New Lake Tahoe Photo Gallery added.

Yesterday I added a new photo gallery to my website. Well, actually I divided one gallery up into two galleries. I had a Lake Tahoe Sunsets and Sunrises gallery. Now I have a Lake Tahoe Sunsets Gallery and a separate Lake Tahoe Sunrises gallery. This is because I was getting too many images in the original gallery, a good problem to have. I've been out shooting even more Tahoe and Truckee sunrises lately, although it has been tough as the sunrise happens pretty early this time of year.  Please view the photos below for a few favorites. 

Here's a couple links to the new galleries:

Lake Tahoe Sunrise pictures

Lake Tahoe Sunset pictures

And here are some new Lake Tahoe sunrise photos and Tahoe fishing photos I've added to my website recently:

"Sunrise Fishing on Lake Tahoe 2" - This trolling fishing pole was photographed at sunrise on Lake Tahoe.  One of the motivating factors for getting up so early lately has been fishing. I have a good buddy with a fishing boat and I often get the invite. As you can see, fishing and photography go very nicely together. 

"Tahoe Fishing Boat at Sunrise" - This silhouette of a fishing boat and fishing poles was photographed at sunrise on Lake Tahoe.  The boat is my fishing buddy's boat and I have spent many hours fishing and taking pictures of Tahoe from it. The fishing boat was loaded with gear and coolers, and the silhouette worked great to hide it all. 

"Tahoe Sailboats at Sunrise" - These silhouettes of sailboats were photographed at sunrise on Lake Tahoe.  I captured this one from the dock, right as we were about to head out fishing for the day. 

"Sunrise at Lake Tahoe 7" - This sunrise was photographed from a boat on Lake Tahoe.  As we were heading out of the buoy zone, the boat was moving slow so I was able to capture a few photos of a fiery but near cloudless sunrise. 

"Sunrise at Lake Tahoe 6" - This sunrise was photographed from a boat on Lake Tahoe.   Taken at about the same time as the photo above, I zoomed out to the widest angle my 24-105 mm lens could go. I like this one a lot for the simple and abstract feel to it. 

I've previously written a bit of a "how to" when it comes to photography from a small fishing boat on Tahoe. You can view the post here:  Fishing and Photography on Lake Tahoe  If you have any technical questions about the subject, please feel free to ask in the comments area below. Thank you!

-Scott Thompson

The images above are available at Fine Art Prints, Gift Items, and as Stock Photography. Please click on an image to view it larger and for purchasing info. All of the Scott Shot's Tahoe area photographs can be found in the Lake Tahoe and Truckee Areas gallery collection. 

New Photos of my Photos... Published in Print

Many of my photographs have been published in different magazines, newspapers, and marketing materials over the years. And for a long time now, photographing those photos used in print has been on my to-do list. Recently, I finally collected a bunch of them, set up my studio, and went to work. It's not everything that has ever been published but I think the new Photos Published in Print portfolio on my website gives good examples of how my images can be used in print:

Photos Published in Print - Images by Scott Thompson

The Scott Shots Photography website has tons of Tahoe, Truckee, and other area stock photography available to license, download, and publish right now like in the examples above. You don't even have to talk to me if you don't want to. Just click on an image you like, click "add to cart", and if it is available as stock photography, you'll see a "downloads" option. Here you can set your terms of use and my price will be instantly calculated for you. Purchase online with a credit card and the image is yours to use under the agreed terms.

Custom photography for your business is also available. I shoot advertising and marketing photos for business's websites, magazine and newspaper ads, press releases, and promotional products. Showrooms, store fronts, products, employees, completed projects, and business events are the type of photos I usually shoot for business owners or for their marketing team. Please view my Photography Services page for my rates and a bunch of examples of photos I've shot for businesses. I tend to work in the North Tahoe and Truckee area but I will travel, talk to me....

-Scott Thompson

(Please notice the list of Stock Photography links on the right hand side of this blog. My Tahoe area stock photography and Truckee stock photography are licensed most often but as you can see, I offer many different types. If you have any questions about licensing stock photography, please comment below or contact me. Thank you!)

Total Lunar Eclipse on Winter Solstice photo 12-20-2010

It's late, my toes are still cold, but I got an incredible photo tonight of the Winter Solstice lunar eclipse. All day I thought I was going to see clouds and snow instead of the moon so I didn't bother leaving the house tonight. But I got lucky at the last minute, the clouds cleared, and I saw the whole eclipse happen from my driveway. I feel very lucky to have seen it as I have noticed on Twitter and Facebook that a lot of my photographer friends saw only clouds. It was the beautiful red color I had hoped to see. A pine tree made a good foreground and it helps show the actual color of the moon is indeed a reddish orange. Well, here it is:

"Total Lunar Eclipse on Winter Solstice 2" This very special total lunar eclipse was photographed on 12-20-2010 in the Tahoe Donner area of Truckee, CA. 

CLICK HERE to view print purchasing options or to license, download, and use the image right now.


UPDATE:

Wow, this image has gone viral and has quickly become the most viewed image on my website. A big THANK YOU to everyone who shared it or "liked" it.

I've been asked for the technical information on the shot, here it is:

Photographed at 11:52 pm pacific, on a Canon 5D Mark II with a 100-400 lens set to 400mm. The camera was on a tripod, using mirror lock up and a shutter release cable. Settings were ISO 800, aperture set to f16, and it was a 4 second exposure. I used a flash set to manual, full power, to light up the snowy pine tree a bit. Processed with Adobe Raw, with minimal and normal adjustments, the eclipsed moon really was that red.

Tip: I found that any exposure longer than 4 seconds did not work well. The moon moved too much and it looked blurry.

If you have any other questions about the photo, please feel free to ask!


More photos of the eclipse:

Lunar Eclipse on Winter Solstice Gallery - Images by Scott Thompson

How my Motorola Droid smart phone makes me a better photographer.

I love my Motorola Droid! AT&T has poor reception where I live in Tahoe so an iphone is out of the question, Verizon has the best as far as I've experienced. A few months ago, I stepped into the world of smart phones and I couldn't be happier with my decision. I feel that my Droid has been one of my greatest new additions to my camera bag, it has proven to be an incredible tool that has helped me get more great photos than I would have without it. My favorite Droid apps that I feel help make me a better photographer are (all free, just search the titles in the Droid app Market) :

Google Maps- I feel like I have a helicopter's view of what's around me when 4x4ing the Tahoe trails. "Oh, there's a small lake right over there I didn't know about and would have never seen from the trail!"  I don't always get reception out there but I am often surprised at how often I do. 

Maps (-) - This app lets you view and save maps when you do have reception, then you can bring up that map when you don't have reception.  Bye bye paper maps.

Google Sky Map- You can judge where the sun and moon will rise long before they do. Great for picking out a location when shooting the sunrise or moonrise. I feel like I can look into the future.

GPS Status- You can tag your gps location and email a link to yourself containing the google maps location. Great for sharing location info on blogposts later. (see previous blogpost about the Tufas of Mono Lake)

MoonPhase- A widget that shows what phase the moon will be on every day for the next month. Great for planning full moon shoots.

SunMoon- Computes the rise and set times for the sun and moon based on your gps location. Another great tool for shooting the sunrise, moonrise, and sunset.

The Weather Channel app - 10 day, 36 hour, and hourly local and far away forecasts in my pocket. Many benefits to this one.

Camera- I like taking a picture of my real camera or a self portrait next to my real camera with nice scenery in the background and posting on Facebook while out in the field. I like to think it gets my "fans" and friends curious about what the final images I upload to my website will look like. (see photo below)

DroidLight- LED flashlight app. I've gone out on hikes thinking I'll be back before sunset. Then I decided to shoot the sunset. This one has helped me get back to my truck when I didn't plan ahead properly.

ScannerRadio- Police and Fire scanner. I actually don't use this one as the closest city on the app to me is Reno. But I see how it could be a great tool for photo journalists looking to be first on a scene.

SmartPark- You can tag the location of your car. This is great when 4x4ing way out there and then hiking way away from your vehicle.

Google Translate and aCurrency- Great while traveling. Know what you're saying and spending while shooting in far away lands.

So, my only complaint about the Droid is I can't find a model release app. Anybody out there know of one? The iphone has one...

Also, if you have any apps to add to the list, I'd love to hear about them, iphone or Android. Please leave a comment. 

Self Portrait shot with a Motorola Droid. 

Scott Thompson's Bio

Scott Thompson, born 1976 in Van Nuys, California, has always had a love of art. His formal training began at Humboldt State University, where he took many drawing and painting courses. Later he moved to San Diego, where he was given an old Olympus OM-1 by his grandfather. Scott decided to take a black and white photography course at Mesa College and was immediately hooked. He started working at a camera store and continued to take courses in photography. Scott has also served time in a 1-hour photo lab, worked as a resort portrait photographer, and has done some band photography while living in L.A.

Currently, Scott is living in Truckee, after moving there April 2002 with his wife and son to live the mountain lifestyle. Living there has allowed nature photography to become his primary art focus. He loves to get out and explore the beauty the Tahoe area has to offer.

Scott Thompson photographs with a variety of cameras and film. With one of his methods, he uses his Canon EOS3 and Fuji Velvia 35mm slide film. His film is processed by a professional lab and sent back to Scott where he takes it to his digital darkroom. This is where Scott becomes what has been called a hybrid photographer. Meaning he mixes traditional shooting with digital printing. Scott scans his film into the computer by using a Canon Canoscan FS4000US run by VueScan software. Next he color corrects the image in Adobe Photoshop to match the original transparency as best as possible.

Scott’s newest method is purely digital. Scott owns and uses a Canon 1DS Mark III, a 21.1 mega pixel digital camera. Even though Scott has mostly gone digital, he still tries to keep a traditional look and feel to his photographs and prints. Scott prints on an Epson Stylus Pro 9600, one of Epson’s 44” wide archival inkjet printers. The paper he uses for his limited edition prints is a fine art, 100% cotton, and acid free paper.