Magnolia Pearl
A rusted old truck in the Texas Hill Country...
I have no idea what is inside this place, but the outside is a dream.
We were in Fredericksburg, TX over the Christmas weekend, hanging out and having some nice family time. When we were driving into town, I passed this store (I assume it's a store, I am not really sure) and noticed several rusted old trucks out front. I made a mental note and a steadfast vow to return - and soon.
On Christmas Eve, I was granted a little free time to go shoot and I made a beeline right here. The town was quiet and this place was all closed up, but as I said all the goodies were outside so I fired brackets like a madman for about 30 minutes. There are several old rusted trucks as well as a tractor, so as you can imagine I was cranking out the HDR brackets rapidly. I have a lot to process from here but this was the first one.
3 exposure HDR merged in Aurora HDR with several filters applied for effect
A morning in Luckenbach, Texas
Good old Luckenbach, TX - a tiny little spot in the Texas hill country, famous for being in a country song. And in my opinion, a great little spot to take some photos - here's 10 photos to prove it!
I went to Luckenbach, TX...
I am guessing that you will have that song stuck in your head for a while now. Sorry about that. Well, maybe I shouldn't be sorry, because it's a good song. Maybe I just got something terrible out of your head, like "All About That Bass" or pretty much anything by Taylor Swift. But I digress. You didn't come here to see what music I like, or not.
So, how about some pictures? Ok, sure, here you go.
I grabbed all these one morning in Luckenbach, TX while I was with the family staying nearby in Fredericksburg. I always wanted to see this place, and when I got there, I was glad I made the effort to get up for sunrise. It's a pretty cool little place. And by little, I mean teeney-tiny. It's about 9 acres large. That's the whole town.
So these photos, that's pretty much the whole thing. I spent about an hour here, mostly because it was early and I guess I was moving slow. But I wanted to enjoy it, since you never know when you might return, and I always hate to miss a shot.
And by the way, sunrise is a great time to shoot here, because you can have the place all to yourself, as you can probably tell from the photos. The only living things I saw were a few chickens and 2 cats. Pretty good start to a day!
(click any photo to view in a lightbox)
Bluebonnets in the Texas hill country
It's springtime in Texas, and that means bluebonnets!
For those of us living in central Texas (and some other parts, too), springtime usually means that the wildflowers will start popping up everywhere. And though there are several types of wildflowers that we get each Spring, by far the most-mentioned is the lovely bluebonnet.
In addition to being our State Flower (which makes it illegal to pick), it's just beautiful. And when you find a field covered in these flowers, you just have to stop, look and take a picture (or more likely, several pictures).
It's very common to see cars pulled over to the side of the road, with the family sitting in a field of them getting their picture taken. Or just arranging the kids for a photo. Or the dog. In other words, we all like to get out and take pictures of these flowers. Like I said, they are beautiful.
They are also a bit fleeting, lasting only a few short weeks it seems, before they die off. So, you have to act quickly.
As a photographer, I am no different than anyone else - I want some shots of these things, too. I got up early one recent weekend morning, and took off to the Texas hill country to look for some bluebonnets to photograph. While I did find a few nice spots, I have to say my timing was probably a little off. Specifically, I believe I was a couple of weeks early.
At the time, the flowers blooming on the side of the road in Austin were looking pretty impressive, and since I had the time, I went for it (and knew I wouldn't have another chance to travel to the hill country). But in the hill country - at least the places I went - they were much less common and I really had to look for them.
Thankfully, I found a few good spots (and took a lot of photos), but if time permits I may have to get out in Austin over the next couple of weeks and grab a few shots closer to home. Before I know it, they will be gone.
Winter along the Guadalupe River
I love this little spot along the Guadalupe River!
The Guadalupe River winds its way through parts of Central Texas, and at some point on its journey it passes through Gruene, TX which is a tiny little town between Austin and San Antonio. It's best known as the home of Gruene Hall, a sort of country bar where folks go to see the live music. It's all pretty cool.
Anyways, just behind Gruene Hall and down the hill is the Guadalupe River, so whenever I have the time and the camera handy, I try and grab a few shots there. I have stood in this spot several times over the years, and always enjoy shooting this area. I just find it to be beautiful.
I caught this one a couple of months back. I was hoping for some better Fall color, since there were patches of it in and around Austin, but not much here. That happens in Central Texas - Fall color is not something we get a lot of. Oh well, you still take the shot right?
Morning on the Pedernales River
I love photographing rivers - they're just so peaceful, you know?
I think the sound of running water is universally liked, unless you need to pee really bad that is, then you hate it. But you know what I mean. It's so soothing and tranquil - it instantly relaxes me. Even in the midst of some busy-ness, the soft sound of running water immediately has an effect.
I assume that is why I enjoy shooting along rivers, or at least partly why I like it. When the water is still (say, a big, wide, slow-moving river) then you can capture some great reflections, and I love those. This is usually something I find in cities. Here in Austin is a great example. Portland is the same. It's pretty common, of course. So when I travel to a new city, I am always looking for a river near the downtown to try and get some sweet reflections.
But out in nature it's great to shoot too, even when reflections are not possible. I was out one morning down on the southwest side of Austin, off towards the hill country. I had been at Hamilton Pool and upon leaving there, decided to head over here to the Pedernales River (that's pronounced Purd'nalis for any non-locals reading this) to grab some shots. I was loving the awesome sky that morning, and glad I made the stop. It's great to enjoy scenes like this without even seeing another car go by.
iPhone fun around Central Texas
I still shoot a lot with my iPhone - how about you?
I am really happy that I have an iPhone and that with a few apps, I can create some artwork just about anytime I want to. It's a fabulous creative tool and I totally enjoy it. In fact, I shoot with my iPhone very often. It's just that I don't share the photos here that much anymore. I should change that.
I've been thinking about that a lot lately, and trying to figure out why that is. I still take a lot of iPhone pics, and I share some on my Facebook page and even put some into this set on Flickr, but I haven't done many iPhone posts here this year.
The last one was back in August, after I returned from France. Prior to that, it was in May. See? I am way behind here.
So, I figured I would do a little catching up with this post today. While I could almost do one of these each week, that's not my intention. I will continue to do some of these on a random basis, but I have so many HDR photos taken with my Nikon from my travels over the last couple of years that I will be working on those for a long time (and that's a good thing, in my opinion).
Plus, shooting HDR with my Nikon is pretty much my favorite thing in the world, so I have to keep doing that, for my sanity if nothing else. :-)
So, these photos today were all taken either here in Austin or up in Fredericksburg, TX in the Texas hill country over the last few weeks, and of course they were all taken with my iPhone 4S. Also, the three main apps I used on these photos are Snapseed, ProHDR and Camera+. I used at least one of those apps on each of these, and maybe all 3 on 1 or 2 of them. I can't remember, to be honest about it.
Now I just need to find some time to share the iPhone pics I have taken lots of other places. Stay tuned!
Since my last iPhone post, I have taken trips to Nashville (3 times!), Germany (Leipzig, Dresden, and Berlin), Amsterdam and Brussels, Phoenix, London and Scotland (both Glasgow and Edinburgh), and probably some other places that I cannot remember right now.
And yes, I took iPhone pics in every one of those spots (plus more Nikon images than I can count). So maybe I should get busy, because unless I am mistaken I haven't done an iPhone blog post from any of those trips.
And I even got out on Thanksgiving Eve here in Austin recently (with a couple of family members) and got some shots during sunset. It ended up being a pretty nice evening!
Well thanks for stopping by today, and I hope you enjoyed viewing these iPhone pics as much as I enjoyed taking, processing, and sharing them! Come back soon for more! I will try and be a bit more regular about these iPhone posts! :-)
Sunset in Fredericksburg TX
I love the Texas hill country - it's beautiful!
Ok, I know Texas isn't considered a mountainous or even hilly state, but we do have some of both, believe it or not. And the Hill Country is a very beautiful area. It lies about an hour west of Austin, and generally speaking the main town out there in Fredericksburg.
As the name implies, it's an old German town and as such has a lot of Germanic influence, which is great by me. I love Germany, so it really feels like a getaway from normal life when you are there.
Anyways, we spent a weekend up there recently celebrating my wife's birthday, and one evening we noticed that a beautiful sunset was coming together. So being a super supportive woman, my wife said "let's hurry up and find a spot to shoot". OK!
We drove for a bit and found a little park, and when I saw the water I knew that I was going to be firing quite a few shots here - and I did. I loved this tree standing there alone, and the beautiful sunset behind it.
The beauty of Hamilton Pool
A beautiful waterfall just a short drive from Austin...
Hamilton Pool is one of the most awesome spots to go shoot here in Austin. It's a natural grotto that formed thousands of years ago when the dome of an underground river collapsed on itself. The 50 foot waterfall coming over the edge is a nice touch too. Thanks Mother Nature!
I love the place, but the truth is that I haven't been there in a really long time. I took these shots a few years back, but came across them in the library and took a stab at reprocessing them. I rather like the results here. Though I shared them here a long time ago, it was before anyone came here to see my shots. Timing seemed good to share them again! Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
The old Post Office in Luckenbach
This is the old post office in Luckenbach, TX which is sort of a famous place, thanks to that old country song which is probably now stuck in your head. In person, it’s an incredibly small town, if you can even call it that. It’s tiny - but it packs in a lot of interestingness in such a small place.
In my opinion, the most interesting thing there is this old post office and general store. It just has a lot of character. I grabbed this shot there early one morning while the sun was still trying to rise up into the sky. I prefer shooting famous places (and non-famous ones, too) in the early hours since you can usually count on having them to yourself. It just wouldn’t be the same shot with a bunch of tourists in the way.
Gruene, upstream
This is a really old photo, though I just got around to processing it last week. I took it back in 2009, actually. It’s been almost 4 years. See what I mean when I say I will never catch up? It’s ok, though.
I was thinking about why I wait on some photos, and why I march ahead on others. I think it has to do with a few things:
- I like other photos from that outing better, so lesser shots get ignored
- I go somewhere new and forget about older, unprocessed shots
- I prefer to process shots out of order - it's more fun for me (and hopefully you)
- My processing skills will (hopefully) improve over time, so I wait on shots that are difficult to me for some reason
- If I process it and don’t like it, I will wait until I can come back at it with fresh eyes and new ideas (even if that’s like, um, 4 years)
- Software gets better over time and my tastes change, so things I don’t like at some point will possibly fall into favor with me in the future
To be clear, I do NOT delete shots I don’t like when I return from an outing, after dumping them all into the library and reviewing them. Unless there is something seriously wrong with the shot (or set of brackets in most cases, since I shoot mostly HDR) I will hang onto it. Why not? Storage is cheap, and doesn’t take up any space in the physical sense.
Anyways, I am off topic here. Bottom line, this is a shot I took about 4 years ago, but just processed and am just now sharing. While it falls into at least the first 2 categories above, I still like it.
And by the way, this was shot along the Guadalupe River in Gruene, TX, from the bridge. It’s a great little spot and now that I see it, I think I might have to head back down there this fall! You can expect those photos in 2017! LOL
Enchanted Rock landscape
There are a lot of beautiful places to photograph in the Texas Hill Country (you can
), but few can rival the beauty and majesty of Enchanted Rock. It's just an incredible place!
An old Ford
First things first: Happy Memorial Day to all the Americans reading this - and if you are a member or Veteran of the Armed Forces, thank you for your service!
Old trucks are just awesome, especially when they are a little rusted around the edges. It just adds a little character. I found this one in Luckenbach, TX while wandering there one morning around sunrise. I just couldn't resist shooting this when I stumbled upon it!
Lake LBJ sunset
I just want to thank everyone that visited my blog last week and especially those that took the time to leave comments on my pictures. I really appreciate that. I haven’t had a chance to return the favor yet because I was traveling overseas last week.
I spent the week in London and Dublin – two towns that I really enjoy visiting - and both were fantastic. Although I got rained on a bit in both places, I still came away with what I believe will be some beautiful shots, and of course I had some wonderful experiences, saw some fabulous sites, and even had the good fortune to meet up with some great photographers in London. It was a great week!
In the meantime, please enjoy this sunset from Lake LBJ in the Texas Hill Country. Thanks for stopping by!
Best friends
I am a city person. I live in a city, mostly travel to cities, and spend most of my time in them. But when I am driving in the Texas hill country and see a scene like this, I get a little wistful thinking about playing in my grandfather’s barn as a kid. I loved that barn, and still do. The only problem is that it’s in North Carolina, so it’s not easy for me to go play in these days!
Bluebonnets in a field
Springtime in the Texas hill country can be just incredible. Bluebonnets (the state flower) start popping up everywhere, and we actually get a little rain at times, which is nice too! One thing that’s very popular is to go and check out all the wonderful wildflowers which seem to arrive (and sadly, depart) almost overnight.
Driving through Austin, you frequently see patches of bluebonnets on the side of the road, and inevitably, you see someone who has pulled over to take some pictures of them. They’re just special to us, and probably that is partly due to their brevity. It’s a sure sign that Spring has arrived.
I took this photo up in the Texas hill country back in 2010. We had a serious “bumper crop” of bluebonnets that year - it hasn’t been nearly as nice since. I am seeing some around Austin right now, but nothing that has made me get the camera out and pull over to the side of the road - yet!