Lakes in Texas: 17 Photo Spots, Light & Night Sky Guide

Top lakes

Name	County	Elevation	Nearest town	Sky
Sabine Lake	Orange County	—	Port Arthur	5
White Rock Lake	Dallas County	140 m	Highland Park	7
Lake Houston	Harris County	—	Atascocita	6
Amistad ReservoirAmistad	Val Verde County	—	Cienegas Terrace	3
Lake Nasworthy	Tom Green County	571 m	San Angelo	5
Green Lake	Calhoun County	1 m	Bloomington	3
Smithers Lake	Fort Bend County	18 m	Greatwood	5
Lake Alan Henry	Garza County	658 m	Post	2
Lake Palestine	Smith County	—	Berryville	3
Lake Buchanan	Llano County	—	Buchanan Dam	3
Lake Tawakoni	Rains County	—	Edgewood	4
Medina Lake	Bandera County	—	Lakehills	4
Lake Austin	Travis County	—	West Lake Hills	7
Sam Rayburn Reservoir	Jasper County	—	Sam Rayburn	2
Lake Travis	Travis County	—	Hudson Bend	5
Lady Bird Lake	Travis County	—	Austin	7
Lake Lyndon B. Johnson	Burnet County	—	Cottonwood Shores	5

Sky = estimated Bortle class (1 darkest – 9 brightest).

Lakes reflect best in calm air — usually the first hour after sunrise, before breezes ripple the surface.

For mirror reflections, get low and close to the water; the reflection grows with a lower camera.
A polarizer can remove reflections to show the lakebed — or keep them, depending on rotation.
Mist often lifts off lakes on cold mornings after warm days, especially in autumn.
Include shoreline rocks, reeds or a log as foreground to give the reflection depth.
Expose for the brighter sky; reflections are typically half a stop to a stop darker.

Season: Autumn mornings bring mist and fall color; high-elevation lakes are usually ice-free only from early summer to mid-autumn.