Happy New Year! My Top 10 Photos Of 2022

It's been a busy busy year. For landscape photography, art sales, and with the commercial photography side of my business. It's been great!

It's also been a couple years since I've done a top 10 post. But so many new images were shot this year, I was feeling inspired. These aren't necessarily my best performing images on social media, or my new best sellers. These are my personal favorites that bring the biggest smile to my face when I look at them.

The photos are numbered, I'm curious, which one is your favorite?

1. "Boca Reservoir Ice 2" - Sunrise photograph of ice on a frozen over Boca Reservoir in Truckee, California. This one was a bit sketchy. The ice was thick enough but it sure didn't look like it as it had broken up then refroze.

2. "Icy Eagle Falls 8" - Photograph of frozen and flowing water at Eagle Falls above Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe in the winter. Another sketchy photography adventure. I needed my ice crampons to get down to the bottom of of these falls. Not an easy shot but I loved the results!

3. "Donner Lake Sunrise 31" - Sunrise photograph of sheets of ice piled up along the shoreline of Donner Lake in Truckee, California. More ice! But a lot safer. It was slippery but at least I didn't have to worry about falling down a icy waterfall.

4. "Sunset at Lake Tahoe 48" - Wide angle panoramic photograph of a colorful pink sunset and a bench above Lake Tahoe. I was so happy I decided to stop and hike to this bench after a real estate photography shoot. Not bad for an unplanned shoot!

5. "Lupine Sunset 9" Photograph of a large lupine wildflower field and an incredible sunset in Tahoe City, California. Ah, the lupine. When lake water levels are low, the lupine around the shorelines can bloom big. This year was a very BIG year for them. And I was lucky to catch this big pink cloud at sunset with the purple lupine. All the other photographers who where there left very happy that evening.

 6. "Lupine at Prosser Reservoir 5" - Sunset photograph of lupine wildflowers along the shoreline and in the water at Prosser Reservoir, near Truckee, California.
A smaller different type of lupine at a smaller nearby lake. The water had risen after they bloomed, creating a very cool look to the flowers at sunset.

7. "Fireworks at Donner Lake 6" - Panoramic photograph of Independence Day fireworks at Donner Lake in Truckee, California. A favorite spot at a favorite time of year. Donner Lake fireworks shows are always great! And usually quite photogenic too.

 8. "Donner Lake Sunset 63" - Sunset photograph of boulders and plants above Donner Lake and Truckee, California. Quill dog was with me for this little photo adventure. It was a beautiful sunset and some little flowers blooming made it a little better.

9. "Full Moon Over Star Lake" - Panoramic photograph of the full moon and stars above Star Lake, located on the Tahoe Rim Trail near South Lake Tahoe. What a fun adventure this trip was! Shot during an overnight backpacking adventure with a couple friends. 25 miles with the backpack and camera gear was tough, but totally worth it.

10. "Downtown Truckee 90" - Sunrise photograph of historic Downtown Truckee covered in snow during the holidays. Many new snowy Christmasy photos were shot this year. Here's a favorite, but if you like more Christmas lights and decorations, check some out some of my other recent blog posts...

Unfortunately, I can not embed one of my slideshows here. However, if you would like to see these images full screen, please follow this Scott Shots Photography top 10 slideshow link. All the images above can be purchased as prints and as gift items through my website, just follow the link under the images, the click "add to cart" for info.

As always, thank you for looking! I hope you have enjoyed seeing my photos and adventures this past year. I hope to share many many more in 2023. CHEERS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

More New Snowy Truckee Photos

Life has been busy lately, I almost forgot to share these new photos.

The image below was shot a few days ago right after the big snowstorm that we had. Yup, it's another Downtown Truckee photo... Yes, I shoot a lot of images of Truckee, California. It's where I live and it's a tourist town so I sell lots of prints as souvenirs at Gallery 5830'. I also license these images as stock photography to local businesses. In fact, our local Chamber of Commerce has already licensed this new image below and it was in their email newsletter this morning, woohoo!

Prior to the photo above, I took a 5:30 am walk with the camera in the little main area of Historic Downtown Truckee. I had posted some Christmas photos of Truckee a few days ago but they had a lot less snow in the images. These new photos are of Truckee with a proper fresh coat of snow.

It was looking incredible out!!!

Today, I did some rearranging of artwork on the walls of Gallery 5830'. The little prints on the left wall are brand new. 8"x12" metal prints that are ready to hang and are reasonably priced. One of the cool things I like about this gallery is that they accept certain crypto currencies for payment.

We've been trying to display more winter images for the holidays, there are plenty on the wall now. Tonight is the last "Festive Fridays" in Downtown Truckee. The gallery will be open late and I will be there, enjoying the holiday fun!

Thank you for looking and I hope you are all having a great day. Enjoy the weekend. CHEERS!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

Last Night In Downtown Truckee, California - New Photos

When the snow started falling last night, I headed to Downtown Truckee for some Christmas photography fun. Truckee is the perfect little Christmas town, the lights, snow, and historic buildings make it feel like a scene out of a Hallmark movie. Large snowflakes mixed with the downtown lights are a favorite subject matter of mine. Unfortunately, on the drive down the snow started letting up and the sky was more clear than I had hoped for. No problem though, I was still super happy with the way things were looking and I ended up with a few new "keeper" photos.

All of these were shot on a Canon 5DS R and with either a 24-105mm lens (tripod used) or with a 16-35mm lens (handheld). The handheld shots were at a very high ISO, and the tripod shots were about 6 - 10 second long exposures. No filters or flash units were used.

Of course, I had to capture some new images of Gallery 5830', where I sell my prints. They are going to be building a fresh new website soon so I have been trying to get them some cool new images...

Thank you for looking, I hope you all have a great weekend! We are supposed to get a big snowstorm this weekend, my fingers are crossed in hopes that it's true and not just hype... Cheers!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

Printing And Stretching A Canvas Print

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I received another print order recently, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to share some of the production steps of a canvas print. I print these canvas print personally, on an Epson 9900, here in Truckee, California.

Prior to printing on canvas, I need to add a 2 inch mirrored edge to the image, this is the part that will fold over the wood stretcher bars. I then print it out on the Epson 9900, it can produce prints up to 44 inches wide and quite a bit longer which is perfect for making 40x60 inch prints. This Long Lake sunset print is 20x60 inches.

This print order is for a coated canvas. I paint on a glossy UV/water resistant coating. It turns rather hazy after it is painted on, but then it dries clear and looks incredible. Two coats are applied with about two hours of drying time between the coats.

Here's the tools required to use the type of stretcher bars that I prefer. They are a little different than most stretcher bars, they come pre-cut and ready to assemble. The wood is kiln dried poplar, which makes for a very sturdy stretcher bar that won't warp over time.

All of my prints that are size 16"x20" or bigger are part of a limited edition. They come numbered and with a certificate of authenticity.

Here's the finished product! I delivered this one personally today here in Truckee, but shipping is of course available.

This photo was actually shot while hanging out with @jarvie when he was in town. It was a fun and productive visit. Here's the original post about this image: "a-long-panorama-of-long-lake-last-night's-sunset" And here's the un-cropped version of the photo:

Currently, my work is available at Gallery 5830' in Downtown Truckee, at Art Obsessions Gallery in Reno, Nevada, and at The Genoa Gallery in Genoa, Nevada. Big and small prints are available at all three galleries. And of course, prints can be ordered through my website as well.

I hope you enjoyed that little behind-the-scenes look at a Scott Shots print production, and I hope you all have a great weekend!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com