#880. Life Ring

This staircase, obviously now in a state of disrepair, use to allow visitors to Hamilton Pool, near Dripping Springs, Texas, to walk all the way around the pool under the overhanging rock formations. My memory of it is that it has always been a little shaky and was always slippery from being constantly soaked by the falling water.

Title: "Life Ring"

Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 15mm fisheye
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS4 > Nik Viveza > Nik Silver Efex Pro

#877. State

Taken this past weekend in Austin, Texas.

Title: "State"

Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS4 > Nik Silver Efex

#876. The Driskill

Taken This past Friday night in Austin, Texas. The historic Driskill Hotel is the building in the foreground.

Title: "The Driskill"

Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS4 > Nik Color Efex Pro

#875. Austin Reflections

Caught the John Fullbright concert at the State in Austin, Texas on Friday night and still managed to get up early enough to grab some brackets of downtown from across Lady Bird Lake.

Title: "Lady Bird Lake"

Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105 L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro > Adobe Photoshop CS4 > Nik Color Efex Pro

#842. Pool Table - Stubb's BBQ

Taken this past week at Stubb's BBQ in Austin, Texas. Terrific BBQ and great atmosphere!

Title: "Pool Table - Stubb's BBQ"

Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 15mm fisheye
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro > Photoshop CS4 > Nik Silver Efex Pro

Lake Austin Bridge

This is a shot I took of the Lake Austin Bridge on loop 360 in Austin, TX over the 4th of July weekend. The shot was taken from a bluff overlooking the bridge and lake. This is a great spot to take photos from and the climb to the top of the bluff is short and relatively easy. This location will definitely warrant another visit next time I find myself in Austin.

Title: "Lake Austin Bridge"


Shot data: 1/320s f/7.1 at 17.0mm iso200
Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom

Hey Cupcake!

You can always count on seeing something interesting in Austin! This past weekend we spotted this business being run from a small Airstream trailer. I don't remember if it was the giant rotating cupcake on top or the "Hey Cupcake!" sign that first caught my attention but either way it struck me as funny in a "Keep Austin Weird" kind of way.

Title: "Hey Cupcake!"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix to combine three handheld exposures (-2,0,+2) into one HDR image, Photoshop CS3 for contrast and color adjustments, Topaz Adjust plugin for contrast and sharpening adjustments

Based on feedback to yesterdays posting I did a little more Photoshop work on "Austin's Oasis". Mainly I leveled the horizon by partially rotating it (not too much because I wanted to limit the cropping I would have to do after the rotate operation) and then by using Transform Skew to raise the top right hand corner. I also brightened the image a little while I was working on it.

Title: "Austin's Oasis Redo"

Austin's Oasis

We spent this past weekend in the Lake Travis area of Austin. One of our stops was the famous Oasis Restaurant where seating is available inside or outside on a series of hillside decks. The restaurant is famous for offering a spectacular view of sunset. About 10 minutes prior to sunset the Oasis staff removes all the umbrellas so that a clear sight line of the sunset is available to all the restaurant's customers.

Title: "Austin's Oasis"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix to create an HDR image from three handheld exposures (-2,0,+2) > Photoshop CS3 to adjust contrast and heal some spots caused by dust on the camera sensor > Topaz Adjust Plugin to improve contrast and reduce noise

Inner Space Caverns

On my trip to Austin this past weekend I went to Inner Space Cavern. Entry to and exit from the cave is via this cable car. In this photo I'm looking up to the cable car and the "light at the end of the tunnel" is (wild guess following) about 50 yards up a 30% grade beyond the car.

Title: "Inner Space Cable Car"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 50mm f/1.4

Austin, Renn Fest

The last of my photos from my trip to Austin, Texas last weekend is both a photo and a question! How would you answer the question?

Title: "A Question for God"

Click the image for a larger version!

This weekend (Saturday) I went to the Texas Renaissance Festival in Magnolia, Texas. Ren Fest has been going on since around 1980 and is always a lot of fun to attend! The venue is on many acres and features multiple stages where different performers (jugglers, magicians, bands, novelty acts, etc) entertain the crowds at various times throughout the day. There are also shops, games, food concessions, and rides. Ren Fest is a place where you can go and have a really good time every weekend in October and a few weekends in November. The photo I'm posting today from Ren Fest is an owl featured in the 'Birds Of Prey" show on Falconer's Stage.

Title: "Bird of Prey"

Click the image for a larger version!

Six Pack Lead Guitarist

This is the lead guitarist from the blue grass bank Six Pack. We saw them perform at the Thirsty Nickel in Austin, Texas last weekend. They were a terrific high-energy band!

Title: "Six Pack Lead Guitarist"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 50mm f/1.4 prime
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Mainly a Dragonizer action I downloaded from the Internet. The Dragonizer action steps you through the process of making the photo darker and giving it a gritty effect.

Barton Springs Canoes

While in Austin last weekend, Jan Klier and I went down to Barton Springs to do some shooting on Sunday morning. We walked down to a really cool spot where a canoe rental business operated on the side of the creek (Barton Creek? Barton Springs Creek?). The creek here was beautiful with clear water, ducks, swans, and overhanging trees. I took this one photo and my camera card was full (I hate it when that happens; someday I'll learn to carry a spare)!

Title: "Barton Springs Canoes"

Click the image for a larger view!

Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 50mm f/1.4 prime
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > Duplicate Background > Topaz Adjust plugin "Simplify" plus an adjustment to the Detail slider to reduce detail even further > Merge Visible to New Layer > Distort Lens Correction Vignette > Brightness / Contrast Adjustment Layer to brighten up the image a tad bit

Mark

Brian and I stopped and talked to Mark on 6th Street in Austin last weekend. Mark spends his time talking about Jesus to anyone and everyone who will listen to his message. Mark isn't pushy about what he does but he is definitely enthusiastic! You can see in his eyes there is no doubt about his faith or his beliefs. I hadn't felt bad before I talked to Mark but I still felt somehow better once I did.

Title: "Mark"

Click the image above to view a larger version of it!

Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 50mm f/1.4 prime
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > High Pass Sharpening > Merge Visible to New Layer > Topaz Adjust plugin "Dramatic" at 55% Opacity > Merge Visible to New Layer > One Pixel Border Action (4 times with different colors)

Guero's Guitar Man

Our table was treated to a song from Guero's roaming singer (compliments of Steve Barth)last Friday night in Austin, Texas!

Title: "Guero's Guitar Man"

Click the image above to view a larger version!

Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > High Pass Sharpening > Merge Visible to new layer > Topaz Adjust "Spicify" + "Simplify" @ 74% Opacity > Merge Visible to new layer > Topaz Adjust "Portrait Drama"

Custom Ride

We spotted this custom bike on 6th Street in Austin, Texas on Saturday night.

Title: "Cool Ride"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 50mm f/1.4 prime lens
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > High Pass Sharpening > Merge Visible to New Layer > Topaz Adjust plugin "Noise Reduction" with a layer mask used to preserve the forground and subject detail by painting with black to fully or partially block the noise reduction > Merge Visible to New Layer > Distort Lens Correction Vignette

Car at Guero's

I just got back from a long weekend in Austin, Texas. I met up with a few friends that I originally met at a Radiant Vista workshop earlier this year in Savannah, Georgia. A good time was had by all and I personally picked up a lot of valuable photography tips from this group of experienced photographers.

The photo I'm posting today was taken outside of Guero's Restaurant on Friday night.

Title: "Austin Classic Car"

Click the image for a larger version!

Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > High Pass Sharpening > Merge Visible to new layer > Topaz Adjust plugin "Spicify" + "Simplify" at 41% Opacity > Curves Adjustment to increase contrast > Levels Adjustment Layer to set the black point > Merge Visible to new layer for minor cloning > Merge Visible to new layer in Screen Blending Mode for overall lightening

Lamar Street Pedestrian Bridge over Town Lake

Sunday morning in Austin I walked down the hike and bike trail between Town Lake and Cesar Chavez Street and came to the Lamar Street pedestrian bridge. This is a new bridge (completed in 2001) built for pedestrian / bicycle traffic over Town Lake and features a two story spiral ramp at each end.



Click the image for a larger view.
Photo taken with my Canon 40D and Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 lens.

The bridge has areas that accommodate benches and planter boxes filled with flowers. At 8AM the area was already bustling with activity.



Click the image for a larger view.
Photo taken with my Canon 40D and Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 lens.
Post-processing: Photoshop CS3 > High Pass Sharpening > Duplicate Layer and blend in Overlay Mode at 44% > Merge Visible > Virtual Photographer Glamour Filter at 38% > Filter Distort Lens Correction Vignette

Following is a view of Town Lake from under the pedestrian bridge on the downtown side.



Click the image for a larger view.
Photo taken with my Canon 40D and Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 lens.
Post-processing: Photomatix > HDR combination of 3 handheld exposures (-2, 0, +2) > Photoshop CS3 > High Pass Sharpening > Duplicate Layer and blend in Overlay mode