New Fun Las Vegas Photos!

I recently had a great time visiting my son Kane where he now lives - Las Vegas, Nevada! We went on many little adventures around the Vegas area, one of the evenings we hit the strip, of course. And I, of course, brought my camera...

Kane watched my back while I got into photography mode, where I am able to shoot and completely ignore the thousands of people around me. Thank you, Kane!

ICM (intentional camera movement) is my technique of choice when around bright fun city lights. There are millions of regular photos of the strip out there, I wanted to capture something somewhat different.

These photos below were shot with a Canon R5 Mark II and a 24-105mm lens. The camera's ISO was 50, the lens aperture was around f/5.0, and the photos were about a half a second long. The longer exposure allows me time to zoom the lens in or out, and move the camera a bit. When dialed in, it can create an artsy acid trip look that I have a great time shooting. And I love the way these look as large fine art prints.

They are all currently available as prints and photo gift items on my website: www.truckeetahoephotos.com/las-vegas-lights-gallery

Thank you for looking, I hope you enjoyed seeing these as much as I enjoyed shooting them!

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

New Snowy Wildflower Photo (and a Lake Tahoe shot)

There was some wild weather up here in Tahoe yesterday. My brother was in town, and we got out for some Lake Tahoe shoreline hiking and photography fun. It was beautiful out! Until it wasn't... The wind, rain, then snow came in fast and seemingly out of nowhere. Tragically, some boats capsized on the lake and about six people lost their lives (the news story).

This is how the lake look prior to the bad weather. When it started getting windy and rainy, we hiked back to our car.



On our drive back home, it started snowing! I asked my brother to turn up a rough road that I knew went up to a very high elevation. The snow was actually sticking to the ground up there. We went to a Mule Ears wildflower grove that I know about. The flowers were in bloom, and they were covered in a thin layer of snow. Perfect! I got out the camera and went to work. This shot below was my favorite.

Shot with a Canon R5 MarkII and a 24-105mm lens, set at 43mm. It was a handheld shot so the shutter speed was fast, 1/200 of a second. The lens aperture was as small as it could be so I could get the best depth of field as possible, f/22. This led to the ISO being a bit higher than I usually prefer, ISO 2000.

Now available as large fine art prints on my website, HERE.

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

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

New Book Release! - Docks of Donner Lake

I've been working hard the last couple of years, compiling a collection of images of the "Docks of Donner Lake". I finally completed the book, and it is now available on Amazon!

The book is a photographic study of the docks along the north shore of Donner Lake in Truckee, California. Here is a little look at the book.

10"x8" image wrap hard cover, 53 pages, premium paper, photo paper finish. Printed by Blurb, sold through Amazon.

ORDER "Docks Of Donner Lake" ON AMAZON.COM, CLICK HERE

I'm very excited about this! Thank you for looking!

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

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?

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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.