The covered pavilion out over the water at Mills Pond with a family standing in it, willows reflected around them
The work · Austin · North

Mills Pond

A pavilion out over the water, and willows on every bank.

19 frames·Mills Pond, Wells Branch, north Austin

Mills Pond sits in Wells Branch on the north side — a still pond with a boardwalk running out to a covered pavilion in the middle of it, willows down to the water and shade on both banks. The pavilion is the reason to book it: it puts a whole family out over water with a roof over their heads, which is a thing almost no other park in the metro can offer.

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Shaded most of the day, so it works when everywhere else is unshootable. Free and rarely crowded.

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The boardwalk is the whole park.

It runs from the bank out to a covered pavilion in the middle of the pond. Water on both sides, shade overhead, and a straight line to walk down — three problems solved before anybody has posed.

An expectant couple holding hands on the boardwalk that runs out to the Mills Pond pavilion
Out to the pavilion. The rails frame it whether you want them to or not.
Expectant mother in a white dress at golden hour by a lake
A man kneeling on the path at Mills Pond to kiss an expectant mother's bump
A couple standing with their backs to the camera on the Mills Pond pier, an announcement sign propped on the boards behind them
An announcement propped on the pier boards. Their idea, and better than anything we would have set up.
An expectant couple standing under the willows at the water's edge at Mills Pond
A couple standing forehead to forehead, backlit by low sun over the water.
Hands holding crochet baby booties

Willows come right down to the water on the far bank, so the background behind anybody standing on the boardwalk is green all the way to the edge of the frame.

We live four streets away. I had walked round that pond a hundred times and never once stood in the middle of it.
Client · Mills Pond maternity session
Everyone at once

Three generations, one bench, one afternoon.

A large multi-generation family dressed in white standing together under the trees at Mills Pond
Two sisters in white sitting on a low stone wall, autumn leaves around them.
A girl with plaits and a white collared blouse smiling under a tree.
Two sisters in white blouses standing together by a lake.
Grandparents and grandchildren seated together on a bench in the shade at Mills Pond
A grandfather seated on a bench at Mills Pond with three grandchildren gathered around him
Grandfather and three grandchildren, and nobody had to be asked twice.
A family of four in white standing at the water's edge at Mills Pond
A couple in white at Mills Pond with an older family member standing behind them
A weekday morning

It is also the nearest good background to the office park.

A man in a green shirt standing with his arms crossed under the trees at Mills Pond
A man in a blue blazer and glasses smiling outdoors.
Expectant mother in a black dress beside a lake

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