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

This Morning's Sunrise Shoot At Donner Lake

I had a morning photoshoot scheduled today with Coach Martin of MVB Coaching. Martin trains athletes for marathons, cross country skiing and more. His beginner cross country ski lessons helped me get going with the sport right away. (He also does online consultations and training if you're interested...)

Last night, I looked at the Skyfire app and it was forecasting a great sunrise with lots of color. So a change in the plans was made and we decided to meet up even earlier, in the dark, and head out for about a 30 minute trek to a great view spot at Donner Lake, here in Truckee, California.

The forecast was correct! We ended up with some beautiful photos with a colorful sky and stunning scenery behind the action. Here are a few of my favorites from this morning:

Shot with a Canon 5DS R and a 24-105mm lens. A flash unit on the camera was used. No lens filters or tripod. The photo above was ISO 1000, aperture f/4.0, and 1/200 of a second. The photo below was ISO 640, aperture 7.1, and also 1/200 of a second. A decent amount of work was done to the RAW images in Photoshop in order to balance everything out.

Once we were done shooting images at the peak sunrise color, Martin found this wood chair and took a quick break. Gotta stop and smell the roses, even when you're a competitive athlete.

I thought I'd share a screenshot of the Skyfire app. As you can see, Friday morning was in the orange which means "GO SHOOT!" It's the best sunrise/sunset forecast app I've ever used. A dollar a week for the subscription adds up but for me, it's totally worth having.

Yes, that is frost on my beanie, it was chilly out. Tons of fun, good exercise, and some great photos too.

Thanks for looking and I hope you are all having a photogenic day. Cheers to the weekend!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com