Top 10 photos of 2024

2024 has been a busy, productive, and great year! I purchased a new camera and a variety of lenses a few months ago, a Canon R5 Mark II. I've really been enjoying the new gear, both for commercial photography work, and for the landscape photography that is my true passion. The images are incredibly sharp, and I really like the reduced digital noise at higher ISOs.

Quite a few new landscape photos were shot. I just went through them all and decided that these are my top 10 favorites of the year. Not necessarily the most popular shots, but images that I personally like best. Let me know what one is your favorite!

Top 10 Photos of 2024, In the order they were shot:

"Icy Donner Lake 3" - Photograph of a ice and frost along the shoreline of Donner Lake in Truckee, California.

"Snowy Truckee River 14" - Snowy morning photograph of the Truckee River, in Downtown Truckee, California.

"Milky Way Above Donner Lake 7" - Nighttime photograph of the Milky Way above Rainbow Bridge and Donner Lake, in Truckee, California.

"Downtown Truckee 109" - Spring photograph after a storm of a snowy Downtown Truckee, California.

"Northern Lights Over Truckee 1" - Photograph of the aurora borealis, or Norther Lights, over Donner Lake and Truckee, California.

"Sunset at Boca Reservoir 10" - Sunset photograph of a beautiful sunset and it's reflection at Boca Reservoir in Truckee, California.

"Aspens Above Lake Tahoe 20" - Sunset photograph of yellow and orange aspen trees in the Fall at a grove above Lake Tahoe.

"Black Bear at Taylor Creek 6" - This black bear was photographed with a Kokanee Salmon in it's mouth at Taylor Creek in South Lake Tahoe.

"Downtown Truckee 117" - Photograph of a Christmas Tree and the Train Depot in Downtown Truckee, California.

"Donner Lake Morning 25" - Early morning photograph of fog in the trees and it's reflection at Donner Lake in Truckee, California.

There you have it. Many more photos were shot that I loved, but these were my favorite. Again, which one is your favorite? Thank you for looking and cheers to 2025!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com

All of these are available as fine art prints, gift items, or to license as stock photography.

Happy New Year! My Top 10 Photos Of 2022

It's been a busy busy year. For landscape photography, art sales, and with the commercial photography side of my business. It's been great!

It's also been a couple years since I've done a top 10 post. But so many new images were shot this year, I was feeling inspired. These aren't necessarily my best performing images on social media, or my new best sellers. These are my personal favorites that bring the biggest smile to my face when I look at them.

The photos are numbered, I'm curious, which one is your favorite?

1. "Boca Reservoir Ice 2" - Sunrise photograph of ice on a frozen over Boca Reservoir in Truckee, California. This one was a bit sketchy. The ice was thick enough but it sure didn't look like it as it had broken up then refroze.

2. "Icy Eagle Falls 8" - Photograph of frozen and flowing water at Eagle Falls above Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe in the winter. Another sketchy photography adventure. I needed my ice crampons to get down to the bottom of of these falls. Not an easy shot but I loved the results!

3. "Donner Lake Sunrise 31" - Sunrise photograph of sheets of ice piled up along the shoreline of Donner Lake in Truckee, California. More ice! But a lot safer. It was slippery but at least I didn't have to worry about falling down a icy waterfall.

4. "Sunset at Lake Tahoe 48" - Wide angle panoramic photograph of a colorful pink sunset and a bench above Lake Tahoe. I was so happy I decided to stop and hike to this bench after a real estate photography shoot. Not bad for an unplanned shoot!

5. "Lupine Sunset 9" Photograph of a large lupine wildflower field and an incredible sunset in Tahoe City, California. Ah, the lupine. When lake water levels are low, the lupine around the shorelines can bloom big. This year was a very BIG year for them. And I was lucky to catch this big pink cloud at sunset with the purple lupine. All the other photographers who where there left very happy that evening.

 6. "Lupine at Prosser Reservoir 5" - Sunset photograph of lupine wildflowers along the shoreline and in the water at Prosser Reservoir, near Truckee, California.
A smaller different type of lupine at a smaller nearby lake. The water had risen after they bloomed, creating a very cool look to the flowers at sunset.

7. "Fireworks at Donner Lake 6" - Panoramic photograph of Independence Day fireworks at Donner Lake in Truckee, California. A favorite spot at a favorite time of year. Donner Lake fireworks shows are always great! And usually quite photogenic too.

 8. "Donner Lake Sunset 63" - Sunset photograph of boulders and plants above Donner Lake and Truckee, California. Quill dog was with me for this little photo adventure. It was a beautiful sunset and some little flowers blooming made it a little better.

9. "Full Moon Over Star Lake" - Panoramic photograph of the full moon and stars above Star Lake, located on the Tahoe Rim Trail near South Lake Tahoe. What a fun adventure this trip was! Shot during an overnight backpacking adventure with a couple friends. 25 miles with the backpack and camera gear was tough, but totally worth it.

10. "Downtown Truckee 90" - Sunrise photograph of historic Downtown Truckee covered in snow during the holidays. Many new snowy Christmasy photos were shot this year. Here's a favorite, but if you like more Christmas lights and decorations, check some out some of my other recent blog posts...

Unfortunately, I can not embed one of my slideshows here. However, if you would like to see these images full screen, please follow this Scott Shots Photography top 10 slideshow link. All the images above can be purchased as prints and as gift items through my website, just follow the link under the images, the click "add to cart" for info.

As always, thank you for looking! I hope you have enjoyed seeing my photos and adventures this past year. I hope to share many many more in 2023. CHEERS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

My Top 10 Tahoe Area Photos of 2020

I shot many photo this year but I do believe it was a lot less than last year. Print sales have been great and I now sell out of two galleries. Art Obsessions in Reno, Nevada and Art Truckee in Downtown Truckee, California.  Despite this year's challenges, things have been going pretty well.

Here are my favorite top 10 images that I shot in 2020, in the order that they were shot:

 

1. I'll start with a couple puppy photos. It's not my usual subject matter but early in the year my family brought this little guy home and wow, has he taken up a lot of time... We love him and he's modeled for me many times now.

1. "Puppy in Snowy Sagehen Meadows 5" - Photograph of a Golden Retriever puppy "Quill" playing in the snow and Camas wildflowers at Sagehen Meadows, a little north of Truckee, California.

 

2. Here's another shot of Quill below. This image ended up as a cover shot on the August 2020 issue of Tahoe Weekly.

2. "Puppy Above Lake Tahoe 2" - Photograph of Golden Retriever puppy "Quill" above Lake Tahoe.

3. Boca Reservoir is a nearby spot that I brought the pup to many times over the spring and summer. This year, the little lupine wildflowers at the lake bloomed bigger than I had ever seen at the reservoir. Add and nice sunset and BAM! I love this shot.

3. "Lupine at Boca Reservoir Sunset 3" - Photograph of Lupine wildflowers growing along the shore at Boca Reservoir in Truckee, California.

 

4. I am very excited about a new art gallery in Reno, Nevada that I am selling prints out of, Art Obsessions.  I know, Reno is technically not Tahoe, but it my nearest city where I do much of my shopping. 

It was a tough year for my friends to open a gallery... but the new shopping center and gallery are looking great and all the restaurants and other shops should be open in a few months. The photo below is the Rancharrah mansion, it is the "backdrop" to the shopping center, you can see the mansion from the shopping center's courtyard.

4. "Rancharrah Sunset 2" - Sunset photograph of the famous Rancharrah mansion in Reno, Nevada.

5. I love this Nevada shaped horse corral, it is located very near the Art Obsessions gallery. In fact, this sunset shot below was shot on the same evening as the Rancharrah sunset photo above. I was able to hop in the car and drive up to this spot before the amazing colors of this sunset disappeared. Downtown Reno can be seen in the distant left and the Rancharrah mansion can be seen in the right of the photo.

5. "Reno, Nevada Sunset 1" - Photograph of a Nevada shaped horse corral and Reno, Nevada shot at sunset.

 

6. I had a lot of fun with shooting abstracts in Reno and Truckee this year. This is a new temporary neon sign in Truckee that made for a great subject matter.

6. "Truckee Lights 1" - Photograph of the Truckee sign outside of Moody's Bistro Bar and Beats in Downtown Truckee, California. The abstract effect was obtained in camera by long exposure mixed with intentional camera movement.

7. Yup, I also had fun shooting abstracts of the fall colors up here in the Tahoe area. This one was my favorite of what I captured. My son wanted a canvas print of this one for his college dorm. Done, it looks great as a print!

7. "Autumn Abstract 1" - Photograph of Aspen trees at Paige Meadows, near Lake Tahoe in the fall. The abstract effect is achieved by intentional camera movement while hand holding the camera.

8. This is a spot I've driven by many many times over the last 18 years. I finally stopped and got some photos of it this fall. I'm glad I did! This one is another one that should look great as a very large print.

8. "Truckee River in Autumn 32" - Photograph of the Truckee River in the fall, shot off of Hwy 80, in California, just west of Nevada.

9. Fall is a great time of year for photography. The yellow and orange foliage makes for attention grabbing subject matter. Mix that with a little fresh snow and YES! I love how this photo turned out. The contrasting colors really make my eyes happy.

9. "Donner Lake in Autumn 15" - Photograph of fall foliage, snow, and a dock along the shore of Donner Lake in Truckee, California.

10. I'm finishing off the top ten list with this snowy Christmas photo in Downtown Truckee, California. It's an incredible location for photography during the holidays, Truckee really goes all out with the lights. It's tricky shooting in these kind of heavy snowy conditions but so worth it when you get a shot like the one below.

10. "Snowy Christmas Tree in Truckee 12" - Photograph of a snow-covered Christmas tree at night, during a snowstorm, in Historic Downtown Truckee, California.

Thank you for checking out my top 10 photos of 2020 list. I know it's been a tough year for many people, I hope you were all able to have a few highlights and beautiful moments in order to make things a bit easier. 

Happy Hew Year and Cheers to 2021!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

Large canvas and metal prints are available of the images above. The images can be found on my website by clicking on the photos above. Click "add to cart" for a pricelist.

Prints can also be seen and purchased at the following locations:

• Art Obsessions art gallery in Reno, Nevada
• Art Truckee in Downtown Truckee, CA
  
• Glenshire Pizza Company in Truckee, CA
• The Lift in Truckee, CA
• The Pub in Truckee, CA

My Top 10 Tahoe Area Photos of 2019

It's that time of year again! Always an interesting time of year for me, when I look back on all the Tahoe area photos I've shot in the last year and I choose my favorite 10. I shot many photos this year and I had a tough time narrowing it down to 10, a good problem to have.


Here they are, in order that they were shot:

1. "Eagle Falls At Emerald Bay 10" - Sunrise photograph at an icy Eagle Falls above Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe. 

Please click on the images for a larger view and click "add to cart" for a print price list.

2. "Sagehen Meadows Sunset 4" - Photograph of a vibrant sunset above Camas wildflowers and Stampede Reservoir at Sagehen Meadows.

3. "Sunset at Lake Tahoe 45" - Photograph of an orange sunset above Lake Tahoe and tiny white wildflowers growing among the boulders at Sand Harbor. 

4. "Lightning at Lake Tahoe 1" - Photograph of a lightning strike at Lake Tahoe, shot from the lifeguard chair at Sand Harbor, shortly after sunset.

5. "Fireworks at Donner Lake 5" - Photograph of the July 4th, 2019 fireworks show above Donner Lake in Truckee, California.

6. "Old Hwy 40 At Night" - Stitched panoramic photograph of Truckee, California and traffic on Old Hwy 40. Shot during the mass exodus after the 4th of July fireworks. The Milky Way can be seen in the sky above Donner Summit.

This photo above is my favorite photo of the year. I love how the heavy traffic lit up the road and mountainside and how Donner Summit almost looks like a volcano with the Milky Way shooting out of it. It was an unplanned shot but I'm glad I was there at the right place and right time.

7. "Downtown Truckee 67" Photograph of Historic Downtown Truckee shot at sunset from near the Cottonwood restaurant.

8. "Spawning Kokanee Salmon 1" - Underwater photograph of red Kokanee Salmon spawning in a Tahoe area river.

9. "Sunrise at Rainbow Bridge 5" - This fiery sunrise was photographed at Rainbow Bridge, also called Donner Summit Bridge, above Donner Lake and Truckee, California.

10. "Emerald Bay in Autumn 2" - Sunrise photograph of fall foliage above Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe.

Thank you for checking out my favorite Tahoe area photos of the year. I hope to have many more for you to check out in 2020. Cheers to the New Year!!!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com


Large prints of the above images are available for ordering at www.ScottShotsPhoto.com. Simply click on an image and then click "add to cart" on an image, the print price list will pop up. Thank you!

My Top 10 Tahoe Area Photos of 2018

It's that wonderful time of year again where I get to look back on my photos from this last year and decide which 10 shots were my favorite. It was a difficult year for choosing the best as I got out a ton this year and added many new photos to the archive.

Thank you everyone for your continued support, likes, loves, shares, upvotes, and print purchases.  You all make it possible for me to continue doing what I love to do.

Here are my top 10 Tahoe area photos, in the order that they were shot (click on the images to view them larger on my website)


1. Last winter, I shot a bunch of new snowy Downtown Truckee scenes that were very popular on social media. This image ended up being popular with traditional media too and was licensed for use in the Wall Street Journal. The article is HERE.

"Downtown Truckee 41" - Photograph of historic Downtown Truckee, California shot during a snow storm.

2. I've shot this awesome wavy shoreline on Lake Tahoe's east shore before. I had an idea for shooting it at night and I finally executed it! I love how the lights from the cars highlight the wavy shoreline even more. 

"Tahoe East Shore At Night 1" - Photograph of the wavy shoreline along Lake Tahoe's east shore, shot at night while cars were driving along the road.

3. It's hard to go wrong at Eagle Falls above Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe, especially when you get a nice sunset in the background with the falls flowing strong in spring.

"Eagle Falls At Emerald Bay 7" - Stitched panoramic photograph of Eagle Falls above Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe flowing strong. Shot at sunset.

4. I had a lot of fun this year "light painting". The lights from the Casinos on Tahoe's north shore and south shore made for some really fun subject matter. This was my favorite of the bunch, the Crystal Bay Club on the north shore. 

"Tahoe Lights 7" - Photograph taken at the Lake Tahoe northern state line casinos. The look was achieved by shooting a handheld long exposure and zooming the lens during the exposure.

5. I was lucky to get out backpacking a few times this summer. My favorite place to backpack to and camp at is Paradise Lake. You can probably see why it's my favorite spot in the photo below. This shot made it onto the cover of Tahoe Weekly magazine.

"Wildflowers at Paradise Lake 3" - Photograph of wildflowers and puffy clouds in the early morning at Paradise Lake.

6. One of the best sunsets I have ever seen! My photographer friend Tony Spiker shot it with me and we were saying that nobody would believe our photos because the sunset was so itense. The little bit of wildfire smoke in the air mixed with perfect sunset clouds and created this incredible scene.

"Sunset at Lake Tahoe 43" - Stitched panoramic photograph of a vibrant smokey sunset at Lake Tahoe, just north of Sand Harbor.

7. My underwater housing for my camera was used a bunch this year. I shot this arch at Whale Beach, Lake Tahoe while swimming around with the camera. So much fun!

"Boulders at Lake Tahoe 54" - Photography of a keyhole like boulder formation at Whale Beach, Lake Tahoe. Shot shortly before sunset while swimming with an underwater housing for the camera.

8. Again, I got out with my photographer friend Tony Spiker and we had some fun at an aspen grove above Lake Tahoe. We used headlamps to light up the aspen, and the Milky Way can be seen above the lake. This one will look incredible as a large print.

"Milky Way Over Lake Tahoe 5" - Night time photograph of stars and the Milky Way above an aspen grove and Lake Tahoe.

9. Over/Under shots! Like I said, that underwater housing was used a bunch this year and I had some fun getting shots of Kokanee Salmon spawning with yellow fall colors in the background. An incredible experience.

"Kokanee in the Little Truckee River 3" - Over/under photograph of Kokanee Salmon spawning in the Little Truckee River near Stampede Reservoir.

10.  Last but not least, Secret Cove! My favorite spot on Lake Tahoe for photography. Add in some fall colors on a nice sunny calm day and you get perfection! I could spend every day at this cove if I had the time...

"Secret Cove in Autumn 5" - Photograph of fall foliage along the shore at Secret Cove, Lake Tahoe.

There you have it, my top 10 Tahoe area photos for 2018. Many more photos were shot and those can be found on my website here:  Recent Work  It's been a great year of getting out there and getting the shot. I hope I can get even more photos in 2019...

If you'd like to follow along throughout the year, please follow me on these social medias: Facebook, Instagram, Steemit, Dtube.

Large canvas prints, metal prints, gift items, and image licensing available at www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

Happy Holidays! Happy New Year! Cheers! And thank you for looking and reading!

-Scott Thompson