Austin winter night

The skyline here in Austin is ever-changing.  It seems every time I look, there is a new project getting started.  We have been fortunate that although the economic climate did slow down some things here, the worst of it seems to have passed over us.  The city has continued to grow and prosper, which is both a good thing and a challenging one.  Future growth projections for this area are still strong.  But, at the root of it all, Austin is still a cool, laid-back, hippie sort of town - and that is a wonderful thing.

The project underway that you see on the left (with the 2 cranes) is the W Hotel and Residences, which will also host a new stage for the long-running music show Austin City Limits.  The other project, which literally towers over the rest of town, is The Austonian.  It is nearly complete and will be the largest residential development in Texas (and probably other states too!).  It is a beautiful building.  I am looking forward to these both being finished, so that I can come back and get a shot of the skyline of Austin without any cranes in it.   

This was a 4 exposure HDR (-2, -1, 0, +1), shot at f/6.3.  The exposures were 3 seconds, 5 seconds, 10 seconds, and 28 seconds.  After those 4 it seemed I had enough light to work with.  One of my goals for 2010 regarding my photography is to improve my HDR processing skills, and in particular to ensure that my nighttime HDR shots come out well.  I feel like this shot is a good step in the right direction.