Lake travis E-Session: Permit(s) required?

[S-Man]

I'm in Houston but have some friends/clients who want to shoot their e-session at Lake Travis.
Is there anything I need to know before going, perhaps permits to purchase or permission to ask? I'd like to use possibly some umbrellas and off camera lights if possible.

Anyone know?
Thanks in advance!

[jstpeter]

YOu need to call the parks ahead of time, many are closed becasue of the low water levels. I am sure some that there are some open for day use with no boat ramps but you may want to narrow down where you are going to shoot. The parks can be anything from LCRA, CITy or county parks. DId your clients tell you where on Lake Travis?

[toverman]

Saw on the news that Lake Travis is 40 feet below normal levels. There's still some water, but you'll have to hunt for it!

[S-Man]

Wow...I'm going to pass that along to them. No, they didn't tell me where exactly, and that lake is HUGE! I still have to talk details with them, I just wanted to know beforehand so I know what to tell them.
Kinda sucks being 40 ft below normal. There are some lakes I saw on the news where you can see dry docks and rocky banks everywhere. Not exactly a photo-op...

I'm in Houston, and I've never been asked to do something like this. I don't know what to charge, but I do know it's going to be an all day thing. 3 hours there, 3 hours back, prolly 3 hour shoot...9 hours...I know what I SHOULD charge. But they might not like it.

Thanks for the info.

[andyz]

The news last night said Travis loses a foot a week. So don't wait. They showed boats and floating docks on the ground where water used to be. Folks walking their dog on the lake bed. Terrible.

[texfoto]

I'm in Austin and have been out to see the lake. It is certainly low. You basically see a deep chalked bank from where the water used to be on the banks around the entire lake with some sand bars that have appeared that I've never seen before being here many years.

I'm not sure where you wanted to take pictures but I would scope the place out first to see if there is a place you could get them where the water/lake actually look good. I don't think the lower waterline looks good so check it out first.

[S-Man]

Yeah, both me and the client are in Houston, so any scouting is going to have to be done the day of the shoot.
I emailed him and strongly discouraged use of Lake Travis due to the current state.
There's lots of places around Houston to shoot. I have no idea why they want to go to Lake Travis.

[merock]

I'd say check out Pace bend park. It has a "beach" kind of side to it that would be good for images on one side, and the other side would be nice for catching some sunset images with the lake behind you. The park is kind of a peninsula, so you have two sides you can work with with lake water on either side. Here's a link with info and a map:

http://www.co.travis.tx.us/tnr/parks/pace_bend.asp

Could be worth looking into if they are set on Lake Travis.