This Morning's Donner Lake Rainbow

I could tell this morning that it was "rainbow weather". So I was keeping an eye on the sky, and wouldn't you know, I saw one! It was an incredibly bright and vibrant rainbow, I happen to be driving along Donner Lake, here in Truckee, California when it popped out. As usual, I had my camera with me so I pulled over, slapped a polarizing filter on the front of my lens, ran out to the shore, and started shooting. I ran because experience has taught me that rainbows can disappear fast. I've seen them before, got all set up, only to have them fade away right before I start clicking.

Shot with a Canon R5 MarkII and a 24-105mm lens. ISO 400, the lens aperture was f/13, and the shutter speed was 1/200 of a second. Again, a polarizing filter was on the front of the lens. They help bring out the color a bit more in rainbows. But be careful with them, they can also make rainbows disappear if the polarizer is not adjusted properly. Handheld shot, I was rushing and didn't grab the tripod or have time to set it up.

As always, prints and photo products available on my website www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com.

Thank you for looking, and I hope you all have a beautiful day out there!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com - Art
Scott Shots Photography - Services

Mule Deer, Shot Yesterday. They're Back!

I mean photographed.... Not shot... Gotta watch my words when referring to photographing wildlife.

Yesterday, I was driving to a paid shoot here in Truckee, California when this beautiful sight caught my eye. So I backed up my ride, got the camera out, and fired off a few photos. In my opinion, it was totally worth being a couple minutes late to meet up with my clients. These mule deer were very busy eating the little bit of grass and didn't mind me being close. One of them looked up for a few seconds, but went right back to eating after checking me out. We had a couple big snow storms recently, so these deer seemed happy to find a little food exposed. It's that time of year where all the deer start making their way back up here, to higher elevations. Always fun to see!

Shot, I mean photographed... with a Canon R5 Mark II and a 24-105mm lens, set at 105mm. The ISO was 200, the lens aperture was f/14, and the sutter speed was 1/200 of a second. Handheld photo, no lens filters.

As always, prints are available on my website, www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com.

Thank you for looking, and I hope you all see something cool and unexpected today!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com - Art
Scott Shots Photography - Services

Road Trip Rainbow!

On my drive back to Truckee, California from Denver, Colorado a few days ago, I was treated to this beautiful sight. It was a looong drive and it was raining for most of it. As I was getting closer to the finish line, there was a break in the storm and I was saw this colorful scene that made me pull over and fire off a few photos. Shot near Mill City, in the north western area of Nevada.

Shot with a Canon R5 MarkII and a 24-105mm lens. It was a quick, handheld shot. The ISO was 200, the lens aperture was f/11, and the shutter speed was 1/250 of a second. A polarizing filter was used on the front of the lens. Polarizers can help bring out the color a bit more in rainbows, and can create a bit more contrast and depth in the clouds. I almost always carry a polarizing filter with me, even if I am going lightweight with one body and one lens.

Oh, and no road trip would be complete without a little "drama". Flat tire! Changed it and was back on the road in about 30 minutes.

Thank you for looking and I hope you all have a great and colorful day, with no flat tires!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com - Art
Scott Shots Photography - Services

You probably know by now that large fine art prints are always available of my images and can be shipped anywhere in the world. But did you know that phone cases are available as well? It's true! Many other photo products are also available... Here't the photo on my website: "Nevada Rainbow"

New Denver, Colorado Photos

Last week, I took a little trip out to Denver, Colorado. Of course, I brought my camera on the journey. Although the visit was for other purposes, I did get a few photos while there. Fun times and lots to shoot! I'll be back...

All shot with the Canon R5 MarkII and a 24-105mm lens. I packed minimal photography gear, but the 24-105mm lens is my all around favorite lens for when I am only able to bring one. 24mm is wide enough for most wide angle situations, and the 105mm range is enough of a zoom for most situations. There were a few situations where I did wish I had a wider lens, and a bigger zoom, but again, I could only bring one.

Photographers - what is your favorite lens when you can only bring one lens with you?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Sooo... I couldn't decide which image to lead with. What was your favorite shot, if you have one?

As always, large fine art prints available! I now have a new Colorado Gallery on my website HERE.

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

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com - Art
Scott Shots Photography - Services

This Morning Along An Icy Donner Lake Shoreline

The temperature was 15°F at my place this morning. And I could see from my living room window that there was a little bit of ice on the surface of Donner Lake, along the shoreline. So I took a little walk with the camera, to see what I could find... Success!!! There were actually many little scenes like this with air bubbles trapped in the thin layer of ice on the surface of Donner Lake. I took quite a few photos. But this one happened to be my favorite, one of the last photos I shot. I've seen bubbles trapped in the ice many times, but in my opinion, it looks best when the ice is very thin, clear, and not too thick. Just like this!

"Donner Lake Morning 28"

Shot with a Canon R5 MarkII and a 15-35mm lens, set at 30mm. It was a handheld shot, no tripod. The ISO was 400, the shutter speed was 1/100 of a second with the lens image stabilizer on, and the lens aperture was f/22. A nice small aperture created the best depth of field I could get. The mountains and were still a bit out of focus despite the small aperture, because the camera was very close to the surface of the ice. Oh, and my boots were in the ice/water and I had water up over my shoelaces. Fortunately, they are quality boots and my socks did not get wet. 😁

This photo would make a very nice large print, I envision it looking best above a desk in an office. A peaceful scene to look at when feeling stressed out about all the office work that needs to be done.

Thank you for looking and I hope you all have a great weekend!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com - Art
Scott Shots Photography - Services

This Morning's Icy Donner Lake Sunrise

I try to bring my camera with me most places, even when I plan on just leaving it in the car. I really didn't have any plans to shoot this morning when I headed out to meet up with some friends for coffee. But wouldn't you know..... Sunrise ended up being a nice one so I pulled over along Donner Lake and shot this cool scene along the shoreline of Donner Lake, here in Truckee, California.

"Donner Lake Sunrise 56" (Available as prints on my website)

Shot with a Canon R5 Mark II and a 24-105mm lens, set at 24mm. The shutter speed was 1/100 of a second since it was a handheld shot, no tripod. The lens aperture was f/22, nice and small in order to get the best depth of field possible and to try to get the foreground and background in focus. And an ISO of 8,000, a high ISO was needed and a healthy amount of noise reduction was needed in post processing.

No selfies or video clips. This was a quick shoot, a few photos were shot, then I jumped back in my car and headed to my destination. But I'm happy with the unexpected shot that I got!

Thank you for looking and I hope you all have a great day, and weekend!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com

Lake Tahoe Surface Reflection Abstracts

Although it was an incredibly beautiful day yesterday, fishing on Lake Tahoe, I was struggling to find any super photogenic scenes to shoot that would make nice large prints. But at one point, the light breeze created an interesting look to the surface, and I saw some potential for some fun abstract reflection shots. I posted a wider angle view as well, so you can see where these reflections came from. And I posted a photo of the fishing rod I was using, just because I want to brag about how beautiful and incredible of a time I had out there!

Abstract prints aren't my best sellers even though they are some of my favorite photos. What do you think? Do you like these Lake Tahoe surface abstracts? And can you picture seeing them on your wall?

Shot with a Canon R5 MarkII and a Canon 100-500mm lens. The ISO was 1600, the lens aperture was f/20, and the shutter speed was 1/1000. Handheld. The abstract image were flipped upside down in editing, I shot with that in mind as I thought it would be a better look.

Here's a wide angle view of the scene, below.

Yummy! The mackinaw we caught was delicious!

Thanks for looking, and I hope you have a great day!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com

Oh, and I'm posting this room mock-up so you can image how the image would look printed big on a wall. We have a gallery here in Truckee that sells tons of large abstract paintings. I like the abstracts they exhibit, so here's my attempt at the look.

Fannette Island "Abstract" Photo

After shooting yesterday's sunrise at Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe... I hopped in the car and started heading to my buddy's house to meet up for some fishing fun. But on my way out of Emerald Bay, I looked over and saw the early morning sunlight reflecting brightly off of the water, creating a silhouette of Fannette Island. It looked incredibly cool, so I decided to turn around and see if I could capture the scene. I'm glad I did because I kind of love this shot! I don't know if it's a true abstract, but it definitely has an abstracty feel to it. And even though it looks like a black and white photo, it's actually a color shot! It's one of the only digital photos I've ever taken that I decided needed zero adjustments to it. This is a straight-out-of-the-camera photo.

Shot with the Canon R5 MarkII and a 24-105mm L lens, set at 105m. The ISO was 100, the lens aperture was f/22, and the shutter speed was 1/500 of a second. Handheld, no filters were used.

I personally think that this one would make a very cool large print in the right location. What do you think? (If you agree and are interested... Prints can be ordered HERE.)

Thank you for looking and I hope you have a great day!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com

This Morning's Emerald Bay Sunrise

I got the invite to go fishing on a friend's boat at 9am, on Lake Tahoe today. Sweet! But I had time to kill in the morning, so I decided to wake up early and drive to Emerald Bay first. The sunrise forecast wasn't looking great, but you miss all the shots you don't take. So I took the risk and was rewarded with this beautiful scene!

Shot with a Canon R5 MarkII and a 24-105mm lens, set at 24mm. The ISO was 400, the lens aperture was f/8, and the shutter speed was 1.3 seconds. A tripod and two a graduated neutral density filter were used.

And in case your wondering... No fish were caught while fishing. 😞
It was very windy out, we almost didn't launch the boat, and we didn't stay out very long. Oh well, it was still fun to get out on the water.

Thank you for looking, and I hope you have a great day!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com

Snowy Downtown Truckee, California. Shot 2-16-25

It was a beautiful morning out in Downtown Truckee, California today. Finally, we have been getting some snow again. And it was actually cold dry snow, not wet sloppy snow. This made for some very nice photogenic scenes around town. I took quite a few photos, but these two were my favorite. I also shot a little video clip of our Commercial Row in Downtown. This little strip of town has a lot of history to it.

Both photos were shot with a Canon R5 Mark II and a 24-105mm lens. Handheld, no tripod.

As always, prints and photo products of these images are available on my website www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com. Thanks for looking and I hope you are all having a great day!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com

This Morning's Cool Shot

It was another chilly morning, here in Truckee, California. The snow forecasts lately have been very wrong. We've gotten a little hear and there, but nowhere near the amounts that were predicted. The temperature forecasts have been more accurate, and that means more icicle weather!

I took a little walk across the street to Donner Lake, to see what I could see this morning. This little stream was running pretty hard, splashing, and creating some beautiful icicles. Many photos were shot, but this one caught my eye. I loved the cool tones of the ice in the shadows contrasting with the warm tones of the sunlight on the rock. What do you think? It's not a big dynamic landscape scene, but I really like these little looks at nature being beautiful on a smaller scale.

"Icicles 5"

The cluster of icicles can be seen on the far right.

Cold but happy photographer!

Yes, I'm always trying to sell more prints... which are available for ordering on my website HERE.

Thank you for looking and I hope you are all having a great weekend!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com

New Icy Abstract Photos

It's been a while since we've gotten any fresh snow here in Truckee, California. We have a little in the forecast and I'm hoping to get some new winter wonderland shots soon... However, when the weather conditions are cold and dry like they have been lately, we can often get some really cool patterns in the ice on the surface of local lakes.

Yesterday, I had some time in the morning to take a little walk along the shore of Donner Lake. These angular patterns were all along the shoreline. I was digging it, so I shot it! Simple yet kind of wild looking. What do you think? Do you like this look?

Prints available through my Donner Lake Photo Gallery. Thanks for looking!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com