Sunsets close to home
A lovely sunset that happened while I was out shooting at a local park…
I went over to my favorite local hiking trail the other day to shoot and film a little bit, and upon departing just had to stop for one last shot of the sunset. I was there to shoot that little waterfall, but sometimes when you back up and look at the bigger scene you realize that’s a good shot too!
Out Chasing Waterfalls: a Vlog from Austin
Here’s a recent vlog from Austin, wherein I chase some waterfalls while also sharing tips about how I like to capture them in the field. Enjoy!
Hey friends, I am doing a bit more vlogging here and there, between all my tutorial videos and have to admit it’s a lot of fun. So here is my most recent vlog, wherein I head out to a local park here in Austin and capture some small waterfalls. With all our recent rains, the creeks are flowing and I am working on my kong exposure skills. Check it out and let me know your thoughts!
Thankfully we still have waterfalls
I had a friend in town last week, and we headed out to shoot this hidden gem in west Austin. It's hard to beat a beautiful waterfall, isn't it?
I think I could shoot here weekly and never get bored! And, I might have to because it's getting hot and dry here in Austin! This won't last all summer.
And yes, this is in Austin, TX!
I love shooting waterfalls - I just find it so satisfying. My friend Mike Boening was in Austin last week, so we met up to get in some shooting. While our primary destination was sunset and blue hour at the Loop 360 Bridge, we met up in time to stop here for some shots first.
I call this "the secret waterfall" because it's a little hidden, but in reality it's quite easy to get to. However, I have never seen another photographer there, not even once. So perhaps it will remain a secret for a while longer!
This is towards the end of Bull Creek, in the greenbelt there, just off Loop 360 on the west side of Austin. The thing I love about it, apart from it's somewhat secluded location, is that it's a pretty nice size waterfall. Now it's not a TALL waterfall at all - maybe 4 feet tall at the highest point. But, it's fairly long, stretching a good 40-50 feet at it's widest section. In other words, it gives you plenty of options for various compositions.
I have shared many photos from here in the past. The most recent was this one, illustrating how I use Aurora HDR to create dramatic waterfall photos (and includes a video, too). And there's this post, showing several different views of this lovely spot.
See what I mean? I go there a lot, because it's just beautiful, fun to shoot, and so close to home. Sort of the holy trinity when you feel the need to take photos, right?
Sure, you can HDR a waterfall!
It seems like most of the time when you see waterfall photos, the person has used a filter to get a really long exposure. That gives them the silky-flowing-water look and generally gives them enough detail in the shadows too. That's a popular technique and a good one. You might not think HDR would work for waterfalls, but I find it works great. Since I shoot brackets nearly every time I fire up the camera, I do the same with waterfalls. Just make sure you get one exposure that is fairly long (assuming you want smooth water).
These are all 3 exposure HDR photos created in Aurora HDR. Due to the lack of color in the scene, I went for a desaturated look in all of these. It just seemed to fit, since it was early evening, but owing to a late summer sunset time, it was still bright out. In other words, there was no dramatic light cascading down here (this spot is sort of in a little canyon and thus doesn't get direct light at the edges of the day).
I shot everything at f/22 to get a nice long exposure for smooth water. And that last photo I converted to monochrome in Tonality, also by Macphun, which is an excellent product for black and white work. It's so fun to use I have started do more and more in monochrome, despite my love of big colors.
Thanks much, have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!
The old car on the Bull Creek trail
Wherein I photograph a REALLY old car that is buried under years of accumulated gravel and dirt, and make up stories about how it got there. Maybe it was a mob hit. In Austin? Could be, folks!
This is a recent find for me, despite running and hiking these trails for years! Apparently I haven't been exploring enough!
I've been up and down the length of the Bull Creek Greenbelt trails here in Austin more times than I can remember (or count). It's my "go to" trail for a hike or run, and my favorite trail in Austin. Part of the allure for me is that it's pretty close to home, but I also like that it's not too big and thus not as well known as others (such as the Barton Creek Greenbelt trail, which is much bigger and closer to downtown, and thus much more crowded).
I'm also a big fan of the waterfalls here, which are more numerous than you would think, and quite beautiful if you ask me. I even show up now and then for a quick sunset shoot.
But as they say, you can always learn something new, and I have. On a recent trail run out here, I decided to veer off the main trail and try a smaller one that actually went on the opposite side of the creek than I normally head out on. I guess I felt adventurous, or you could say that something wanted me to go wander on that route to find this old car.
Not all those who wander are lost. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
So the other day, I headed out with my favorite photographer (my daughter, of course) and we hiked over here with our gear to fire away. It was a misty and wet day, trying to muster up enough energy to really rain, but it held off while I was gunning my brackets at this old thing and trying hard not to slide into the creek while standing on the steep bank.
It's not a subject that everyone would care about - in fact, my daughter didn't really care - but I love old rusty stuff. It's just interesting to me, and I have been busy making up stories about how it got here.
The car appears to be really old, maybe from the 1950's or so. It's not just sitting there by the edge of the creek either - it's literally buried under years of dirt, gravel and rock. And one other thing - there's not a road there. Up above where the car sits is a very steep incline and my guess (obviously a complete guess) is that maybe years ago the car came careening down the incline, out of control, and crashed there. Who knows? I make up stories that it was a mob hit too, because there appear to be bullet holes on one of the back fenders. Hey it could be true!
Bull Creek sunset
Boy was this a great sunset - and I had my daughter out shooting too, which made it doubly fun! Click on in, see all 4 shots, and hear me yap a little about some things I've been doing (and a hint about future plans). ;-)
Something from close to home - really close, in fact.
This is Bull Creek and it may be my favorite park area in Austin. It's really close to where I live (about 5 minutes or so in the car) and there is some great hiking/trail running, some excellent waterfalls in the Spring, and every now and then I show up and get a gorgeous sunset!
This was from a few weeks back. My daughter has decided that she is interested in photography (which is great), and so we got her a nice camera (Olympus OMD EM-10) and I have been taking her out at times to get in some practice. She's having fun and so am I.
I haven't really traveled much at all this year, although that is about to change in a REALLY BIG WAY. I will write about that soon, but we have some big plans that are about to start. And yeah, I'm super excited! You see, it's summer again, and if you remember, we had a big trip last summer - but this one will be bigger! Stay tuned!
Anyways, since I have been home a lot, I have spent a lot of time shooting here in Austin, I finished my first eBook (working on the 2nd one now), and launched a channel on YouTube. In other words, I'm doing all the stuff I never had time to do before - and it's great! I do love to travel, but man it's hard to beat being home and getting some important things accomplished (especially things that I have been thinking about for a LONG time).
Also, I had time to "rebuild my swing", so to speak, in terms of how I process photos. If you read my piece about the Nik Collection now being free, then you know why I felt the need to rebuild my workflow. I have switched over completely to the Macphun Creative Kit and in particular Aurora HDR Pro (but not just for HDR work - for everything). It's an amazing product, and thus far nearly everything on my YouTube channel is about how to use it.
I'm a big fan of the products and absolutely love using them. If you want to check them out you can see their Creative Kit here, or read about Aurora HDR Pro here. You can get trial downloads of the products, and if you decide to buy them use the code JIMNIX to save 10% on your order. You can also email me with any questions. I'm happy to try and answer them - and thanks for stopping by today! Hope it's a great day wherever you are!
Springtime waterfalls
Springtime in central Texas usually means rain, and rain means waterfalls. We have both RIGHT NOW, and I am out with the camera chasing after them. I captured these shots here in Austin just last week. It felt to me like I was in some other state - maybe Oregon - with excellent streams and waterfalls, and nice comfortable temperatures. So awesome!
Springtime in Austin means waterfalls!
Summer's coming to Austin - run! ;-)
I love Austin, but man the summers here can be brutal. I'm talking about 100 degrees for weeks in a row - with high humidity too - kind of brutal. You just want to stay indoors with the AC cranked up. I generally think about being elsewhere. Sometimes I actually am elsewhere. I'm still working on a plan for THIS summer, so I will let you know. It *should* involve me taking some photographs. ;-)
But springtime in Austin? Well, that's a different story entirely.
Austin is like a completely different place in the springtime. I love the spring here. It's nice outside, and you can stay out for a whole day if you are so inclined. The days are warm enough, but not yet hot. You might need to wear jeans out to dinner (not that it's required anywhere, but it might get a little chilly). Oh, and we often get rain (YAY!). We're always grateful for rain, believe me.
Rain is the thing, you see. Not only does it give us some nice green grass and those oh so famous wildflowers, but all of our creeks start rocking, and guys like me get out and photograph them. It's not something we can generally do year-round, so you have to act fast. I try and do so every spring. Plus, I just love waterfalls.
Can you blame me?
I feel like I am in Oregon when I'm out shooting this, but it's only 10 minutes from my house. I can do this on a whim (which is exactly what led me here last week). I don't need a multi-hour photo excursion or a lot of planning to make this happen. I just grab my stuff and go, and I'm clambering over rocks and down the trail in 10 minutes. Can you beat that?
My daughter, who is 13, is interested in photography. So I recently purchased her an Olympus OMD EM-10, which is a pretty nice camera. It's got some great features and is something she will hopefully get to spend a lot of time on (and it's great to have a sidekick!).
So one evening last week, we headed over here after dinner, hoping for some waterfall shots and crossing our fingers for a decent sunset. Luckily, we got both in spades, and she was hooked. Today you get to see the waterfalls - I haven't had enough time to work on the sunset shots yet, but I believe they will turn out pretty nice. You'll just have to come back and see, ok? ;-)
And by the way, I recently published a lengthy, detailed review of Aurora HDR Pro, which is something you may have already heard about, or perhaps you read one of my previous posts about it here on the blog. It is such an incredible piece of software and it has really blown me away. I have changed (and simplified) my workflow in light of this, and all of today's shots were processed in Aurora. All are 3 exposure HDRs. And rather obviously, I was experimenting with some different looks between these photos. I think the top one is still my favorite. You?
You can find my Aurora HDR Pro review here. I would love your feedback on it!
And before I forget to mention it, this is from the Bull Creek Greenbelt in Northwest Austin. Such a great spot!
All the rain in Austin
I've got waterfalls for you today! As you have probably heard on the news (even nationally), Austin has been hit with a serious amount of rain and flooding lately. While there have been tragic events due to the flooding, the silver lining is that we are getting our lakes filled back up and our creeks have water in them - both of which are badly needed. Today I share a collection of pics from a recent outing here in Austin, when I went out to shoot some waterfalls!
We have had quite a bit of rain in Austin lately!
I do love Austin, but man the summers are hot and dry - and they have been especially dry over the last few years. We've been in a serious drought for quite a while, and no one was really expecting us to make up a large part of the difference any time soon.
Then the storms hit central Texas. And they hit HARD.
And admittedly, they have been tragic in many ways. There have been incredibly sad reports of houses floating down rivers - with the families in them - and there are still people missing. People have lost their belongings, their homes, their lives. It's terrible, and I feel for them all.
But I suspect you did not come here for an update on the central Texas flooding.
As a photographer, I look for the beauty all around me (and obviously am not belittling the terrible experiences that some are having). Not everyone finds the same things beautiful, and that accounts for our differences in taste. But I think everyone loves the look (and probably the sound) of flowing water, and who doesn't love a waterfall?
In other words, there is a silver lining in all the recent rain we have had here. In addition to our lake levels rising considerably (though our largest local lake, Lake Travis, is still about 18 feet shy of being full after rising over 30 feet recently), even the small local creeks are flowing well. The water is everywhere, even in the "wet weather only" spots. It's great to see water flowing in our creeks again.
My favorite local trail/creek system is Bull Creek, which is near my house and the subject of all of today's photos. When I go out for a trail run (which needs to be more often, Jim!), this is where I go. We go here on family hikes too. It's a wonderful little spot. Not too small to be easy, but not too big to be overwhelming. I have been here so many times that I feel like it's mine. It's my home trail. It's my go-to.
Do you have a spot like that too?
So the other morning I headed out, intent on getting some photos of the waterfalls there. It was an overcast day - as most of them have been lately - and I knew it would be great for photographing the water. I never want bright sunshine when I shoot, and especially don't want it reflecting off the water. That's hard to work with, and sort of ruins the photos for me. Ok, totally ruins it. :-)
I also slapped on my variable ND filter, and just did the long exposure thing on all of these photos. I know it's a bit of a cliche when photographing moving water, but that's only because it looks so good. Everyone does it because it kicks ass. Right? So I did it too - cliches be damned! Besides, you have to shoot what you want and how you want to shoot it, every time you go out. You have to please yourself first. I've done waterfalls without the long exposure, and they just don't look as good to me.
Most of these are 15-50 second exposures. With the filter and the overcast day (and in some spots I was under trees, further darkening the scene), it just worked out really well. Or at least it did in my opinion - but it's what I wanted to do, and frankly I was just happy to be out shooting!
Hope you enjoyed the tour of my favorite local Austin trail, and please send some good thoughts/prayers/whatever you believe in to those who have lost so much in the recent floods. I've been really fortunate that no one in my family has been affected, but so many have. My sympathies are with those families.
Thanks for stopping by today!
Bull Creek sunset
Today's post is a couple of shots from Bull Creek, here in Austin. It's close to home, beautiful, and fun to shoot - especially when you get great light!
This is a hidden little gem in Austin!
Bull Creek is a little greenbelt in the northwest part of Austin, just a few minutes from where I live. There's a great trail for a hike or a run, and of course I love to show up with the camera too. There's a lot to shoot there.
Last summer the creek went completely dry, but so far this year it's been hanging in there. We haven't had the intense heat this year - which is obviously a blessing - and we have actually had some rain, too! I don't believe we even hit 100 degrees here until August - that's almost hard to believe.
These two sunset photos are actually not recent, although there is still water in the creek. And also, I took these two shots on two different evenings, and at two different parts along the trail. I'm trying to confuse you here! :-) But, I thought I would share them together since they are from the same greenbelt and all that.
If you are in Austin, be sure and check out Bull Creek sometime!
Last thing - my friends at Topaz Labs (creators of the well-known software Topaz Adjust, among other titles) are having a great sale thru Aug 31 on Topaz Adjust - it's 50% off! You can get it here: http://bit.ly/1mOVA7U - thanks and enjoy!
One more from Bull Creek
Thought I would share another photo from Bull Creek here in Austin today. (Because I have a million of them!) The water is moving really nicely these days - makes me long for shorter, cooler summers so we could enjoy it year-round. Plus let's be honest here - the summer is brutal in Austin. It's so dang hot, and seems to last forever. We have to enjoy the awesome stuff like this while we can!
But alas, cool summers here are not to be, so I have made a point of getting out and shooting it a LOT over the last couple of months. Plus, it's just beautiful and I enjoy being there. It fills my soul.
This is the "big waterfall" at Bull Creek, just after it passes under Loop 360 (for those of you familiar with the place). It's a cool spot, and one I have ran by, walked by, and photographed a lot over the years.
Hope everyone that celebrates Christmas enjoyed their holiday yesterday! Thanks for stopping by today!
Flowing
I love Bull Creek in Austin - it's near my home, and it's a great little greenbelt/trail/park kind of thing. I especially love it when there has been rain, like now. All the waterfalls are just rockin' right along. That makes me happy.
This was a single exposure instead of an HDR. I love to shoot HDR as you probably know by now, but with waterfalls I am about 50/50. I find that at least half of the time I just go with a single exposure. This one was f/13 at about 2 seconds. Sometimes the simple approach is best.
Click to display in a lightbox!
A waterfall in the Shire
I haven't been to see The Hobbit yet, have you? I'm going soon though!
I am looking forward to it as well. I have loved all those Tolkien books for years, and of course I think all the movies have been great (LOTR + Hobbit 1). So, when I was writing up this post I thought the photo looked like something out of the Shire. I guess the movie was on my mind. In other words, I have to admit I did not actually make it to the Shire to take this photo. I'm just too honest to keep that ruse going. ;-)
This waterfall is here in Austin, my home city and one I love living in. The biggest challenge of life here in Austin is that the summer is miserably long, hot, and dry. In case you aren't following my line of thought, that's a bad recipe for waterfalls. Or for any water at all, really.
Our lakes are desperately low, and the small creeks in some parks have mostly been dry. But over the last couple of months we have had a few rainy days, and while the lakes are far from full, this little creek is humming right along with a pretty decent flow.
I headed out one morning to grab some sunrise shots, and hiked down into this spot because once I got close enough, I could hear the water falling. If it wasn't for the difficult terrain, I would have sprinted to it. But that's hard to do over slippery rocks while carrying a camera bag and tripod.
So I hobbled into place, using my tripod like a walking stick...and fired away.
The fairy pool
I think waterfalls are pretty close to the top of my "favorite things to shoot" list! What about you?
Waterfalls are absolutely great photographic subjects, and everyone knows it. They are just so beautiful. I even love the tiny little ones that are barely as long as my arm. It's fun to get in close and shoot those, in addition to the grand ones.
What's the largest waterfall you have ever shot or seen? I haven't been to Niagara Falls yet, but hope to someday. I did however visit Snoqualmie Falls outside of Seattle on a couple of occasions and can confirm that it is awesome! Sadly, this was way before I knew anything about how to operate a camera, so my pics from there are only so-so.
Anyways, back to this photo. This waterfall is probably about 12 feet tall or so. Not large, but certainly not small. It sits in a hidden gulley on the Bull Creek Greenbelt here in Austin - which is one of my favorite spots in my hometown. I shot here a few years ago, and when we got hit with all these recent rains, I made sure to include this spot on my list of "get back and shoot it again" spots. I'm glad I did.
To me, because of the hidden nature of this spot and the general look of it, I felt like I was staring at a waterfall where wood fairies and gnomes might hang out and play...hence the title. But no, I didn't see any that day. They probably heard me coming.
Fall at Bull Creek
I love Bull Creek Preserve in Austin - and I love Fall!
I really do love Bull Creek. It's sort of my "home" park, if you will. I love to run on the trails there (I used to run trails a LOT and am trying to get back into it), and I love to photograph it. Though usually since I am there for a run, my photos are done with my iPhone...and while I really enjoy iPhoneography, nothing compares to capturing a scene with my full frame Nikon.
Updated "Best Places to take photos in Austin" list!
I just added this spot as well as several more to my "Top Photo Spots in Austin" list here on the blog, which you can find here. I've been meaning to do this for a long time, and well...now I finally have! Take a look!
Anyways, this is a great spot. In addition to taking a morning run over here, we hike here sometimes on weekends as a family. I feel like I know this place like the back of my hand, and that of course means I also know lots of cool spots there to shoot, and I have quite a few more to share from this area.
Austin is pretty dry through the summer, and we've been experiencing a drought for a few years now that is pretty severe. But recently, we have had quite a bit of rain, and I knew that meant the water here would be running pretty well. So one morning last week I headed out just after sunrise to grab a few frames.
I was really fired up to be here all alone, just the sound of the waterfall and the ritual clicking of my Nikon. And to top it all off, I never even realized I might get a little bit of Fall color in the scene. Gotta love Mother Nature!
Faking Fall in Austin
I love Fall - it's my favorite season! What about you?
There is just so much about Fall that I love - the chill in the air, the holidays that are rapidly approaching, the changing of the leaves. The only problem is that we don't really get a full-on Fall season here in Austin. We just don't have enough of those types of trees, among other things.
So although it's my favorite season, I've never really gotten to experience it like I want to - which is to say, I have never been to New England in the Fall. That seems pretty awesome, to drive around in the country and see mile after mile of country road surrounded by trees that are glowing orange and red. Sounds awesome, but I've never done it. Hopefully someday.
So I did the next best thing with this photo - I totally faked the Fall color.
It's pretty easy to do, really - and not in Photoshop. I'm not much of a PS user. I did this in Color Efex Pro, by Nik Software by using the Indian Summer filter. It's just one of the great filters available in the product. Click a couple of buttons and you're all done.
By the way, this was shot at Bull Creek Greenbelt which is a nice little park not far from my home in Austin. I was there shooting the waterfalls, and couldn't resist this section of the creek since water reflections are one of my favorite subjects. I just wasn't a fan of all the trees being so green. It just didn't look like Fall. So click, click, click and here you are!
The secret waterfall in Austin
Well, this may not be a secret anymore now that I'm sharing this!
I've stumbled upon an awesome little spot in Austin with this incredible waterfall in it. That is, there's a waterfall after some good rain, but I have been here when it's been dry too, obviously in the depths of our summer heat. But we've had some rain recently, and this little spot is flowing nicely!
This is located at Bull Creek Greenbelt, near the dog park. If you park there, this is across the road from the parking lot, and downstream across the bridge. Just walk off into the woods there and you climb around a little and get rewarded with this secluded little oasis - great fun! Now, don't go tellin' everyone ok?
I was there for sunrise one morning last week, and as you can see there was some mist and fog coming off the water as the sun warmed it up (it was a bit chilly that morning). Unfortunately a lot of the visibility of the fog gets lost through HDR processing, and so I added some back in - the beauty of software tools!