Photography and Ice Fishing Adventure

New YouTube Video! Sunrise over Donner Lake photography, followed by ice fishing up above Truckee, California. 

Here's the photo I got at sunrise:

Thanks for watching. Have a great day!

-Scott Thompson

 ScottShotsPhoto.com

Last Night's Dud of a Sunset...

Last night's Donner Lake sunset was forecasted to be a decent one. But it was not, it was a dud...

The SkyFire app is often correct when it comes to predicting the amount of color that will show up in the sky at sunrise or sunset. It's not a perfect science, and last night it let me down. There was no color at all. I stuck around later than I usually do, hoping for some late color to the sky, but nope. Oh well. I decided to shoot some "blue hour" photos, hoping to get something in return for my efforts of cross-country skiing out there and putting up with the cold temperatures.

Success! At least I think so. What do you think? Do you like this blue, monotone look to the image?

Shot with a Canon 5DS R and a 24-105mm lens. The camera's ISO was 50, the lens aperture was f/18, and it was a 30 second exposure. One graduated neutral density filter was used on the front of the lens, and a tripod was also used.

Yeah, I might have been smiling a bit bigger if there was more orange and yellow color to the sky, but I was still pretty happy anyway. It was good to be out!

Thank you for looking and I hope you are all having a great day, even if it isn't going exactly as planned...

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

Lat Night's Sunset Above Donner Lake

Well... It was not an easy cross-country ski out to this spot yesterday, above Donner Lake and Truckee, California. The snow was frozen and fairly solid on top, but it was easy to break through that crust and it was soft and powdery underneath. This meant that the skiing was incredibly difficult. I tried taking the skis off and walking but I was sinking in up to my knees, and it was even harder. I almost gave up and went back to the car, but I needed the exercise so I kept on fighting through it. When I got to a favorite overlook spot, I was sweaty and underdressed for the windy conditions. Brrrr.... But it was worth it, the sunset ended up being a beautiful one!

Shot with a Canon 5DS R and a 24-105mm lens. This is a stitched panoramic photo. About 22 vertical photos were stitched together to create one very wide angle image. The ISO for each photo was 200, the lens aperture was f/20, and each exposure was .8 of a second long. A tripod was used, and a graduated neutral density filter was used on the front of the lens.

That's a fake smile above, lol! The color hadn't fired off in the sky yet and I was so COLD! The uphill fight back to my car warmed me back up, and when I eventually saw the photos on the computer monitor, I did end up having a genuine smile :)

Thanks for looking and I hope you are all having a nice and warm day!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

Sunset Shoot At Coldstream Pond

This evening, I got out for a little backcountry cross-country ski with Martin of MVB Coaching at Donner Lake and a frozen over Coldstream Pond. The sunset was better than expected, and fortunately, I had packed my camera. Okay, I almost always pack my camera when I head outdoors... But I'm glad I did because we ended up with some unexpected very nice photos!

Martin gave me my first cross-country ski lesson last year and I immediately fell in love with the sport. Being able to get out there further and faster with the camera has been great.

These were all shot with the Canon 5DS R and a 24-105mm lens. Handheld photos, a flash was used in order to lighten up Martin and to make sure he wasn't a silhouette. The ISO was 1000, the lens aperture was f/8, and it was 1/200 of a second long exposure.

Yup, I was happy to be out there and happy with the photos I was capturing!

Thanks for looking and I hope you all had a great day too.

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

Another Beautiful Icy Day At Donner Lake!

my mind? Ice!!! And cross-country skiing!

I waited until after lunch to get out there in hopes that it would warm up a touch. It did. It was about 22°F when I headed out. I was incredibly excited as it was my first day back on the cross-country skis since last winter. I also tossed the camera in my backpack, just in case I saw anything "cool".

I did see something very cool! The shallow water in the area below had frozen overnight, and frost had built up on it. It was a great look and as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to capture it.

These were both shot with the Canon 5DS R and a 24-105mm lens. They were also both handheld shots, no tripod or lens filters.

I was loving the look and feeling creative, so I decided to get a little video too.

Here's a couple more cell phone photos to show you the shoreline a bit more. They aren't for printing big like the photos above, but it gives a nice "behind the scenes" look.

Yup! A happy photographer once again! A good afternoon on the skis, and some good keeper photos as well.

Thanks for looking, and I hope you all had a great day too!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com