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

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