What to shoot in Houston

MileHighAko

Heading to Houston on business, and wondering if there are any must capture places?

MileHighAko

My original post was in the wrong forum. Thanks mods for moving it.

So doing some searching, it looks like the watter wall is just about the only interesting thing to shoot in Houston... really? There has to be more than that!

Speaking of the watter wall, is it a safe place for a stranger to be wandering around at night?

triangular

Well I am sort of from Houston, but it depends on what you are drawn to shooting. Personally I would go downtown. If you have a nice wide angle you can get some excellent modern skyscraper shots. Also from a vantage point just outside of downtown, Houston actually has a very photogenic skyline. If you'll have a vehicle, take Allen Parkway exit off of I-45. This road heads just outside of downtown through some nice curvy turns with a few places to pull off onto grass bluffs. Looking back, you'll have one of many possible views of a part of downtown behind you. Continuing down Allen Parkway and making a left hand turn at your first or second light (may be a crossover type of turn at a light), you'll be entering the Montrose area. This is a bit of an artistic area. Though it may not appear so, its the only independent artist, or bohemian part of town left. You might find some interesting scenes here, depending on exactly where you end up.

Near the Montrose area is also River Oaks, a bit like the Beverly Hills of Houston, a neighborhood covered in oak trees and filled with very large mansions, near the University. You'll probably need to find these neighborhoods on a map to really find your way around.

If you have the time, travel I-45 South to Galveston. About a 45 minute to 1 hour drive and you're at the Gulf Coast. This is quite interesting, some very old Victorian style homes on the larger streets leading to the boardwalk, and the boardwalk itself can be some interesting photography.

If you don't want to go quite as far as Galveston Island and the beach, you can stop about half way south of Houston at the Kemah Boardwalk. This is a 42 acre complex built mainly for shopping and restaurants, but is a fairly largely entertainment center which also includes a roller coaster, ferris wheel and several other attractions, all of it overlooking Galveston Bay. You can get some nice shots here in afternoon and sunset times of day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kemah_Boardwalk

rcmckee

MileHighAko wrote: »

So doing some searching, it looks like the water wall is just about the only interesting thing to shoot in Houston... really? There has to be more than that!

Speaking of the watter wall, is it a safe place for a stranger to be wandering around at night?

There are more things; it's just a question of what trips your particular trigger. If you happen to be downtown, in the (fairly spectacular Art Deco) city hall there's a "Convention and Visitors' Bureau" whose flyer racks and docent will give you a fairly significant overview of the area and what sorts of touristy/arts/"convention and visitors"/ Chamber of Commerce things are on offer.

Beyond that... skyline's nice, water wall is cool (and it's pretty well safe but don't bring a tripod or they might ask you to depart, and you might have to go back a time or two since it's not always running), downtown's not a bad wander during the day. There's a fairly decent art scene, some world-class museums, reasonably fabulous zoo, NASA's just down the road.... lots of touristy stuff. If you want reality... Meh, it's there but hard to know about in advance.

The local chain "alt-weekly," the Houston Press, has a pretty good "what's happening" listing if you're more into local culture....

dodiggitydag

MileHighAko wrote: »

Heading to Houston on business, and wondering if there are any must capture places?

I agree with the other posts that there is a good amount of random things to take pictures in downtown Houston. I too have gotten some good pictures at the Zoo..they just opened an African exhibit. Here are more ideas...

Someone mentioned Galvestion... Galveston is known as being on the migration path for many species of birds. There is a four day event in April called Featherfest where there are photography classes for all levels.
http://www.galvestonfeatherfest.com/

Houston Arboretum (but they charge $$ for photography) - it is adjacent to Memorial Park, which is a very large very popular park where you can find additional photo ops.
http://www.houstonarboretum.org/

I recently went to Jamail Skatepark during the afternoon and took some shots. I hear that the more talented skateboarders come out at night time.
http://www.houstonparksboard.org/projects/lee_joe_jamail_skatepark.php

jpope42

Downtown's good, lots of architecture by modern masters like Johnson & Pelli if you like architecture. There's a newish park near the rockets arena that's interesting, too.

If you like run down industrial (I do) there is a ton around town. Downtown area has some good old warehousey things. If you can get to Galveston, I'd highly recommend that, a very historic small city. Also, Kemah which is sort of on the way has opportunities for good working fisherman shots (as does Galveston).

Have fun.