Top 10 photos of 2024

2024 has been a busy, productive, and great year! I purchased a new camera and a variety of lenses a few months ago, a Canon R5 Mark II. I've really been enjoying the new gear, both for commercial photography work, and for the landscape photography that is my true passion. The images are incredibly sharp, and I really like the reduced digital noise at higher ISOs.

Quite a few new landscape photos were shot. I just went through them all and decided that these are my top 10 favorites of the year. Not necessarily the most popular shots, but images that I personally like best. Let me know what one is your favorite!

Top 10 Photos of 2024, In the order they were shot:

"Icy Donner Lake 3" - Photograph of a ice and frost along the shoreline of Donner Lake in Truckee, California.

"Snowy Truckee River 14" - Snowy morning photograph of the Truckee River, in Downtown Truckee, California.

"Milky Way Above Donner Lake 7" - Nighttime photograph of the Milky Way above Rainbow Bridge and Donner Lake, in Truckee, California.

"Downtown Truckee 109" - Spring photograph after a storm of a snowy Downtown Truckee, California.

"Northern Lights Over Truckee 1" - Photograph of the aurora borealis, or Norther Lights, over Donner Lake and Truckee, California.

"Sunset at Boca Reservoir 10" - Sunset photograph of a beautiful sunset and it's reflection at Boca Reservoir in Truckee, California.

"Aspens Above Lake Tahoe 20" - Sunset photograph of yellow and orange aspen trees in the Fall at a grove above Lake Tahoe.

"Black Bear at Taylor Creek 6" - This black bear was photographed with a Kokanee Salmon in it's mouth at Taylor Creek in South Lake Tahoe.

"Downtown Truckee 117" - Photograph of a Christmas Tree and the Train Depot in Downtown Truckee, California.

"Donner Lake Morning 25" - Early morning photograph of fog in the trees and it's reflection at Donner Lake in Truckee, California.

There you have it. Many more photos were shot that I loved, but these were my favorite. Again, which one is your favorite? Thank you for looking and cheers to 2025!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com

All of these are available as fine art prints, gift items, or to license as stock photography.

Video From My Recent Aurora Borealis Photoshoot

You've probably seen many photos of the recent Aurora Borealis on the social medias lately. It's very rare to have it happen so far south so there were tons of people out getting photos and posting. It's been a lot of fun to see and I've already sold about a half dozen prints of it on my new website, woohoo! I finally had time to work on a little video that I shot while out there on Friday night. I hope you enjoy this little behind the scenes look at the fun I was having.

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

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com

Oh, and here's a couple more shots taken that evening. 

Aurora above Truckee, California - Shot Last Night

Your social media feeds are probably flooded with aurora shots from last night. I thought I'd add to it! lol. Here are a couple new photos I shot last night, here in Truckee, California. I had never seen the aurora before. I'll admit, I was laughing and yelling like a mad man. It was so incredible to see!!!!

"Northern Lights over Truckee 1"
My first location was above Donner Lake.

"Northern Lights over Truckee 2"
My second location was above historic Downtown Truckee, California.

Not much to say, other than WOW!!!! Thanks for looking, and I hope you all are having a great day.

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com

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