Genoa, Nevada - Western Heritage Days

Yesterday was a lot of fun, at the Western Heritage Days event in Genoa, Nevada. An art gallery I sell out of, The Genoa Gallery, rented a large booth and had a few of us gallery artists bring extra work and exhibit there. It was a successful day! I had a few nice sales, including this big canvas print of a Genoa Bar photo. The Genoa Bar's claim to fame is that it is Nevada's "oldest thirst parlor". It's a very popular spot and this image has been a best-seller at the gallery - "Nevada's Oldest Thirst Parlor 1"

I thought I'd share a few photos of the fun with you.
Here's the buyers of the big print (photo shared with permission).



And here's a couple photos of the big tent/display.

So, this statue behind me is of Snowshoe Thompson. No relation to me, Scott Thompson, but he was a bad-ass back in his day. He would carry important mail over the Sierra Nevada mountains on skis. I have a lot of respect for him and I enjoy the fact that we share the same last name.



Here's the start of the "Horse Parade". It's a very small town and the parade wasn't very big, but it a decent amount of people showed up for it and everybody was in great spirits.

Would I recommend attending this event? Hmmm. Not unless you're a Genoa or Reno, Nevada local, or into western history. But it was a good time and I'm glad I helped out at the gallery.

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

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com

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