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Weekend in Austin, TX - Lightning and Sunset pics

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That's how I feel!

I live in Austin. Went to bed that night :)

Very beautiful shots. And very inspirational too. I'm going to get off me bum and shoot more. Thanks!

ma -g
 
Great shots in my own back yard!

Thanks,
JamesL said:
Hi All,

I went down to my Dad's this weekend. He lives near Austin, TX (30
minutes away). When I got to his place at 9:00 pm, I noticed on
the radar that there were a bunch of thunderstorms headed right
towards Austin. I waved hi to my Dad, dropped off my wife so she
could hit the sack, and headed to Austin. When I got there, I went
to my favorite spot to shoot the skyline. There was tons of
lightning, but it was all behind the clouds. Here's a few of my
better shots (All were shot with my 10D and 20mm lens or 28-135
lens.):

http://home.comcast.net/~langfords2/images/full/austin1_lightning.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~langfords2/images/full/austin2_lightning.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~langfords2/images/full/austin3_lightning.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~langfords2/images/full/austin4_lightning.jpg

After a bit at one spot, I moved to another spot. I ran into
another photographer who was shooting lightning too! :) We had a
good conversation for 15 minutes or so, and he gave me his card
(he's a professional who shoots for the UT sports department).

The storm had moved through Austin at this point, so I started
following it East back towards my Dad's. I knew of a neat Church
on the way in a little town called Elgin, so I stopped there:





I next headed towards a cool spot with a graveyard and watertower
in the background. I was worried about getting in trouble with the
police at this point, as it was around 2 am in the morning. One
did drive by (those are his headlights in the pic), but he didn't
stop:



My final stop of the night came as the storm flared up for around
10 minutes. I finally found a somewhat interesting place to stop
and shoot this:



I then headed home and went to bed, as all of the activity had
stopped. Wheh! Long day. ;-)

The next evening, there were similar coniditions, so I headed to
Austin right after dinner. There ended up being no storms, but I
did get a couple of good shots near sunset:





So, that was my weekend. How was yours?

James

--
Check out my photos at:
http://home.comcast.net/~langfords
http://www.pbase.com/jamesl
Click to expand...
--
TonyK
http://www.pbase.com/tonyk
 
Hi ma -g,

I thought about going to sleep too, but I just couldn't resist getting out there and shooting. :)

Austin is an awesome place to shoot, but I sure hate trying to get around. The traffice lights seem to take forever! ;-)

James
ma g said:
That's how I feel!

I live in Austin. Went to bed that night :)

Very beautiful shots. And very inspirational too. I'm going to get
off me bum and shoot more. Thanks!

ma -g
Click to expand...
--
Check out my photos at:
http://home.comcast.net/~langfords
http://www.pbase.com/jamesl
 
Hi Tony,

Thanks, I appreciate it. I checked out your gallery. Great stuff. I especially like the shots you have from around the Austin area.

Take care,

James
TonyK_in_Texas said:
Thanks,
JamesL said:
Hi All,

I went down to my Dad's this weekend. He lives near Austin, TX (30
minutes away). When I got to his place at 9:00 pm, I noticed on
the radar that there were a bunch of thunderstorms headed right
towards Austin. I waved hi to my Dad, dropped off my wife so she
could hit the sack, and headed to Austin. When I got there, I went
to my favorite spot to shoot the skyline. There was tons of
lightning, but it was all behind the clouds. Here's a few of my
better shots (All were shot with my 10D and 20mm lens or 28-135
lens.):

http://home.comcast.net/~langfords2/images/full/austin1_lightning.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~langfords2/images/full/austin2_lightning.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~langfords2/images/full/austin3_lightning.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~langfords2/images/full/austin4_lightning.jpg

After a bit at one spot, I moved to another spot. I ran into
another photographer who was shooting lightning too! :) We had a
good conversation for 15 minutes or so, and he gave me his card
(he's a professional who shoots for the UT sports department).

The storm had moved through Austin at this point, so I started
following it East back towards my Dad's. I knew of a neat Church
on the way in a little town called Elgin, so I stopped there:





I next headed towards a cool spot with a graveyard and watertower
in the background. I was worried about getting in trouble with the
police at this point, as it was around 2 am in the morning. One
did drive by (those are his headlights in the pic), but he didn't
stop:



My final stop of the night came as the storm flared up for around
10 minutes. I finally found a somewhat interesting place to stop
and shoot this:



I then headed home and went to bed, as all of the activity had
stopped. Wheh! Long day. ;-)

The next evening, there were similar coniditions, so I headed to
Austin right after dinner. There ended up being no storms, but I
did get a couple of good shots near sunset:





So, that was my weekend. How was yours?

James

--
Check out my photos at:
http://home.comcast.net/~langfords
http://www.pbase.com/jamesl
Click to expand...
--
TonyK
http://www.pbase.com/tonyk
Click to expand...
--
Check out my photos at:
http://home.comcast.net/~langfords
http://www.pbase.com/jamesl
 
I noticed that one of the buildings next to town lake is no longer lit :( Its the one on the left and should have neon (I think) along the top of each "level". Or at least I think it is supposed to - I've not seen it lit in a long time.

Beautiful location btw, I'm going to have to go take soime shots from there!

--
Chris Rake, Austin Texas
Personal Gallery and Central Texas Photo Guide
http://crakephoto.com
 
Hi Chris,

You're right. I hadn't even noticed that. :( I wonder when it went out? Here's a pic from 2002 where it's lit:



And here's one from the end of last year when it's lit:



It's definately a nice place to shoot. Biggest problem I have is the breadwater that gets in the pictures. :)

Thanks,

James
Chris Rake said:
I noticed that one of the buildings next to town lake is no longer
lit :( Its the one on the left and should have neon (I think)
along the top of each "level". Or at least I think it is
supposed to - I've not seen it lit in a long time.

Beautiful location btw, I'm going to have to go take soime shots
from there!

--
Chris Rake, Austin Texas
Personal Gallery and Central Texas Photo Guide
http://crakephoto.com
Click to expand...
--
Check out my photos at:
http://home.comcast.net/~langfords
http://www.pbase.com/jamesl
 
Great shot Tony. Austin is such a neat place for photography. I never have very much time when I visit there when I do stop by. Usually only a few hours, which makes for a rushed trip around town trying to find places to shoot. :)

James
TonyK_in_Texas said:


Thanks,
JamesL said:
Hi Chris,

You're right. I hadn't even noticed that. :( I wonder when it
went out? Here's a pic from 2002 where it's lit:



And here's one from the end of last year when it's lit:



It's definately a nice place to shoot. Biggest problem I have is
the breadwater that gets in the pictures. :)
Click to expand...
--
TonyK
http://www.pbase.com/tonyk
Click to expand...
--
Check out my photos at:
http://home.comcast.net/~langfords
http://www.pbase.com/jamesl
 
How did you shoot the lightning shots? I tried in the past with no luck... what were your settings and how did you time the shot (when did you know to press the button, or were they a rapid burst of shots)?

r
JamesL said:
Hi All,

I went down to my Dad's this weekend. He lives near Austin, TX (30
minutes away). When I got to his place at 9:00 pm, I noticed on
the radar that there were a bunch of thunderstorms headed right
towards Austin. I waved hi to my Dad, dropped off my wife so she
could hit the sack, and headed to Austin. When I got there, I went
to my favorite spot to shoot the skyline. There was tons of
lightning, but it was all behind the clouds. Here's a few of my
better shots (All were shot with my 10D and 20mm lens or 28-135
lens.):









After a bit at one spot, I moved to another spot. I ran into
another photographer who was shooting lightning too! :) We had a
good conversation for 15 minutes or so, and he gave me his card
(he's a professional who shoots for the UT sports department).

The storm had moved through Austin at this point, so I started
following it East back towards my Dad's. I knew of a neat Church
on the way in a little town called Elgin, so I stopped there:





I next headed towards a cool spot with a graveyard and watertower
in the background. I was worried about getting in trouble with the
police at this point, as it was around 2 am in the morning. One
did drive by (those are his headlights in the pic), but he didn't
stop:



My final stop of the night came as the storm flared up for around
10 minutes. I finally found a somewhat interesting place to stop
and shoot this:



I then headed home and went to bed, as all of the activity had
stopped. Wheh! Long day. ;-)

The next evening, there were similar coniditions, so I headed to
Austin right after dinner. There ended up being no storms, but I
did get a couple of good shots near sunset:





So, that was my weekend. How was yours?

James

--
Check out my photos at:
http://home.comcast.net/~langfords
http://www.pbase.com/jamesl
Click to expand...
--
r
 
Hi,

Thanks! I appreciate it. To shoot lightning, I first find a place with an interesting forground (Church, Building, whatever). I then find the direction that the lightning is coming from, and frame the shot so the building is included. I expose the scene for the building (Normally F8 at 10 seconds or so). With my 10D, I use a intervalometer remote to take pictures one after the other. I can normally catch a few frames of lightning in 10 minutes or so. I like to leave my 10D in one place shooting away while I walk around with my Sony F707 on my other tripod to get other shots. :)

Hope that helps,

James
rcatungal said:
r
JamesL said:
Hi All,

I went down to my Dad's this weekend. He lives near Austin, TX (30
minutes away). When I got to his place at 9:00 pm, I noticed on
the radar that there were a bunch of thunderstorms headed right
towards Austin. I waved hi to my Dad, dropped off my wife so she
could hit the sack, and headed to Austin. When I got there, I went
to my favorite spot to shoot the skyline. There was tons of
lightning, but it was all behind the clouds. Here's a few of my
better shots (All were shot with my 10D and 20mm lens or 28-135
lens.):









After a bit at one spot, I moved to another spot. I ran into
another photographer who was shooting lightning too! :) We had a
good conversation for 15 minutes or so, and he gave me his card
(he's a professional who shoots for the UT sports department).

The storm had moved through Austin at this point, so I started
following it East back towards my Dad's. I knew of a neat Church
on the way in a little town called Elgin, so I stopped there:





I next headed towards a cool spot with a graveyard and watertower
in the background. I was worried about getting in trouble with the
police at this point, as it was around 2 am in the morning. One
did drive by (those are his headlights in the pic), but he didn't
stop:



My final stop of the night came as the storm flared up for around
10 minutes. I finally found a somewhat interesting place to stop
and shoot this:



I then headed home and went to bed, as all of the activity had
stopped. Wheh! Long day. ;-)

The next evening, there were similar coniditions, so I headed to
Austin right after dinner. There ended up being no storms, but I
did get a couple of good shots near sunset:





So, that was my weekend. How was yours?

James

--
Check out my photos at:
http://home.comcast.net/~langfords
http://www.pbase.com/jamesl
Click to expand...
--
r
Click to expand...
--
Check out my photos at:
http://home.comcast.net/~langfords
http://www.pbase.com/jamesl
 
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