These are some of our favorite images and landmarks from Austin Texas
Photo Blog: Favorite Images From Austin Texas
03-12-2020
Austin Aerial Skyline at Twilight
Austin Aerial Skyline at Twilight - A little different view of the Austin Skyline with our aerial drone over downtown Austin from IH 35. We take our aerial photos with a full frame camera so we can get the best resolution. We live west of the Austin and when we come downtown we usually try and come on off time however that is getting harder and harder to find. Yet the Austin skyline is constantly changing so we try and come down and take some shot in between new skyscrapers. Even though this is winter time here it likely that we will see some new skeliton buildings show up any day now, so we decided to go ahead and capture a shot now and hopefully another one this spring. It is delicate balance catching images with out the half finished skyscrapers that we have seen for the last several years. The lastest high rise building is the google building which kind of looks like a sail boat at the other end of the lake, but there are several on the way which will be taller than any other high rise buildings in the city, but we believe they have not broken ground yet. The shoreline along lady bird lake or town lake as many still call it, is getting more and more crowed. So today this is latest view of this urban landscape along the river from the east side of town which still had some color from the earlier sunset left in the sky right at twilight! So we think it was worth the trip downtown to capture this image at this time of day. 6835 Thanks for looking.
Aerial Austin Skyline Violet Crown
Aerial Austin Skyline Violet Crown - We came down to capture the latest image of Austin with the recently added Google building along the shoreline of Lady Bird Lake with some autumn colors in the trees. We got that and more with these wonderful colors in the sky. Austin has been call the violet crown city in the past which is this wonderful shades of violet, purple, pinks, and blues that we capture this evening, We think of this time as the magic hour with all the violet and purples and pinks in the sky. Downtown Austin has been a city of cranes for several years so we needed to catch it in between, before the next round of high rise building start showing up. Also the fall colors were still present with the bald cypress trees along the water along with the red oaks showing there autumn colors. We wanted to show all of Austin tallest buildings the Independent, the Austonian with the newest addition of the Google as they are today. Also the image captures the Lamar Bridge, the Pfluger Pedestrian bridge, the alway colorful graffitt railroad bridge, with the rest of the bridges downstream. Austin has a wonderful hike and bike trail that runs around town lake in the downtown area where you can see the skyline from many points because of this you find people on bikes, running, walking along the trail and during the warmer weather you find kayaks, canoe, and sup all along the lake.
Stormy Austin Skyline Night
Stormy Austin Skyline Night - I was getting ready to pack it up when these storm clouds started to push in to the view of the city with lot of lightning yet no wind as of yet so the buildings reflection could still be seen in Lady Bird Lake for a awesome catch which is rarely something seen as there are alway someone boating or duck to mess up the reflections in the water but tonight I got lucky. You can see just as the lighting strikes it lights up a cloud behind the city. In any case it is a constantly evolving City of Austin skyline with some of the best sunrises and sunsets along with the magical blue hours.
Texas Capitol Golden Sunrise
Texas Capitol Golden Sunrise - We captured this golden sunrise colors over the Texas Capitol on Congress in Austin Texas. We were taking photos from further back on congress early this morning before sunrise, but decided to get closer to the capitol right at sunrise and it paid off. The sky gave us a nice show with these golden colors and great clouds as the sun came up in downtown Austin. The Texas Capitol is an impressive site and a city landmark which is visited year round by toursit. The capital structure houses the offices and chambers of the Texas Legislature and of the Governor of Texas. The capitol is built with limestone and granite all quarried in Texas. The Texas Capitol is almost alway busy with people visiting the area. When I worked in the downtown area we used to bring our lunch and go sit on the lush landscape at the capitol.
Texas State Capitol
Texas State Capitol - The Texas State Capitol is a really pretty place with beautiful grounds and today was an exceptional nice sky. We saw these pretty white puffy clouds with a blue sky and said we need to go get some photo of the capital. The Texas Capitol is visited by thousand of tourist every year and it is one of the top tourist attractions in Austin and is an iconic historical site. The Capital building was built in 1888 of granite in the italian renaissance style and it is a National historic landmark. The Texas Capitol is located in downtown Austin on Congress ave. This captial view is looking south toward the city with the two taller buildings the Frost Bank and the tallest building in the city the Austonian behind the captial. The capital grounds sit on 22 acreas and are very nice place to ejnoy the day. This is just one of our many images of the capitol so check out our gallery for more Texas landscapes. Please check out more pics of texas in our other galleries.
Texas Capitol Sunrise from SOCO
Texas Capitol Sunrise from SOCO - This is the wider view we got this morning at sunrise from Austin soco area or South Congress just as the sun was coming up. You get a wider view of south congress looking toward the texas capitol as the sunrise creates this wonderful colorful sky as the clouds turned pink which contrasted against the blue sky nicely. The Texas Capitol was lit up so you can see it at the end of congress. We have been waiting to take this image again for some time because we have had a lot of dusk and smoke in the air for a while but since we had cold front come through it cleared the skies out again. You can't beat the traffic in this town no matter when you come to downtown Austin it endless even before the sun comes up. Austin downtown is in a constant state of building we seem to always have new buildings coming up that are changing the Austin skyline. Austin is an urban city where people live in the downtown area where they can enjoy the many activities that the city has such as live music, concerts, great restaurant, plays, and parks with hike and bike trails and many other activities.
Bob Bullock Museum
Bob Bullock Museum - Bob Bullock Museum at dusk in downtown Austin
Austin Bats at Dusk
Austin Bats at Dusk - Well the bats put on a show tonight as millions of mexican free tail bats came out at dusk as the sky had this nice sunset glow still going on. The sun had set and we were thinking about going when they started comming out in droves so it was worth the wait. We have chased the bats over the year as they never come out at the same time. Tonight we still had enough light to capture the bats as they errupted out from under the Congress Bridge right at dusk on Lady Bird Lake. You can see the people on the bridge watching as the bats erupt from under the bridge. It is on most peoples to do list now to go to the Austin bat watch at least once. The whole thing has taken on a festival like feel as their are musicians playing their music, people selling twisted balloons to the kids and all kinds of other vendors selling something to the crowds of people. You can view the bats from several locations from the bridge, along the hike and bike trail on Lady Bird lake from the water where you can go by one of the many tour boats or rent a sup or canoe to see the bats.
SOCO Austin Motel View Sunrise
SOCO Austin Motel View Sunrise - This was taken in the SOCO district of this sign along south congress looking into downtown Austin at Sunrise. This area is so busy in normal hours it would be impossible to capture this view with a lot of cars and buses. This is a very trendy location on south congress with shopping, dinning, and live music venues a popular spot for the hip crowd. In this view you can see into downtown Austin and see the capitol along with some of many iconic high rise building like the Frost, and Austonian.
Continental Club Austin
Continental Club Austin - This is a view of the iconic Continental Club in downtown Austin on Congress in South Congress area called SOHO. The club has been around since 1955 when it was orginally a high end supper club but was revamp to be one of the premier live music places in Austin. It still has the tradition look after a remodle brought it back to its glory days from the past. If you want to go see some live music it still a rockin place they have some kind of live music hear almost nightly. You can hear all kinds of music from blues, rockabilly, country and more. Many have played here including Robett Plant, Joe Ely, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and many more.
Austin SoCo after Dark
Austin SoCo after Dark - Just a glimpse of the SoCo area at night with a few places that have been here for many years. Maya's women fashions, along with Tesoros Trading Company where you can get your favorite curios from around the globe or pick up your favorite halloween costume at Lucy in Disguise with Diamonds but the Yard Dog Art gallery recently has moved. Austin SoCo area is a ever changing place the atmosphe is similar to sixth street, but with more restaurants and shopping and not the reverlers of dirty sixth. Many come here for Guerra Mexican food which has been located here for many years or the new Hop Daddys which almost always has a line out the door there are many casual places to pick up a hot dog too, so almost too many to choose from. It is a busy place on weekends with the landmark Continental Club and other music clubs plus with lot of restaurants to choose from you can make easily make an evening of it.
Barton Creek
Barton Creek - Barton Spring Creek is right on the other side of barton spring pool a favorite place on a hot summer day to hop in a kayak or paddle board or just take a dip in the cool natural spring fed waters. This is a natural creek that flows into town lake or Lady Bird Lake which flows through the city of austin. It is one of the most popular spots people come to canoe, kayak, swim, feed the swans, or just people watch. It is part of the Zilker park area and the hike and bike trail runs through the area.
Austin Skyline with Barton Spring Pool Vertical Pano
Austin Skyline with Barton Spring Pool Vertical Pano - Aerial Barton Spring Pool Vertical Pano with the Austin Skyline. We captures this aerial iconic vertical panorama of the Barton Springs Pool as the fall foliage surrounds the pool in Austin Texas. You can see that the pool has people swimming in this sunrise capture where the outside temperature was 48 degrees but the pool is a constant 68 degrees. I guess you can say the water is warmer than the outside temps however for me my days of Barton Springs or over. As a teen I swam here frequently but the water is just to cold even when the temp is 99 degree for me can you say wimp.:) Many people come here early before the sun comes up to take a dip in the spring fed waters. We were surprised their were so many people here at 6:30 in the morning on Thanksgiving before the sun came up. I guess they had plans to eat a lot of turkey so they got their swim in before the thanksgiving feast began. Barton spring pool waters are from a spring fed aquafers and they took this natural area and dammed each end so that the water would be a constant level with a 900 foot pool. The waters from Barton creek flows around the pool under the sidewalks which makes it way to Lady bird lake as it flows downstream of Austin. Barton Springs pool located in Zilker Park in downtown Austin and is landmark for the city. This iconic site is also home to an endangered salamander but the it was determined that the salamander and people could coexit together as they had been doing for over many years. There is almost no day now that the whole park area is not over flowing with people.
Stevie Ray Vaughn Austin
Stevie Ray Vaughn Austin - We capture this image of Stevie Ray Vaughn statue from the hike and bike trail on Ladybird Lake with the latest high-rise editions to the Austin skyline the Colorado Towers, which now almost completely block the Frost building from view at this location. This area of the hike and bike trail along Ladybird lake has been a favorite location for many to capture the city and the statue together. We had an exceptional day with nice skies so we decided to try and capture this photos again, but with the ever changing skyline we will be back again soon.
Willie Nelson Statue at ACL
Willie Nelson Statue at ACL - This is the first Willie Nelson statue located in Austin sitting in front of the Austin City Limit (ACL) in the warehouse district in downtown austin at 2nd street at night. You can see someone decided to add a lay on Willie statue to represent his home in Hawaii on this day he also has a ranch outside of Austin in the Texas Hill Country near lake travis. No matter where he lives he will be from Texas he has become a icon in this state. Willie is famous for his outlaw country music, his movies, his song writing, his fourth of July picnics, Farm Aid, his work for animal welfare and many other things he has done over his life. Willie Nelson was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993. I will not even begin to try and list all his music, but two of my favorites records are "Red Headed Starnger and Star Dust" both help launch his career into becoming a Texas icon, he even has a street named after him in downtown Austin "Willie Nelson Blvd" at 2nd street.
Oasis Sunset Pano 2
Oasis Sunset Pano 2. One more image of this wonderful sunset at the Oasis on Lake Travis. Lake Travis is outside of Austin, Texas in the Hill Country which is a favorite place for locals and tourist to come and you can't miss the Oasis restaurant to have dinner and watch the sunset set. Love that the sunset was almost here and they still have the umbrellas up. Many times we have been here and they start taking down the umbellas right before the sunsets, but I like to get them in the image. So it was a good capture on this day of this two to one panorama.
Lake Travis Sunrise Reflections Landscape
Lake Travis Sunrise Reflections Landscape - We captured this beautiful sunrise landscape over the marina on Lake Travis in the Texas hill country. This was our second trip in a week because we wanted to see if we could capture the morning sunrise with some nice clouds. We had some clouds early on, but as we got closer to sunrise more moved in and it was a stunning site with the clouds above and the clouds and boat reflections in the water below. In all a good early morning sunrise landscape in the hill country. Lake Travis is located in the Texas hill country and is about thirty miles from Austin Texas the second largest city in the hill country with San Antonio the largest city in the area. Lake Travis is considered part of the Texas hill country which goes for over a thousand miles. The Texas Hill Country begins in the north where the rolling plains and prairies ends at the Balcones Escarpment in the south and east and extends west to Edwards Plateau. San Antonio and Austin are the two largest cities in the Texas hill country, some don't include them but many do so it your choice. The Texas hill country is also defined by the rugged limestone hills that separate the coastal plain from the Edwards Plateau. The Texas hill country is a number one top tourist destination. Many area of the hill country have winery's that have popped up in the last ten years and this has caused a lot of tourist to flock to these areas. Hill country wineries are available from Austin to Johnson City to Fredericksburg along with many other who now have new wineries every year. The Austin area has been steadily growing at a record pace for some time so it is not common to be able to capture any place that is not full of people and boats coming and going on most days. Thats why early morning is the perfect time, yet where we live on the lake it not possible to get this still waters, because the fishermen are speeding up and down the lake at breakneck speed to get to that favorite fishing hole long before the sun comes up. Lakeway is also on part of Lake Travis, but most of this area is for property owners who have access to the lake.
Lake Travis Sunset
Lake Travis Sunset - Texas Landscapes Canvas and Prints - Travis with this great sunset is a favorite place of those that live in or near Austin to visit along with many just visiting. Travis has some great boating, swimming areas for recreation and many toursit come here. Today we are viewing the lake from one of our favorite places the Oasis and capturing this great sunset . The Oasis has some great decks to view some of the best sunsets over the lake and this is one of those images. The lake is full the sunset are wonderful what elese do you want.
Hamilton Pool Preserve
Hamilton Pool Preserve - Hamilton Pool is located off of hwy 71 in Travis county about a thirty minute drive from Austin,Texas. The is a natural pool created by an underground river that collasped and formed by erosion over thousand years. The erosion created this cave with stalactite growing from the celling, a waterfall flowing over the limestone along bolders along with moss along with emerald green swimming hole. The preserve includes about 232 acres of natural habitat and is home to the golden cheek warble. This area has become an Austin landmark located in the Texas hill country where locals and tourist come to cool off. This place draws a lot of people year round who enjoy this place on a hot summer days but it is great for hiking too, but if you want to come be sure and call ahead and make reservation. Over the years the place has been loved to death and you now need a reservation just to get in also it is also good to make sure it is open for swimming because it is a natural swimming hole no chemicals are added to the water so at times it get shut down due to high bateria counts. This nature preserver is part of the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve and is a protected environment. This is one of those cherish site and one of my favorite capture of our landscapes of Texas.
Austin Pennybacker Overlook
Austin Pennybacker Overlook - We captured this view over the Austin 360 bridge or Pennybacker Overlook as some call it right after we had a tropical storm in the gulf. It gave some nice clouds in July which made it worth the climb in 100 degree temperature. The Pennybaker bridge overlook is a popular spot for locals and tourist to come visit. Now almost anytime you go up there are a crowd there because it gives a great overlook of the Austin 360 bridge over Lake Austin. It is on the list of places to go when your are in Austin Texas. Lake Austin which is part of the Colorado river chain that flows through the area on it way downstream to the gulf. The 360 bridge connects the north and south section of Hwy 360 or capitol of texas highway together. We did notice since the last time we had been up there they are adding graffiti to this old cedar tree, rocks, along with a chain and some locks. I guess some feel the need to decorate everything! Also available in black and white.
Fall Colors at Austin 360 Bridge
Fall Colors at Austin 360 Bridge - We wanted some fall colors that we get this time of year with the red oaks, maples, and bald cypress growing near the waters edge at the Pennybacker Bridge. Today we got a pop of color as the sun cross over the tree tops with a contrasts of the ash juniper evergreen with the yellows, reds ,oranges of the maples, red oaks, and bald cypress autumn colors. Most refer to this bridge as the Austin 360 or Pennybacker bridge or pennybacker overlook or some verison of this along with the Capital of Texas hwy.This arch style bridge connects the north and south area of Austin across Lake Austin. This bridge is locate in Austin Texas on the loop 360 hwy on the edge of the Texas Hill Country. The 360 bridge crosses Lake Austin and it is a recreational lake that many use in the area for swimming, boating,and fishing. Downtown Austin is about 30 minute drive on a good day. The bridge was name after Percy V. Pennybacker Jr. Bridge who was a civil engineer for the highway dept..In the distant view you can see Austin skyline but its a good distance away so very small view.
UT Tower and Littlefield Fountain BW
UT Tower and Littlefield Fountain BW - UT Tower with the Little Field Fountain at the University of Texas in downtown Austin in black and white after a football win where the tower is lit up with burnt orange on top. The UT Tower is 307 feet tall with 30 floors in the center of campus and can be seen from almost all locations. The Little field fountain is a World War 1 memorial created by italian-born sculptor Pompeo Coppini facing MLK street on the UT campus. Only after a football game or a special event is the tower lit up in burnt orange. For graduation the whole tower is burnt orange. The university is located in downtown Austin and is a rather a large university and bumps up against the Capitol Complex at MLK previous 19th street all the way to 26th street and IH 35.
UT Sport Center at Sunset 2
UT Sport Center at Sunset - This is an aerial capture of the what is now call the sport center for University of Texas as the sunset create these wonderful colors. You can see the Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium not in this capture but they also have the new soccer field, and the new unfinished Moody Center for basketball and other events which is on the panorama inmage. Also in this image is the UT Tower and the Texas Capitol along with the Austin skyline silhouette in the back ground. We thought the colorful sky brought out this image with this moody twilight look.
Austin Lou Neff Sunrise Reflection
Austin Lou Neff Sunrise Reflection - Urban Landscape Canvas Prints - We capture the latest Austin skyline from Lou Neff Point right before sunrise as the sky was full of color with pinks, violets, yellows, and purples with these wonderful reflections of the high rise buildings in Lady Bird Lake. The water was very calm which help us capture the sky and skyline reflections in the water this is rare event now. This is also the most current skyline taken in 2019 with all the latest skyscrapers like the Austonian and Independent along with all the other new editions to the shoreline along town lake. Lou Neff is part of the Zilker park and this area is where Barton Creek and Lady Bird Lake come together so it is usually a busy place only this time of day would the water be this smooth.
Mount Bonnell Sunset
Mount Bonnell Sunset- This is another capture from Mount Bonnell in Austin at sunset. This scenic vista overlook of Lake Austin and the city of Austin. Mount Bonnell is a great spot for locals and tourist to watch the sunset looking west towards the Pennybacker Bridge or looking east to the downtown skyline. The walk up the stair can be a little difficult for some but it is worth the view. You can take a picnic and enjoy the view of the city or the sunset all from Mount Bonnell.
Austin Sixth Street Bikers Rally
Austin Sixth Street Rot Rally - This is an image of the Rot Rally on sixth street in downtown Austin. The Rally usually starts off at the Exposition Center but as the days go by you will find bikes everywhere in the city and through out the hill country. One of the places to find the most bikes is on sixth street or dirty sixth street as it is call now. Sixth street has a high concentration of mostly bars so its the perfect for a bunch of partygoers bikers to party and hang. Plus you get to ride through and show off your bike of choice. You can find harleys, Indians, to all kind of sports bike not to mention the custom jobs. In any case even if your not interested in bikes sixth street has live music and all kind of things going on every day and on weekends they close the street so it has this atmospher of one big party every weekend.
Paramount Theatre Sign Vertical 2
Paramount Theatre Sign Vertical 2 - The Paramount Theatre is a live theatre venue/movie theatre located in downtown Austin, Texas. The Paramount theatre show all kind of classic movie to musical events, comedy, and much more. This is considered a landmark for the city. The style of the theater is revival structure which was built in 1915. The building located on Congress Ave was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on June 23, 1976.
Dirtys on the Drag B W
Dirtys on the Drag B W - Austin Martins Kum Bak or Dirty's as most call this burger join on guadalupe which was a favorite place for a cheap burger and rings back in the day in black and white. We just refered to it as Dirtys on the Drag back when I was in school. It is just a few blocks from the University of Texas so it was quite popular back then and has become a Austin landmark. This place has been in business for over 90 years now and show no signs of slowing down. Its known for it burgers and onion rings and back in the days I ate here pretty regular but no longer living in downtown it is more rare now, but not forgotten. When I first came here there were like two tables and the kitchen was right there so I felt like I was eating at somebodies house. Most people just order and ate in their cars. Over the years they have made a few changes by added on a dinning area but it the same food. That why i wanted to capture the place because you never know when some body will buy it and put up some condos in this town. That would be ashame but it has happen before and so many past landmarks are now condos or office buildings, I can't even count them.
Austin Christmas Pano
Austin Christmas Pano - This is another great image of the Trail of Lights, the Zilker Christmas Tree along wtih the Austin Skyline in the background. This is a panorama of the city inorder to capture more of this wonderful holiday event.
Posted in Best of and tagged Austin landmarks, Austin Texas, skylines, landmarks, Texas Capitol, Mt Bonnel, SOHO, Congress Bridge Bats, Sixth Street, Zilker Park, Barton Springs, Stevie Ray Vaughn Statue, Willie Nelson Statue, La.