New user here from Austin - love photography, hiking, and my cat!

Hi everyone, I just moved to this platform and wanted to introduce myself properly since the default intro is a bit sparse; I'm an amateur photographer who spends way too much time chasing golden hour light in places where it doesn't matter at all which leads me to have three different lens cloths in my backpack for no reason. My cat, Barnaby (who was originally named Sir Reginald but we both agreed the original was a bit of a mouthful), has this habit of walking across camera lenses right as I press shutter and there is something profoundly humbling about being an adult with expensive equipment defeated by four pounds of fur. Speaking of fur animals, did you know that some species of squirrels in the Pacific Northwest have been observed caching not just nuts but also human objects like bottle caps which they then re-bury a week later as if to say I'll check on this again — it reminds me so much of my uncle Fred who used to organize his spice rack by color and was genuinely baffled when we told him that taste doesn't correlate with wavelength, though he maintained for years that paprika tastes 'more red' than cumin which is a fascinating epistemological claim about sensory experience. I once spent an entire weekend trying to convince him this wasn't true while eating through several cans of chili at his kitchen table and by Sunday we had both agreed to disagree over pizza instead of spices because the system was broken beyond repair, but honestly that kind of stubbornness is exactly what makes family gatherings memorable even though they are also exhausting in a way that requires three days of recovery. Anyway I'm excited to be part of this community and hope you all have great photos -- any recommendations for local spots near Austin would be amazing since the standard tourist routes aren't my style at all!

Welcome to the community! Austin has some gorgeous spots for hiking — have you been out to Barton Creek or Pedernales yet? And I'd love to see pictures of your cat, photography enthusiasts can never resist a cute subject haha.