Happy Holidays from the Rooted team! Don’t forget, you can send us your photos at photo@rootedaustin.com if you want to be included in next week’s contest. Also, come back later this week to check out the main site for a special holiday message from Rooted. Thanks for voting in the around Austin photo contest!

Before we get to the photos, we want to respond to a few comments we received from last week’s contest. People told us we shouldn’t reveal who the photographers are until the winner is chosen at the end of the week. We talked about it and saw some initial pros and cons. In the pros, it would make the contest more exciting because it would be a total surprise. In the cons, only the winning photographers would be recognized instead of everyone who worked hard to get photos for the contest. We’re  still talking about it, so let us know what you think in the comments with your vote. We’ll do things the same way until we make a final decision.

Now, on to Cassandra’s shots:

Photo 1: A yellow-berried tree stands alone against the sky far down along East 6th Street.

Photo 2: A string of lights decorates a closed Airstream food trailer in what appears to be an abandoned store lot on Lamar Boulevard.

Photo 3: A turtle bumps up against his tank in the tiny Austin Zoo reptile house.

Photo 4: A pigeon evaluates the photographer in the shade of the petting corral barn to see if it will receive food.

Photo 5: The Austin Zoo, which used to be the Good Day Ranch, has murals painted all around the property that make it a colorful animal sanctuary.

Photo 6: A tiger dozes in the midday sun at the quiet Austin Zoo.

Now, on to Pete’s shots:

Photo 7: Hilario Gonzalez sells fire wood on the side of Highway 290 West. The wood is sold at $15 for 20 pieces of oak. The sales help Hilario survive through the winter.

Photo 8: Early morning clouds cover the empty midway of this carnival in Austin.

Photo 9: A token dispenser from a traveling carnival sits in the dawn light.

Photo 10: Patricia Celius works at the Value Mart on west side of Austin along Highway 290.

That’s all for this week. Thanks for stopping by and voting!