Every 4th of July, I climb back out to the same rocky overlook above Donner Lake to shoot the fireworks show. This year I brought new gear along for the hike: a Canon EOS R5 Mark II and a newer version of my go-to 24-105mm lens. I wasn't sure how much of a difference the upgrade would actually make until I got home and started going through the files.
The Fireworks Burst
The burst went off almost directly over the water, with the boats scattered across the lake picking up the color in the reflection. Shot on the R5 Mark II with the RF 24-105mm F4 L IS USM at 81mm, f/4.0, ISO 640, 6-second exposure on a tripod.
After the Show, the Milky Way Took Over
About twenty minutes after the fireworks wrapped up, I stuck around and put together a wide panorama from that same ledge — multiple frames stitched into one very high-resolution image, each shot at 24mm, f/4.0, ISO 1600, 10 seconds per frame. Once the smoke cleared, the Milky Way was right there overhead, with the lights of Donner Lake and Old Hwy 40 curling through the valley below. The final stitched file comes in at roughly 19,000 x 7,100 pixels, which is part of why it makes such a strong large print — there's an enormous amount of detail to work with.
Available as Large Fine Art Prints
Both images are available as fine art prints in canvas, metal, and framed options, in sizes well beyond what you'd find at a typical print shop. The fireworks shot has the kind of deep-black, high-contrast color that looks especially striking as a metal print, and the panorama's resolution means it can go very large — a feature wall above a fireplace or a long hallway — without losing detail. You can view sizing and order either one directly: Fireworks at Donner Lake or Old Hwy 40 At Night.
A Quick Look From the Ledge
Here's a short Reel I shot from the same spot right before the show started:
Scott Thompson is a fine art photographer based in Truckee, California, specializing in Lake Tahoe and Sierra Nevada landscapes. Prints of these images, and the rest of his Truckee-Tahoe catalog, are available at TruckeeTahoePhotos.com.
