Visiting Austin

My friends Chris and Troy came to visit me in Texas so we decided to take a day to visit Austin. One cool place to check out is the Austin Capitol building.


A few quick facts:
-The capitol building was completed in 1888
-It was paid for with land, around 3 million acres, not dollars
-It stood 15 feet higher than the US Capitol building in 1888



Here is a friend I made in the garden


These door hinges were unique and apparently weigh over 7 pounds.


The house chamber


Just chillin'

Austin Pictage User Group

Wednesday evening I attended the Austin Pictage User Group led by the lovely Suzi Q.

We started off the evening by photographing each other so we would all have updated photos to include on our websites. Then I led a discussion on website content and design. We learned a lot about important things to include on our websites and some things we can strive to work on.
Is there anything that you wish I included on my website?

Here is another fun Austin PUG photo from a previous meeting.

Speaking in Austin on Oct 15th

I'll be speaking at the Pictage User Group in Austin (more info) coming up on October 15th. I'll be guiding a discussion on photography websites. We'll talk over what has content helps sites and also what is best to leave off. And then we'll jump into some of the local photographers sites to discuss how we can make all of our sites better.


This group of photographers is welcoming and always open to others joining in.

We're starting earlier than normal so that we can all take headshot of each other, so bring your camera and come dressed for having photos taken.

Join us at 5pm Oct 15th at
Jennifer Nichols and Sarah Q's wedding studios
1601 East 5th St. #104
Austin, TX 78702

pizza and beverages will be provided

Austin's First Thursday Art Event

So this last Thursday was the first time I was able to make it up to Austin's First Thursday event. On South Congress Avenue (SoCo as it's known locally) the eclectic mix of shops stay open late and tents are setup for all of the jewelry and other handmade items for sale.

It wasn't quite the art event that I thought it was going to be though. Coming from Phoenix where First Fridays is full of open galleries and live art events, this was not even close to that type of event. But it was filled with many poeple filling the sidewalks to grab a drink and socialize after a day of work.

I found a few interesting things to take photos of though.

There are event posters plastered all over the place and these caught my eye.


This entire wall was filled.




I ran into Hey Cupcake in their Airstream. And I think I'm in the wrong business because they're costs of doing business can't be too much and they're charging at least $2.00 per cupcake until they sell out for that day. They looked really yummy! Maybe there will be a Jefferson Todd Cupcake stand coming soon featuring chocolate cupcakes with metallic silver frosting on top. ;-)


And at the end of the night Homeslice Pizza has a mean thin crust margherita pizza. But don't try them on Tuesday because they're closed and that would be a very sad moment.

Austin Photographers

I headed up to Austin last night for a get together at Sarah and Jenn's new studio. It was so nice to be welcomed into Texas by a great group of photographers. A few people had already left by the time we took this photo, but here is a part of the group.

(photo from Bonnie's blog)

Shown below, in the front row, from L to R: Shannon, Lisa and me.
Back row, L to R: Sherry, Sarah, Bonnie, Jenn, and TaliAlso in attendance (but not in the photo) were Stacy and Stan, Brian and Mary Kate, Tyler, and Courtney