This Morning Along An Icy Donner Lake Shoreline

The temperature was 15°F at my place this morning. And I could see from my living room window that there was a little bit of ice on the surface of Donner Lake, along the shoreline. So I took a little walk with the camera, to see what I could find... Success!!! There were actually many little scenes like this with air bubbles trapped in the thin layer of ice on the surface of Donner Lake. I took quite a few photos. But this one happened to be my favorite, one of the last photos I shot. I've seen bubbles trapped in the ice many times, but in my opinion, it looks best when the ice is very thin, clear, and not too thick. Just like this!

"Donner Lake Morning 28"

Shot with a Canon R5 MarkII and a 15-35mm lens, set at 30mm. It was a handheld shot, no tripod. The ISO was 400, the shutter speed was 1/100 of a second with the lens image stabilizer on, and the lens aperture was f/22. A nice small aperture created the best depth of field I could get. The mountains and were still a bit out of focus despite the small aperture, because the camera was very close to the surface of the ice. Oh, and my boots were in the ice/water and I had water up over my shoelaces. Fortunately, they are quality boots and my socks did not get wet. 😁

This photo would make a very nice large print, I envision it looking best above a desk in an office. A peaceful scene to look at when feeling stressed out about all the office work that needs to be done.

Thank you for looking and I hope you all have a great weekend!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com - Art
Scott Shots Photography - Services

This Morning's Icy Donner Lake Sunrise

I try to bring my camera with me most places, even when I plan on just leaving it in the car. I really didn't have any plans to shoot this morning when I headed out to meet up with some friends for coffee. But wouldn't you know..... Sunrise ended up being a nice one so I pulled over along Donner Lake and shot this cool scene along the shoreline of Donner Lake, here in Truckee, California.

"Donner Lake Sunrise 56" (Available as prints on my website)

Shot with a Canon R5 Mark II and a 24-105mm lens, set at 24mm. The shutter speed was 1/100 of a second since it was a handheld shot, no tripod. The lens aperture was f/22, nice and small in order to get the best depth of field possible and to try to get the foreground and background in focus. And an ISO of 8,000, a high ISO was needed and a healthy amount of noise reduction was needed in post processing.

No selfies or video clips. This was a quick shoot, a few photos were shot, then I jumped back in my car and headed to my destination. But I'm happy with the unexpected shot that I got!

Thank you for looking and I hope you all have a great day, and weekend!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com

Lake Tahoe Surface Reflection Abstracts

Although it was an incredibly beautiful day yesterday, fishing on Lake Tahoe, I was struggling to find any super photogenic scenes to shoot that would make nice large prints. But at one point, the light breeze created an interesting look to the surface, and I saw some potential for some fun abstract reflection shots. I posted a wider angle view as well, so you can see where these reflections came from. And I posted a photo of the fishing rod I was using, just because I want to brag about how beautiful and incredible of a time I had out there!

Abstract prints aren't my best sellers even though they are some of my favorite photos. What do you think? Do you like these Lake Tahoe surface abstracts? And can you picture seeing them on your wall?

Shot with a Canon R5 MarkII and a Canon 100-500mm lens. The ISO was 1600, the lens aperture was f/20, and the shutter speed was 1/1000. Handheld. The abstract image were flipped upside down in editing, I shot with that in mind as I thought it would be a better look.

Here's a wide angle view of the scene, below.

Yummy! The mackinaw we caught was delicious!

Thanks for looking, and I hope you have a great day!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com

Oh, and I'm posting this room mock-up so you can image how the image would look printed big on a wall. We have a gallery here in Truckee that sells tons of large abstract paintings. I like the abstracts they exhibit, so here's my attempt at the look.

Fannette Island "Abstract" Photo

After shooting yesterday's sunrise at Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe... I hopped in the car and started heading to my buddy's house to meet up for some fishing fun. But on my way out of Emerald Bay, I looked over and saw the early morning sunlight reflecting brightly off of the water, creating a silhouette of Fannette Island. It looked incredibly cool, so I decided to turn around and see if I could capture the scene. I'm glad I did because I kind of love this shot! I don't know if it's a true abstract, but it definitely has an abstracty feel to it. And even though it looks like a black and white photo, it's actually a color shot! It's one of the only digital photos I've ever taken that I decided needed zero adjustments to it. This is a straight-out-of-the-camera photo.

Shot with the Canon R5 MarkII and a 24-105mm L lens, set at 105m. The ISO was 100, the lens aperture was f/22, and the shutter speed was 1/500 of a second. Handheld, no filters were used.

I personally think that this one would make a very cool large print in the right location. What do you think? (If you agree and are interested... Prints can be ordered HERE.)

Thank you for looking and I hope you have a great day!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com