Austin Diaries

Destination : Austin Texas, Jan 18-20, 2008

Oh boy, fun and education, all in one weekend. Woo-hoo.

Attended photography classes on Saturday and Sunday. Pam and I drove up on Friday, made a few photo op stops, but holy moly it was cold and wet. Got to Austin before rush hour, that's a HUGE plus, then checked into the hotel. Laptop wouldn't hook up to internet, wireless works fine, but room is wired. No go. Rough it for a few days. TORTURE. Eric and Hollye came to pick us up, went to dinner, came back to hotel, fiddled with computer some more. False hope, still no go.

Pam and I headed over to Antones bar downtown Friday night to hook up with a band that she had photographed last year. Our mission was to do some live shots inside the club. Got there about 9:30. Once the crowds and drunks started packing in, our mobility was limited. One nice thing: public buildings are non-smoking - - woohoo - - We stayed about 1- 1/2 hrs, went back to the parking garage where we promptly got run off by security for photographing in the garage. Party poopers.

Then........... headed up to Congress Ave., set tripods to photograph the Capitol at night. Only had to dodge traffic a teeny tiny bit, for real. Oh how I love night shots. It was in the low 30's and still drizzling 'a little'.... mighty cold for our old bones, after all, we ain't 20 anymore. Got back to hotel about 1:30 a.m., and to sleep around 2.

Up at 6:30 - yes a.m. - on Saturday. Attended class all day. Cindy and I went to Central Market for lunch - I had the MOST divine salmon dish. OMG.....

Got back to hotel and took a 2 hr nap. Pam and I had a quick dinner with Cindy and then we went out night shooting again.

experimenting with 'texture' layers ..... photographed a bunch of textures a few weekends ago, and thought 2 of these photos would be perfect. Let me know what you think.

experimenting with a little more 'artsy' take on the photo
I love this silouette in front of the Capitol

Sunday was all Photoshop classes for me. When we wrapped up, Eric and Hollye met us again on Sunday for a quick lunch, then Pam and I headed back: destination, Houston ..........

here is a church steeple we photographed on the way up and on the way back

Ok - back to reality.