Oh what a year it has been! I added many new images to my archive. I was incredibly busy with commercial and Real Estate photography. I had a great summer selling prints at the Vista Gallery. And I recently bought a new camera. Thank you to everyone who has hired me, bought prints, and shared and liked my photos on social media. You have helped make this a great year for me.
Here are my top 10, in order that they were shot:
1. I finally caught a double rainbow! The weather was perfect for rainbows this day, I kept seeing a single rainbow and I got many photos of it. But while shooting Downtown Truckee, suddenly a double rainbow appeared and gave me this incredible scene:
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| "Double Rainbow Above Downtown Truckee" - Photograph of an intense double rainbow above a snowy historic Downtown Truckee, California. |
2. It's always a tough choice when it comes to picking a spot to shoot a sunset on Donner Summit. There are tons of photo opportunities up there. This day, I decided to shoot this old stump instead of shooting under Rainbow Bridge. Boy am I glad I did!
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| "Donner Lake Sunrise 13" - Photograph of a vibrant sunrise above Donner Lake and Rainbow Bridge with a old dead stump in the foreground. |
3. and 4. Two of my favorites were shot at the same location, a couple days apart. The Camas at Sagehen Meadows is always a fun spot to shoot in the spring if the wildflowers bloom big. This year I got out for some night/sunrise fun with a couple photographer friends. Then, when it started snowing a couple days later, I got out again for one of my all time favorite images. When I look at the snowy, soft, abstract scene, I feel at peace.
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| "Sagehen Meadow at Night 1" - Photograph of the Camas wildflowers at Sagehen Meadows, near Truckee, California at night. |
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| "Snowy Sagehen Meadows 2" - This field of Camas wildflowers was photographed during a snow storm at Sagehen Meadows, near Truckee, California. |
5. Photography is my fav, but fishing is another way I love to spend my time. Just about every year I participate in the Jake's on the Lake charity fishing derby. This year there was a little smoke in the air. Mix that with a sunrise on Lake Tahoe and you get this:
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6. OK, now this was a fun one to shoot. I knew I was getting something special. Lake Tahoe's water level rose and flooded some of the lupine along the shoreline. The lupine are always a favorite for Tahoe photographers but this is a look you don't see often.
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7. Who doesn't love fireworks?! This was shot from near the fire lookout above Kings Beach, Lake Tahoe. The Vista Gallery, where I sell my prints out of, can be seen in this shot.
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| "Kings Beach Fireworks 1" - Photograph of the 4th of July fireworks show above Kings Beach, Lake Tahoe. |
8. Where's Waldo? Or, Tony Spiker anyway... This was an incredible sunset that I captured by taking many photos and stitching them together in Photoshop in order to create a panoramic format that can be printed LARGE. Bonus, my friend Tony is in the photo, getting his own shot. You might have to click on the image and view it on my website in order to find him...
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9. Aspens and Lake Tahoe! I was introduced to this location this year, I have a feeling I'll be back. It was a great year for the aspen fall colors and when you have a background like that, you can't go wrong.
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10. New toys! Well really it's a tool for work but it still feels like a new toy. I recently purchased a Canon 5D SR. It's one of Canon's 50.6 megapixel cameras and I'm loving it. I haven't had time to get too many landscape images with it yet but here's one, a long exposure during windy/wavy conditions. I really look forward to getting many new images with this camera in 2017.
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Cheers to 2016! May 2017 be even better!
-Scott Thompson
The images above are available as large fine art prints or as stock photography. Please click on an image to view it on my website and for purchasing options.
