Animals, Architecture, Travel, Urban

Another Day in Austin

Today was our 2nd full day in Austin, Texas, and despite a weather report full of rain and thunderstorms, the day turned out surprisingly well.  After a quick stop to get an exterior shot of the Driskill Hotel in the rain, I took another long walk and ended up at Rose Bud Isle park, which ended up having large parts underwater from the flooding.  It wasn’t a total wash though, as the dam above the park was cool sight with all of the water being let go.

After some relaxing in the hotel room, my wife and I headed out for dinner and ended up walking around a bit before waiting for the bats to wake up and fly out from the Congress Avenue bridge.  There are apparently a million of them living under the bridge and every night they fly out to go hunting.

Architecture, Travel, Urban

First Day in Austin, Texas

Having just arrived in Austin, Texas yesterday afternoon, my wife and I have been trying to see as much as we can during our short stay here.  Our first stop was a quick walk around the Driskill Hotel to take a closer look at the historic interior.  The woodwork and stained glass of the interior is a sight to behold.

The next day we started out in the morning and eventually hiked almost 15 miles around the city.  Our first point of interest was Barton Springs Pool.  It was a few miles from our hotel, but it was a nice walk following the many walking trails in the city.  Unfortunately, the pool was closed since there has been so much rain and it was flooded.

After walking from the Pool area, we ventured to the Zilker Botanical Garden and strolled around their gardens.  From there, we headed back into downtown.  Some of the walking trails were submerged from the flooding and closed down.

After stopping by Whole Foods for some lunch, we continued north to the graffiti wall’s of the Hope Outdoor Gallery.  There is some very impressive work there and it is constantly changing, as artists are there daily updating the walls.  Once we left that, we toured the State Capitol building and strolled down some of the boardwalk’s next to the river.

It was a long day with many miles of walking, but the sights were worth it and I am looking forward to exploring tomorrow.

Animals

Macro’s of Cicada’s

The Cicada’s are coming out of their long hibernation in force and they are just about everywhere.  The buzzing has started and as soon as you step outside, you’ll see them.  I wanted to get a closer look at a few, so I clipped my Raynox Macro lens adapter to my 18-135mm lens, grabbed a flash and small softbox with TTL cable and mounted the camera on a small tabletop tripod to go in the backyard.

I didn’t get into focus stacking or anything like that.  Shutter speed was 1/180, Aperture at f/13, ISO 400 and the flash was firing via a TTL cable into a small Rogue FlashBender softbox about 4 inches from the bug.  Since the tabletop tripod sits 6″ off the ground, it was the perfect height.

Landscapes, Nature

An Evening at Cooper’s Rock State Park, WV

It has been a busy few weeks for my family and I and I’ve been needing some down time in nature.  The weather was about perfect, so after work I packed up a camera bag and my mountain bike and off I went to Cooper’s Rock State Park in West Virginia.  Once I arrived I started off with some light mountain biking since the light was much to harsh.  I rode some miles and then put the bike away so I could just trek around.  Once the sun started to go down, the light changed and everything looked so much better.

The evening was fantastic and just what I needed to clear my head.  The biking was fun, using my new Peak Design Everyday Messenger 13 bag was fantastic and the sunset over the gorge was splendid.

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