Austin is filled with amazing vistas for hiking and exploring. Many of them are easily accessible even with equipment and most are free or sport a modest fee per person if you want a new background for your latest footage. Here are a few of our faves:
I’ve written about the Laguna before as a date day stop and just as an Austin oasis. The historic grounds boast Carol Driscoll’s incredible home as well as installations like the one above. Adding the unique makeup of the sculpture garden into the background of your Austin shoot is a gorgeous, subtle call out to dedicated Austinites and will look incredible even for those who’ve never seen the property.
Every day but Tuesday the entrance fee is $10/adults, valid for a week. Hours are limited to daytime unless booked for an event.
What can I say? I’m a sucker for a good sculpture garden. Umlauf is a much smaller, but still dense property close to downtown. The picture above features Lovers V – the inspiration behind our logo at Invalid Productions and one of my favorite staples at the museum. There are several well placed benches throughout the grounds for a good talking head interview at any time of day. You’ll get a little more traffic noise here, so I’d recommend a mic for your subject to save the headache in post.
Entrance here is $5/person and hours are limited to daytime unless booked for an event.
Zilker Park
There are few places as iconic as Zilker Park for an Austin background. I especially recommend the background for videos promoting Austin realty, shopping, etc. The subliminal power of our skyline in the background is powerful. The only fee you’ll have here is parking, but the park is always crowded. I definitely recommend external audio for any recording done here.
Pfluger Bridge
Down the street from Zilker is Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge, another great free location for interviews. Not pictured here, this is where you’ll grab footage of the iconic graffiti bridge (NINJA KING FU GRIP) and sometimes even grab a passing train in the background. Parking and bringing equipment can be a little harder here, but it’s also a pretty heavily trafficked area. I definitely recommend taking the extra steps of external mics.
Mayfield Park
Last but not least is the beautiful Mayfield House just up the street from Laguna Gloria. Joining your shoot will be the peacocks who roam the grounds here. This is another free location, but the traffic here is usually very minimal and is ideal for quick interviews you want to grab on your phone or the like. The hours are also a little longer than the Laguna or Umlauf. It’s another park that’s sacred to tried and true Austinites, so definitely expect bonus points from potential viewers for making use of the space.
Have you ever shot at these locations? Where are some of your favorite places to grab outdoor footage? If you’re a business looking for video content that shows your Austin roots, book with us today!
Madie Leon Riley 