Austin in winter – a very welcome escape from cold and wet continental Europe. In my suitcase, a Minolta X-500 with MD 50mm f/2 and Nikon Z30 with DX 16-50 f/3.5-6.3. One of the pictures in this post was also shot with my iPhone 13 Pro (I wonder if you can spot which one). After having struggled with analogue photography before (never choosing the right film, overexposed pictures), I changed a few things in my setup and I am very happy with the results. Some motives are captured with both cameras and while I left the analogue pictures entirely unedited, in my opinion they still look more interesting than the digital pictures after editing. I deliberately mixed them in this post, I wonder if you can spot which are which.

After a 21h door-to-door trip, I spent the first night in a motel by the airport. The door had three locks and I was recommended to use them all “for my own protection”. I was too tired to care very much, put on my sleeping mask and my earplugs and slept for 10 hours straight. In the morning, I had some fun with taking pictures through the window and then headed downtown.

I had walked around downtown a little in my previous trip to Austin, this time I went straight to the capitol. Entry was free, I just had to leave my firearms outside. The House of Representatives and everything else was pretty impressive. The capitol was packed with visitors carrying signs (they were not allowed in the House of Representatives), I didn’t pay too much attention to them, but I soon found out what they were about…

After leaving the capitol, I accidentally ended up in a protest march of some 5000-10000 abortion abolitionists. All the MAGA hats certainly made for a nice motive. Some protesters looked like they just got off the Mayflower or could use a serious lecture in 20th century history. The massive police horses made me understand for the first time why cavalry used to be so effective against infantry. After taking a few pictures, I was pulled over by a cop. I already saw myself sitting on the next plane back home, but it turned out the officer had just noticed my 49ers sweater and wanted to show me some pictures of himself in fan wear.

On my way to find a good BBQ for lunch, I did another 5 kilometres downtown with both cameras hanging from my neck. I have never had so many people ask me to take a picture of them! I also managed to sneak in a selfie.

In the evening and the next morning, I walked along the river (or is it a lake?). The sun was perfect and if it weren’t for the fatal consequences for the planet, I wish winter was always like this. I love how the glory of the golden hour is captured by film!

Upon the recommendation of a friend, I visited the 360 bridge for sunrise and did a little hiking in the area. As it turned out, this was a great idea and I consider the picture with the boat, bridge and skyline in the distance one of the best I have ever taken.

Before it was time to leave, I managed to take some pictures of the hotel I stayed in after the motel. Interesting motives can be found everywhere!