside that detect movement so making it more difficult to shop there in the future. Who knew shopping in the desert could be so swanky ok it for looks only, This area has become a popular destination since it was installed in 2005 people were ariving by the car loads while we were there. What else are you going to do in far west texas on a Saturday night! To see more Prada Marfa images check out our West Texas Gallery!
Sunrise on Driftwood Beach – On Jekyll Island in Georgia you find these wonderful beaches with these driftwood and dead trees that somehow have managed to stay upright in the sands. What was neat was this beach looked like some foreign landscape. With all the driftwood and the deadwood trees still upright in the sand it look unworldly. I guess it was kind of like you were on a different planet. Jekyll island is know for its driftwood beach with these fabulous dead trees as the tide rolls in they become part of the ocean landscape. We did long exposures on several shot so that the water would get this smooth texture. There isn’t a lot of surf here so that helps. Before sunrise we made our way to the beach but the water greeted us almost as soon as we step on the beach. Yes the tide had come in. We took photos in the water but our tripod kept sinking which made it difficult. We like the way this capture the gnarly twisted tree with the deadwood at it base and the surf swirling around the tree. The sky was just lighting up on Jekyll island at the driftwood beach sunrise began and the color was just starting to show in the morning sky with some yellow, oranges, blues and purples. Driftwood beach was why we came to this area we had seen some wonderful images and wanted to come and take some ourselves but four days is not enough. Jekyll island is part of the Golden Isles barrier islands on the Alantic Coast of Georgia. The barrier islands are Jekyll island, St. Simon island, Little St. Simon island, Sea Island, and Brunswic Georgia. This area is known for its driftwood beach and salt marshes.
Sunrise on Driftwood Beach – On Jekyll Island in Georgia you find these wonderful beaches with these dead trees along with driftwood that somehow have managed to stay upright in the sands. What was neat was this beach looked like some foreign landscape with all the driftwood and the deadwood trees upright. it was kind of like you were on a different planet. Jekyll island has one section callled driftwood beach with these fabulous dead trees as the tide rolls in they are part of the ocean landscape. We did long exposures on several shot so that the water would get this smooth texture. There isn’t a lot of surf here so that helps. Before sunrise we made our way to the beach but the water greeted us almost as soon as we step on the beach. Yes the tide had come in. We took photos in the water but our tripod kept sinking which made it difficult sometimes. We like the way this capture the gnarly twisted tree with the deadwood at it base and the surf swirling around the tree. The sky was just lightingin up on Jekyll island at the driftwood beach when we got there and the color was just starting to show for the morning sunrise. Driftwood beach was why we came here we had seen some wonderful images and wanted to come and take some ourselves but four days is not enough. Jekyll island is part of the Golden Isles barrier islands on the Alantic Coast of Georgia. The barrier islands are Jekyll island, St. Simon island, Little St. Simon island, Sea Island, and Brunswic Georgia. This area is known for its driftwood beach and salt marshes.
Sunrise at Port Isabel Lighthouse – Port Isabel lighthouse was built in 1852 for the sea captains to help them navigate the Texas coastal waters. While this lighthouse is no long needed as technology improve navigation it sit as a reminder of the past and a historical landmark for the city. Now the lighthouse acts as a museum with its reconstructed lighthouse keeper’s cottage which sit below. The Port Isabel’s 72-foot lighthouse is open to the public where you can the winding stairs case and enter the outside area where you can take in the view. From this site you can see the Port Isabel and beyond along with South Padre Island with the Queen Isabella Causeway in view and the coastal beach. Port Isabel is located in south Texas or as the locals call it the valley which stands for the Texas Rio Grande Valley. We loved this capture of this wonderful Port Isabel lighthouse right before the sun came up with these wonderful pastel color in the sky showing the Queen Isabella Causeway along with the down town historic district. This is a historic site and located across the street is a museum with the past history of the island. The Port Isabel Lighthouse is the last light house that is still open to the public. Port Isabel has a lot to offer for tourist, and locals from the beach, to some wonderful restaurant with great fresh seafood to all kinds of activities for all ages.
Sunrise at Port Isabel Lighthouse – Port isabel lighthouse was built in 1852 for the sea capitains to help them navigate the Texas coastal waters. While this lighthouse is no long needed as technology improve navigation it sit as a reminder of the past and a landmark for the city. Now the lighhouse acts as a museum with its reconstructed lighthouse keeper’s cottage which sit below. The Port Isabel’s 72-foot lighthouse is open to the public where you can climb the winding stairs case and enter the outside area where you can take in the 360 degree views of the area. From this site you can see the Port Isabel and beyond along with South Padre Island with the Queen Isabela Causeway in view and the coastal beach. Port Isabel is located in south texas or as the locals call it the valley which stands for the Texas Rio Grande Valley. We loved this capture this of of the Port Isabel lighthouse right before the sun came up with these wonderful pastel color in the sky showing the Queen Isabela Causeway along with the down town historic district. This is a historic site and across the street they have a wonderful museum where you can get tickets to go into the lighthouse which is the last light house that is still open to the public.
Austin Downtown Skyline Night Pano : Prints Available
