The Buttercup Wildflowers Are Blooming!

Well... I've got some pretty great personal news. About 5 years ago, I had a scary health incident that landed me in the hospital's ICU for a couple weeks. The doctors told me that I could never mountain bike or snowboard again for the rest of my life. It was too risky with the stent I had placed in an artery at the base of my brain. Last week, I had an appointment with my neurologist to review a recent MRI of my brain and it turns out that I have reached a place where I can now indeed get back to the sports I love most!!!! So, of course I immediately bought a new (used) mountain bike and yesterday I got out on a bike for the first time in 5 years!

It was so much fun, I forgot just how much I love biking. There was no wiping the huge smile off of my face the whole time I was out there. Of course... I brought my Canon camera because I had no idea what I would see. And lucky me, I saw some early blooming Buttercup wildflowers in one of the meadows. The meadow was a bit flooded with all of the snowmelt water, it made for some great photos, below is my favorite of the bunch.

Shot handheld with a Canon 5DS R and a 24-105mm lens. The camera's ISO was 400, the shutter speed was 1/200 of a second, and the lens aperture was f/18. No lens filters or flash were used.

This image is now available on my new website here: "Buttercup Wildflowers 1" Metal prints, framed prints, canvas prints, photo products and more are available for ordering, shipping is available worldwide.

Also... I am running a HUGE Mother's Day special through 4/26/2024. The coupon code MD2024 will get you a 30% off discount on any purchase of any print or product of any image on the new site. Just enter the code when checking out...

Okay, here's a couple of very happy selfies with the "new" bike. I had just picked the bike up from getting repaired and having a major tuneup. It rode great! And wouldn't you know... After five years, I remembered how to ride a bike, lol. So much fun!

Thanks for looking and I hope you are all having a great day!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com

Last Night's Donner Lake Sunset

Tonight's sunset was beautiful, but I was out sitting along the shoreline of Donner Lake, sipping tea, with no camera on me...

Last night's sunset was also beautiful! And I had gone up to the Donner Summit area for some photo fun. After I had dinner, I looked outside and determined that the clouds looked like we might actually get some nice color looking to the east, instead of just to the west. So I headed up to get a view of Rainbow Bridge, Donner Lake, and the town of Truckee, California. I live near the far end of the lake in the photo below, so it's not a very far drive to this vista location.

Fortunately, I was correct, and the color looking to the east was indeed incredible! The purples and pinks were very nice to see, and fun to shoot. I'm still not sure though which photo I like better. The horizontal, or the vertical with Rainbow Bridge in the frame. Which one do you like better?

Both of these were shot with a Canon 5DS R and a 24-105mm lens. The camera's ISO was 100, the lens aperture was f/20, and the exposures were a few seconds long. A graduated neutral density filter was used on the front of the lens.

The images are now on my new website, where prints can be purchased and shipped worldwide. https://www.truckeetahoephotos.com/donner-lake-gallery

I had some time to kill before the colorful show, so of course I had to take a few selfies... lol.

Thanks for looking and I hope you are all having a great day/evening!!!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com

Milky Way Shoot Video and More New Photos

The Milky Way shoot Saturday morning was successful. But I also stuck around for sunrise, and that was a successful shoot too! The Milky Way shot is in my last post, and the sunrise photos are below. But first... I put together a little behind the scenes YouTube video, so you can have a bit of a look at the fun involved with this type of shoot. Also, I shot an Instagram Live video. I can't seem to download and share that, so if you're bored and would like to see the sunrise with me, here is a link to that: Instagram Live Video

Okay, this first photo is actually of the sliver moon rising above the mountains. It was only visible for a few minutes before it disappeared behind the clouds, a pleasant sight to see!



This next one was a predawn shot, a few cars were driving on Old Highway 40 and over Rainbow Bridge. I thought it made for a nice scene.

And this one of the sun actually rising above the horizon has proved to be rather popular on other social medias. I love the warm tones of that first light on the bridge.

Thanks for looking and watching. I hope you all had or are having a great day!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com

New Milky Way Photo!

WOW!!! I was incredibly lucky to get this shot recently! I woke up at 2:30am on Saturday, 4-6-24, was at this spot a bit after 3:30am, and shot this photo just before 4am. Shortly after I got this "keeper" the clouds rolled in and the Milky Way was no longer visible. If I would have gotten up a little later, I would have missed the shot.

Bonus, there was a cloud above Truckee and the lights of Truckee lit it up beautifully. Also, a car drove over Rainbow Bridge during the exposure which lit up the railing. The snow was reflective enough to become visible during the 20 second exposure. Everything came together perfectly, I am VERY happy with this shot.

Shot with a Canon 5DS R and a 16-35mm lens. The camera's ISO was 1600, the lens aperture was f/2.8, and it was a 20 second exposure, on a tripod. No lens filters, flashes, or headlamp were used.

This photo is already up on my new website. I am loving the new site! And I've already had some vern nice print orders. People seem to like the shopping experience a lot better than my old website. Here is this image on the site. Large prints, small prints, and photos products are available for shipping worldwide.

I actually stuck around for sunrise. It was incredibly cold out there but I have some more "keeper" photos to work on. Stay tuned for that post...

Thank you for looking and I hope you are all having a great day!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com

New Reno Area Online Gallery Added

Gotta love Springtime!

Yesterday, I was able to get down to Reno, Nevada and after running a couple errands, I headed to Downtown Reno with the camera. The trees are blossoming down there right now, and everything is looking incredible, everywhere you look. Shooting the Reno Arches with blossoms in the foreground has been on my to-do list for many many years. However, the blossoms don't last very long at all, and I always seem to miss the peak of the show. Not this year! My timing worked out perfectly, and I was able to get these two "keeper" shots.

Both of these were shot handheld with the Canon 5DS R and a 24-105mm lens. The cameras's ISO was 200, and the shutter speed was 1/200 of a second. The aperture varied. The top photo is the main arch on the main strip in Downtown Reno. The bottom photo is of the smaller, older arch a couple of blocks away.

These photos are already up on my new website, available as large or small prints, canvas prints, prints on metal, framed prints, tote bags, phone cases, greeting cards, and more! I'm very happy with my new website as I've already received some very large print orders! Today, I added a whole new category of Reno area images to the site, if you're curious, you can check it out here: Reno Area Gallery

Thanks for looking and I hope you all are having a great day!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com

Video: Milky Way Photoshoot Adventure

I finally put together the little video that I shot while out photographing the Milky Way a few days ago. I already shared the photo HERE, but this video gives you a behind the scenes look and few tips from the shoot.

Thank you for watching, and I hope you are all having a great day!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography

www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com

Another "Cool" Morning at Donner Lake

I went out for a short stroll with the camera and some turmeric tea this morning. The camera was almost left at home... But I'm glad I decided to grab it at the last minute, because of this cool scene! There was a thin layer of ice on Donner Lake here in Truckee, California. But in this small area, the ice had broken up and piled up, creating sharp looking, jagged pieces of ice that looked rather photogenic to me. So I set down the hot tea and went to work getting some cool photos!

Shot with the Canon 5DR R and a 16-35mm lens, set at 16mm. The camera's ISO was 200, the shutter speed was 1/200 of a second, and the lens aperture was f/16. Shot handheld, no tripod or lens filters.

Instead of shooting a quick selfie as I often do, I decided to make a short video...

Thanks for looking, and I hope you all have a cool day too!!!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

New Website Announcement!

I'm super excited about this... I officially launched my new website today!!!! www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com

It has been a lot of work, and I'll probably still work on the website more as I fine tune things. But it is live! It is functioning! And the shopping cart works! A test order has been delivered to my mother, who ordered a jigsaw puzzle a few days ago. The puzzle was delivered today, everything went smooth! The puzzle was delivered to Los Angeles, but prints can be delivered anywhere in the world!

Above is a screenshot of the website. Everything seems to be working great on my end, but if you visit it and notice any bugs or glitches, please do let me know.

And below is a little video I put together for the announcement. I've been sharing this video on all my social medias today.

I hope to be adding more images to the website and most of the new images that I capture and share here will eventually be added to the website.

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

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

Abstract Photos Of Awesome Ice

It was foggy yesterday morning here at Donner Lake in Truckee, California. But after a while, it started to clear up so I grabbed my camera and walked across the street to see if I could get any cool photos of the lake with a bit of the fog on it. When I got to the shoreline, I noticed something even cooler...

There was a bit of ice, but it wasn't your normal frozen surface. There was wild unusual triangular patterns all over it. The fog was nice, but I spent most of my time shooting icy abstracts instead.

These were all shot with the Canon 5DS R, which is a 50.6 megapixel DSLR. If desired, I could print these up huge. I kind of think these first three images would look very nice on a big wall somewhere...

These next two wider angle photos of the ice aren't bad either. I just like those first three a bit better.

And here's what I originally had in mind. The lake's surface was very still, the early morning sun made the color of the boulders look very warm, and the fog brought it all together to make a very calming serene shot.

Another beautiful morning in Truckee!!! I hope you are all haveing a great weekend too.

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

XC Ski Lesson With MVB Coaching

Yesterday afternoon was a lot of fun. It started with a group cross-country ski lesson with my friend Martin of MVB Coaching. Martin is an endurance sports coach who offers coaching to folks all over the world, through the magic of the internet. I've shot many photos of him for his website and social media, and Martin gave me my first XC ski lesson last year.

The group lesson was great for beginners, and it was good to be reminded of the basics as I know I've developed some bad habits... After the lesson, the two of us got out for a long ski and we tried to find a nice spot for a sunset shoot. There actually wasn't a lot of nice lake views at the Nevada Nordic ski area, but we did find a couple decent spots. For some reason, my Garmin watch did not record the activity, but it was a lot longer of a ski than I'm used to, I was exhausted when I got back to the car.

The sunset was not as explosive as we had hoped, but we still got some nice shots with Lake Tahoe in the background. Here's a couple of them below.

Both of these photos were shot with the Canon 5DS R and a 24-105mm lens.

The shot above was ISO 400, the lens aperture was f/14, and the shutter speed was 1/320 of a second.

The shot below was ISO 1000, the lens aperture was f/5.6, and the shutter speed was 1/200 of a second. A flash was used for this shot, or else Martin would have been looking very dark.

Martin was giving free hour-long lessons all day, my group was a fairly small one compared to the other big groups. He was passing out business cards in hopes to get some folks signing up for his lesson/training packages. It was a smart idea!

And of course, the obligatory selfie with the camera, lol.

Thanks for looking and I hope you are all having a great weekend!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

Snowy Shoot At Donner Lake

Yes... I got out yet again on the cross-country skis recently at Donner Lake, here in Truckee, California. I try to get out a few times a week for exercise and to enjoy the Great OutDoors. And of course, I almost always bring the Canon camera with me.

I wasn't really expecting to shoot much. There was some strong winds with the snowstorm the night before, so most of the snow wasn't looking perfect in the trees, the wind tends to knock it off of the pine needles, it falls onto the soft snow on the ground, and it leaves a less than perfect look. However, out at the lake shore, away from the trees, the snow was still looking nice and smooth. The sun was out so we had bright whites, a bit of blue sky, and some dynamic looking clouds. It all motivated me to actually take the camera out of my backpack and get some cool shots!

These below were all shot handheld with the Canon 5DS R and a 24-105mm lens. No lens filters, flash, or tripod were used.

I thought I was done shooting and was on my way back to the cross-country ski trail when I stumbled upon these icicles. They had the perfect background so I got the camera back out, and went back to work. Yes, I said work... These will all be on my website soon, available as large and small fine art prints. I also offer image licensing of my images, high resolution versions can be purchased and downloaded through my website, and used in publications or in a business's printed and online marketing efforts.

Thanks for looking and I hope you all had some great outdoor time today as well!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

Icy Abstract Photo. What Do You Think It Looks Like?

I was lucky to get out again recently on the cross-country skis for a little exercise at Donner Lake, here in Truckee, California. While out, I decided to ski over to Coldstream Pond, to see what I could see. There were some interesting cracks in the ice that that had frozen back over. I really liked the look of this scene on the pond. I know what I think it looks like, but what do you think it looks like???

Shot with the Canon 5DS R and a 24-105mm lens. The ISO was 160, the lens aperture was f/18, and it was a fast 1/200 of a second exposure. When I shoot handheld, I like to have a nice fast shutter speed, it helps the image be a lot sharper and look better as a big print.

Here's a look at the whole frozen pond. I'm not sure if the ice was thick enough to walk on, but I certainly wasn't going to find out...

Thanks for looking and I hope you are all having a great day!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

A Cool Look To Donner Lake

There was a break in a big snowstorm recently. It had been dumping all day, a decent amount of snow piled up fast. I took the opportunity to make some tea, grab the camera, and walk across the street to Donner Lake in order to enjoy a little outdoor time.

When I got to the lake, I was surprised and pleased to see these cone shaped snow covered rocks! The cone look made them a bit unique compared to most snow covered rocks. Also, the lake was coated with a slushy slurpy layer of snow. The whole scene looked kind of surreal so I fired off many photos and even waited around until sunset, with hopes for a fiery colorful sky.

Sunset did not fire off quite like I had hoped, but there was still a bit of warmth to the clouds. It was beautiful out!

These were all shot with the Canon 5DS R and a 24-105mm lens. All handheld, no tripod or lens filters. The camera settings varied but the shutter was always 1/200 of a second. I like using a fast shutter speed when shooting handheld in order to ensure that the image will be nice and sharp if I print it up big.

The image above was looking to the east, the image below was looking to the west toward Donner Summit.

Okay, this was weird... I found this hole below with a little feather floating in it. I have no idea how it formed, or if the feather had something to do with the snow not sticking there. But it looked very interesting and was very photo worthy.

As you can see above, the snow on the surface of the lake was more of a slushy slurpee and not frozen solid. I tried going out with the camera again this morning for a sunrise shoot, but the slush had melted and the scene was no longer really photo-worthy in my opinion (see the photo below).

It was a fun photoshoot yesterday! I spent a lot of time out there walking up and down the shoreline. I shot many different compositions, but these were my favorites.

Oh! And earlier in the day, while running errands, I saw this Tesla Cybertruck in the wild! I've seen one driving around town before, but this was the first time seeing it in a snowstorm. I've been told Teslas handle the snow fairly well with their all wheel drive. This one had cables on the rear tires, so it was probably driving like a tank, no slipping and sliding.

Thanks for looking and I hope you all had a great weekend too!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

Edit: Here's a Youtube Short with the photos.