Download the full-res files in a compressed .zip file by clicking here.

I’ll be posting a new desktop image at the first of each month, in two different resolutions: 1280×800 and 1920×1200. This first one if from Beichuan, China. I shot this during the concert that Steven Curtis Chapman and his son were playing outdoors, as a benefit to the community.  It was pouring down rain but that didn’t stop them from putting on the show and certainly didn’t stop the crowds from packing out the area for the concert! Enjoy!

(Click the image and it will download a .zip file with the picture file in it.)

02.2010 - 1280x800

02.2010 - 1920x1200

It’s super inspirational and fantastic practical advice. Makes me want to be shooting RIGHT NOW!  Enjoy!

This week I am working a ton on developing some tutorial videos that will teach how I do what I do. Hopefully I’ll do a bunch of these, but I plan to start with three videos:
1) The ins and outs of traveling with photography equipment (bags, cases, best travel equipment, insurance, paperwork, etc…)

2) My post production workflow (taking an image straight from the camera and polishing it to a final product)

3) Keys to using SLRs cams for professional, high quality video production (audio equipment, lighting, file management…)

I’d love to hear your ideas one what you’d like most to learn from me. I’ll be using a service that Brandon Cotter (my cousin) is developing called Monetizer. It’s a very simple and a gorgeous way to easily post videos online for paid viewing.

Also, I did a blog post over on Help-Portrait blog with some “behind the scenes” info of what it took to make our event happen. If you are looking to do a similar event or are just curious, check it out here: Help-Portrait blog.

My most frequent updates are on my Twitter. I’m constantly posting new photos and other things on there, so if you aren’t following, check it out!

2) We had a tremendously successful Help-Portrait event a couple weekends ago… so many people came out and it was such a blessing to be a part of… Watch out for the video of the event… it’ll be online very soon.

3) Enjoy time with your families over Thanksgiving and look for more posts early next week!

- Austin

Seriously, ask 10 people and 7-8 of them will respond BUSY! So if we’re busy all the time, is there ever a time we are not busy? If everyone is busy, is anyone busy? Isn’t busy an adjective used to convey there is more going on than normal? But if we’re ALWAYS busy, then busy is NORMAL, and thus no longer busy…

That was a bit confusing but I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. I think in America we really need to slow down and focus on things that are eternal… our friends, our families…

On a completely different note, I’ve been honored to have been given the opportunity to “guest blog” on Scott Kelby’s blog (www.scottkelby.com) this month. I’ve been tossing around a few different ideas but would love to hear from you what kind of thing you like to hear from me the most. Whether it be information about equipment, travel, working with people abroad, post-processing workflow… or maybe something else completely that I’m not covering. I’d love to hear what YOU would like to hear from me.

Thanks!
-Austin

This is a quick update to let you know a few things…
Firstly, I’m working on a new site/blog layout that will incorporate more of what I do, not just travel. I will have a Current Projects page where you can see all the different things I have my hands in, it will also have an Ask Austin section where I’ll be fielding any of your questions whether it be about photo/video/travel/Macs… whatever!

Here’s a quick update on some of my recent projects:

1) wwww.freethemm.com
FreeThemm is a project my cousin Brandon and I have been working on in effort to share the story of two girls who have been put in prison for their faith in Iran. I could talk about this forever but you can find out how you can help and more about them at www.freethemm.com.

2) www.youplusmedia.com
You + Media is a local media company in Dallas that is launching a new media-driven website targeted specifically to the Dallas market. Imagine it is a (local) fusion of Facebook and YouTube. They want highly-stylized, informative videos of places and people around Dallas. I’ve been working on a number of different projects with them… whether is be restaurant profiles or Victor Tango’s or a short piece telling the story of people that work from 12AM to 6AM around the metroplex.

3) GULP
Gulp is a concept I’ve had since highschool and now I’m finally feeling it’s the right time to start it up. For now, all I’m going to say is that (I feel) like it’s a very innovative and very promising retail startup. Brandon and I are working on building a team to make it happen. We’ve got two architects fleshing out ideas of what Gulp could look like. Way more to come on this in the near future.

4) GiveFoto
GiveFoto is a project that I’ve had the great opportunity to be involved in. We’ve got a bunch of fotogs together in the Dallas area and on November 14th we are going to be setting up 8-10 photo stations (each with white seamless backdrops/lights/etc) at a church in south Dallas. We’re encouraging anyone and everyone to come in and get photos of themselves, their kids, their pets…whatever they want. I’m excited to see how this impacts everyone involved… we are expecting to have over 700 people there! More to come on this soon…

Those are some of the more long term projects I’ve been working on. I just returned from NYC last week and had an incredible time hanging’ with some insanely talented people… Jeremy Cowart, Vincent Laforet, Joey Lawrence to name a few. I met a ton of great people and pulled some great inspiration for new projects from my time there. I also found out that an image that I entered in NatGeo Traveler/PDN World In Focus contest was selected in the top 22 out of 220,000 entries! I was pretty excited!

I’m committing to update this thing WEEKLY! I know that’s really ambitious but I think I can do it. I will let you in on more and send you some of the videos when I can.

- Austin

A shot of me setting up the camera for the time lapse of the concert.

It rained and rained and rained the night of the concert. Yet people still came out… Umbrellas or not, everyone was soaking! It made for some neat images.

On the fault line of the Earthquake at Beichuan.

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