My Top 10 Tahoe Area Photos of 2016

It's time for my favorite blog post of the year! Every year I look back through my archive and pick out what I feel were my top 10 photographs of the year.

Oh what a year it has been! I added many new images to my archive. I was incredibly busy with commercial and Real Estate photography. I had a great summer selling prints at the Vista Gallery. And I recently bought a new camera. Thank you to everyone who has hired me, bought prints, and  shared and liked my photos on social media. You have helped make this a great year for me.


Here are my top 10, in order that they were shot:

1.  I finally caught a double rainbow!  The weather was perfect for rainbows this day, I kept seeing a single rainbow and I got many photos of it. But while shooting Downtown Truckee, suddenly a double rainbow appeared and gave me this incredible scene:

"Double Rainbow Above Downtown Truckee" - Photograph of an intense double rainbow above a snowy historic Downtown Truckee, California.

2.   It's always a tough choice when it comes to picking a spot to shoot a sunset on Donner Summit. There are tons of photo opportunities up there. This day, I decided to shoot this old stump instead of shooting under Rainbow Bridge. Boy am I glad I did!

"Donner Lake Sunrise 13" - Photograph of a vibrant sunrise above Donner Lake and Rainbow Bridge with a old dead stump in the foreground.

3.  and  4.   Two of my favorites were shot at the same location, a couple days apart. The Camas at Sagehen Meadows is always a fun spot to shoot in the spring if the wildflowers bloom big. This year I got out for some night/sunrise fun with a couple photographer friends. Then, when it started snowing a couple days later, I got out again for one of my all time favorite images. When I look at the snowy, soft, abstract scene, I feel at peace.

"Sagehen Meadow at Night 1" - Photograph of the Camas wildflowers at Sagehen Meadows, near Truckee, California at night.

"Snowy Sagehen Meadows 2" - This field of Camas wildflowers was photographed during a snow storm at Sagehen Meadows, near Truckee, California.

5.  Photography is my fav, but fishing is another way I love to spend my time. Just about every year I participate in the Jake's on the Lake  charity fishing derby. This year there was a little smoke in the air. Mix that with a sunrise on Lake Tahoe and you get this:

"Fishing Pole at Lake Tahoe 10" - Photograph of a fishing pole at Lake Tahoe with crepuscular rays in the sky. Shot near sunrise during the annual Jake's on the Lake charity fishing derby.

6.  OK, now this was a fun one to shoot. I knew I was getting something special. Lake Tahoe's water level rose and flooded some of the lupine along the shoreline. The lupine are always a favorite for Tahoe photographers but this is a look you don't see often.

"Tahoe Lupine at Sunrise 4" - These partially submerged lupine wildflowers were photographed at sunrise at Lake Forest Beach, Lake Tahoe.

7.  Who doesn't love fireworks?! This was shot from near the fire lookout above Kings Beach, Lake Tahoe. The Vista Gallery, where I sell my prints out of, can be seen in this shot.

"Kings Beach Fireworks 1" - Photograph of the 4th of July fireworks show above Kings Beach, Lake Tahoe.

8.  Where's Waldo? Or, Tony Spiker anyway... This was an incredible sunset that I captured by taking many photos and stitching them together in Photoshop in order to create a panoramic format that can be printed LARGE. Bonus, my friend Tony is in the photo, getting his own shot. You might have to click on the image and view it on my website in order to find him...

"Tahoe Boulders at Sunset 13" - Stitched panoramic photograph taken at sunset of boulders near Hidden Beach, Lake Tahoe.

9.  Aspens and Lake Tahoe! I was introduced to this location this year, I have a feeling I'll be back. It was a great year for the aspen fall colors and when you have a background like that, you can't go wrong.

"Aspens Above Lake Tahoe 3" - Photograph of yellow, orange, red, and green fall colored aspens above a blue Lake Tahoe, taken at sunset.

10.  New toys! Well really it's a tool for work but it still feels like a new toy. I recently purchased a Canon 5D SR. It's one of Canon's 50.6 megapixel cameras and I'm loving it.  I haven't had time to get too many landscape images with it yet but here's one, a long exposure during windy/wavy conditions. I really look forward to getting many new images with this camera in 2017. 

"Tahoe Boulders at Sunset 16" - Long exposure sunset photograph of boulders along Lake Tahoe's east shore, near Hidden Beach.

Cheers to 2016! May 2017 be even better!

-Scott Thompson




The images above are available as large fine art prints or as stock photography. Please click on an image to view it on my website and for purchasing options. 

My Best Photos of Lake Tahoe, the "Best Lake in America"

I'm so not surprised, but Lake Tahoe won the title of "Best Lake in America" in a recent survey conducted by USA Today. The USA Today article with more info can be found HERE.

I absolutely love photographing Lake Tahoe. It's incredible beauty is unmatched. In celebration of it's new title of "Best Lake in America", I thought I'd post a slideshow of 200 of my best Lake Tahoe photos. Click the full screen icon on the bottom right of the slideshow for the best view. Sit back, relax, and enjoy!

-Scott Thompson

Lake Tahoe Photography - Images by Scott Thompson

The Lake Tahoe images above are available as large fine art prints, photo gift items, and to license, download, and use as stock photography. Click on an image for details. 

10 Best Photos of 2011 by Scott Thompson

It's that time of year again, where I look back and review the best images I shot over the last 365 days. 2011 was a great year for my photography business. I kept very busy shooting for clients, exhibiting in art galleries, and I added a ton of photos to the virtual galleries on my website. 

Last year I posted my best photos of 2010 and it was a very popular post. So, here are what I feel to be my ten best photos of 2011:

1)  This is a classic view of Donner Lake in the town of Truckee, California where I live. The alpenglow was incredible that evening, it was also incredibly cold shooting it:

"Alpenglow at Donner Lake 2" - This alpenglow was photographed above Donner Lake and Truckee, CA.

2)  I sell out of a gallery in Reno called the River Gallery. Every third Saturday of the month they participate in the downtown Wine Walk and I can usually be found at the gallery helping out.  Sometimes after the event I'll take a walk with my camera and have some fun:

"Downtown Reno 4" - This Reno, The Biggest Little City in the World sign was photographed in Reno, Nevada at sunset. The effect was obtained in camera by long exposure mixed with intentional camera movement.

3)  For a little while in 2011, I exhibited at a gallery in Marin, CA. I traveled there a few times for gallery events and I got this photo during one of the trips of a bridge I have fond childhood memories of.  Here's a previous blog post about the shoot - Golden Gate Bridge photos

"Golden Gate Bridge Sunrise 1" - Photograph of San Francisco's famous Golden Gate Bridge at sunrise. San Francisco can be seen in the distance.

4)  I had been out fishing all day with no real photos to speak of. But on my drive home, I pulled over and got lucky with this soft sunset on Lake Tahoe. My boot got soaked while I was lying down to shoot it but it was so worth it:

"Lake Tahoe Pebbles" - These pebbles were photographed at sunset just north of Idlewild, Lake Tahoe, CA.

5)  Captain Pete invited me onto his fishing boat many times this year and I got many great photos from the boat. But this one of the sunrise and a fishing pole is my favorite from the boat: 

"Sunrise Fishing on Lake Tahoe 2" - This trolling fishing pole was photographed at sunrise on Lake Tahoe.

6)  Everyone that sees this photo thinks it's the famous Bonsai Rock, but it's not. I found this little bonsai like tree on a boulder near Speedboat Beach. I actually got tons of great photos from my kayak in the area, here's more about Speedboat Beach on a previous blog post -  Speedboat Beach Boulders Photography

"Tahoe Boulders at Sunrise 13" - These boulders and bonsai like pine tree were photographed at sunrise near Speedboat Beach, Lake Tahoe. Photographed from a kayak.

7)  I got to experience a first this year and photographed from a hot air balloon for the organizers of the Great Reno Balloon Race. It was incredible! Here is a fun tilt shift photo I got that makes the Reno homes and the balloon look like toys. More info about this shoot can be found on this previous blog post - 2011 Great Reno Balloon Race photos

"Balloon Over Reno 2" - This hot air balloon was photographed over Reno, Nevada during the 2011 Great Reno Balloon Race. The "toy" like effect was achieved using a tilt-shift lens.

8)  And again, I got to experience another first in 2011. This time, I got to shoot from a tiny experimental class seaplane with the door removed.  A happy client decided to bonus me by flying me over Truckee and Tahoe for some photography fun. Fannette Island in Emerald Bay has been shot thousands and thousands of times but rarely do you get to see it from this angle. More about this incredible adventure can be found on this previous blog post: Lake Tahoe and Truckee Aerial Photography

"Fannette Island, Lake Tahoe Aerial" - Photograph of Fannette Island in Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe. Shot from an amphibious seaplane with the door removed. The "Tea House" can be easily seen in the photo.

9)  In 2010, I got a photo of the eclipse that happened on the winter solstice. It was incredibly popular and went viral. This year, I got a photo of the December lunar eclipse over Downtown Truckee, CA.  It didn't go as viral but I actually liked the image a lot better:

"Lunar Eclipse over Downtown Truckee, CA. 2" - Photograph of the December 10th, 2011 lunar eclipse over Downtown Truckee, California.

10)  This photo is part of an ongoing abstract series titled "Beauty at the Bottom". The series consists of photos of bottles, shot right down the mouths of the bottles. I added many new photos to the series in 2011 but this one is my favorite new one of a Partida tequila bottle. More about how this series was created can be found on this previous blog post - Beauty at the Bottom photos

"Beauty at the Bottom: Tequila Sunrise 6" - This is a photograph of a tequila bottle, shot right down inside the mouth of the bottle.

Well, there you have it, my best photos of 2011.  I hope you enjoyed them and I hope you stay connected so you can see what I'm up to in 2012.  Please look for me on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Google+.  Happy New Year!!!

-Scott Thompson

The photos above are available as fine art prints, gift items, and to license and download as stock photography. Please click on an image for a larger view and purchasing options. 

2011 Tahoe Concours d'Elegance Photography

"Tahoe Concours d'Elegance Sunset 1" - Photograph of classic wooden boats from the 2011 Tahoe Concours d'Elegance at sunset.

Last weekend I had the great experience of getting to photograph the Tahoe Concours d'Elegance for TahoeTV and the event organizers. The Concours d'Elegance is North Americas premier classic wooden boat show put on by the Tahoe Yacht Club Foundation. I've been wanting to photograph the event since I moved to Tahoe but just never made it out. I'm sure I'll be back every year now...

I was lucky to have special access to the event, which made photos like the one above possible. The event was "closed" before sunset. You can shoot the boats from outside the event, over railing for free. But you're better off paying the entrance fee and getting up close and personal with the boats. Getting up close can provide some interesting "abstract" type shots of the beautiful craftsmanship that went into the making of the boats.

"Wooden Boat on Lake Tahoe 1" - This abstract photo of a classic wood boat was taken at the 2011 Tahoe Concours d'Elegance.

"Boat Steering Wheel 1" - This classic wooden boat steering wheel was photographed at the 2011 Tahoe Concours d'Elegance.

A tilt-shift lens is a big bonus at this event. I had a ton of fun getting shots that provided a "toy boat" look. There was also a lot going on in the background at the event so blurring it out heavily with the tilt-shift lens helped simplify the shots. Below are a couple tilt-shift shots, if you click on the images, you will see a larger version that makes it easier to see the effect.

"Toy Boats at the Concours d'Elegance 2" - Photograph of classic wooden boats from the 2011 Tahoe Concours d'Elegance. The toy boat effect was achieved using a tilt-shift lens.

"Toy Boats at the Concours d'Elegance 3" - Photograph of classic wooden boats from the 2011 Tahoe Concours d'Elegance. The toy boat effect was achieved using a tilt-shift lens.

On the third and last day of shooting, I was asked to shoot the grand finale, the Roar Off! This is where many of the boats pull out of the marina and show off their speed (and noise). They have to wait to pull out past all of the buoyed boats near the shore before they can make the boats "roar". I could tell when I scouted out a location that I was not going to be happy with the shots from the shore or a dock. So... I unloaded my kayak from my truck and braved dozens of spectator and exhibitor boats to get the shot.

I would NOT recommend shooting this part of the event from a kayak. There were plenty of smart photographers shooting from ski boats but I worked with what I had. There were many boats with lots of partying going on and I felt a little vulnerable in my easy to run over kayak. But I kept looking over my shoulders and raised my paddle if I could see a boat driver was paying more attention to the wood boats than what was around him.  Big waves were also a problem when the Roar Off boats started having fun. A dry bag is a must for your gear if you do decide to shoot the event from a kayak, I got soaked. But it was worth the risk of sinking $18k in camera gear and I got many great shots like these:

"The Hornet II on Lake Tahoe" - Photograph of the Hornet II, a classic wood and aluminum Gar Wood special racing boat from the 2011 Tahoe Concours d'Elegance.

"Miss De Meanor on Lake Tahoe" - Photograph of the Miss De Meanor classic wooden boat from the 2011 Tahoe Concours d'Elegance.

Above are some of my favorites from the event. But I shot many many more. Please enjoy this slideshow below. Many more photos will be added to it in the upcoming days so check back. Thank you!

-Scott Thompson

2011 Tahoe Concours d'Elegance - Images by Scott Thompson

All of the images above are available as fine are prints, gift items, and as stock photography. Please click on an image or view the 2011 Concours d'Elegance gallery for more info.

Any questions about the event? Please ask in the comments!

Boulders on Lake Tahoe, new photos from my kayak near Speedboat Beach.

"Kayak on a Tahoe Boulder 2" - Scott Thompson's tandem kayak parked on a boulder near Speedboat Beach, Lake Tahoe. Two stand up paddle boarders can be seen in the distance.

I love shooting photos of Lake Tahoe from my kayak. One of the best areas for this is the Speedboat Beach area in North Lake Tahoe, near the California and Nevada boarder. The boulders and beauty there provide for some incredibly peaceful moments as well as stunning photos.

You can access Speedboat Beach with a car. There is a small amount of public parking and a path to a small public beach. But dragging a kayak down the path and stairs can be a big challenge, and on high lake level years like this year, there really isn't much of a public beach. I find the easiest way to access the area is to park and launch at the Kings Beach boat launch and paddle for about 10-15 minutes to Speedboat beach. 

You can't miss the boulders, they're everywhere, some more photogenic than others.  I tend to get there before sunrise and my small headlamp is plenty strong enough to locate a good spot to catch the colors of the sunrise. From the kayak, I shoot sunrises handheld with no tripod so a high ISO is a must, usually around 800 with a wide aperture. A good camera like my Canon 5D MarkII can handle high ISOs decently, but I also tend to use a bit of Photoshop's noise reduction to clean the images up a touch. 

"Tahoe Boulders at Sunrise 7" - These orange, black, and grey boulders were photographed at sunrise from a kayak near Speedboat Beach, Lake Tahoe. A light amount of flash was used to get a good exposure of the boulders. 

I have previously written a bit of a "how to" on kayak photography so I won't go into too many details on that. You can find that post here: My Kayak, What a Great Photography Tool. 

The colors and shapes of the boulders out near Speedboat beach can really vary. But I love the bright orange colors on this boulder pile. Although some of the boulders along the shore can be photographed by foot, a kayak or boat is always required to get out to this pile. The oranges and blues go so nicely together:

"Boulders on Lake Tahoe 18" - These orange, black, and grey boulders were photographed in the early morning near Speedboat Beach, Lake Tahoe.

Getting in close on the colorful boulders can also provide some fun abstract photos:

"Tahoe Boulder Abstract 1" - This abstract images is a photograph of a boulder near Speedboat Beach, Lake Tahoe. 

The lake level can really vary year to year and can really change the look of the area. With this year's high waters, I have been able to get into some areas and get photos that I could not last year. Bonsai Rock is a famous spot on Lake Tahoe for photography but I found this little bonsai like pine tree (below) near Speedboat Beach. I don't think the boulder made an "island" for it last year but I could be wrong. 

"Bonsai Tree on Lake Tahoe Boulder 2" - This little pine tree on a island boulder was photographed near Speedboat Beach, Lake Tahoe.

Don't just stop at Speedboat Beach and call it a day. If you keep on paddling along the shore a bit, you actually cross the California / Nevada boarder. No, you can't actually tell this from the water but here's a Google maps view.  There are some really cool boulders out there but they are on a point so the waters can be a little rougher, especially later in the morning when more motor boats pass close by. A higher shutter speed will be necessary for handheld shots there. Here's one from that area:

"Boulders on Lake Tahoe 24" - These boulders were photographed in the morning near Speedboat Beach, Lake Tahoe.

Those are some of my favorites from my recent trip out to Speedboat Beach. But please enjoy this slide show below of many photographs from that area. Thank you!

-Scott Thompson

Speedboat Beach Area Boulders - Images by Scott Thompson

The Boulders on Lake Tahoe images above are available for purchase as large fine art prints, gift items, and as stock photography. Please click on an image for purchasing information.

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

My Kayak, What a Great Photography Tool.

Scott Thompson fishing and shooting on Lake Tahoe. Photographed with a Motorola Droid.

Last summer, my wife and  I decided to spend a few hundred bucks and buy a tandem sit on top kayak for the family. The purchase was supposed to be about family fun and fishing, it has held me, my wife, my son, and my 85 pound Labrador all at once. "The Orange Peel", it's nickname, has been well worth the money. But I have also found it to be an incredible addition to my camera bag.

The kayak is an Equinox 160T from Costco. The price was way below anything else I had been looking at online. My expectations weren't very high but I have found it to be perfect for my needs. Very stable and a whole lot of space for family and/or camera gear. The front seat has held my big fully loaded camera bag in a large dry bag and I've even stood up in the kayak for photos. (Note: Dry bags are a MUST if you plan on bringing a camera you value onto small paddle driven boat, drips happen, many many drips, oh, and don't forget splashes and sloshes. A small towel is also recommended.)  The kayak comes stock with a small covered hatch that keeps things relatively dry but water has unexpectedly gotten in there when the family was using it for play. If you own this kayak, don't trust the hatch for H2O sensitive camera gear.  Also, don't plan on winning any kayak races with this beast, slow and steady wins for photography purposes.

I've customized my kayak a bit. Online I found two flush mount fishing pole holders and a 4" hatch to provide a little more entertainment value and access to the large interior of the boat creating more storage.  These inexpensive additions have been priceless. Trolling for fish on the way to photography locations is a great way to make good use of work hours.

Scott's son Kane kayaking and fishing on Donner Lake.

When I'm with the whole family, wife and dog included, I skip all cameras but my cell phone.  When fishing with just my son, I bring just one camera body, one lens, flash, and polarizing filter. As always a dry bag is a must but I skip the tripod and additional gear. Space is limited and my attention to photography is also limited. But when I'm by myself, this kayak provides plenty of space for all my outdoor gear, 2 Canon bodies, 4 lenses, flash, tripod, and a whole lot of random accessories I rarely need until I don't have them.  I own three dry bags of different sizes and I use the smallest I can get away with.

The low angle  you get when you shoot from a kayak can be a good and a bad thing. It can provide some incredible photogenic angles but the glare and/or reflections on the water requires a polarizing filter most of the time to remove the glare. When you use a polarizer filter you lose a lot of light (kind of  like sunglasses for your lens)  so shooting from the boat handheld can be a bit more of a challenge. I usually use an ISO of 400 and a shutter speed no slower then 1/160 of a second.  Later in the day when more gasoline powered boats get out and about, the waves can really pick up. This can require even faster shutter speeds. It can also require you to ditch the shoot and quickly toss your gear into your dry bag. Safety of camera gear first, I can swim.

Lake Tahoe has 71 miles of incredible shoreline but much of it is inaccessible by foot due to private property or rough/steep terrain. Although I haven't kayaked all 71 miles, I have accessed a whole lot of areas I could never have dreamed to get to without it. Getting in close and bumping rocks is no problem either like it would be on most other watercraft.  Quickly beaching it in rocky areas and setting up the tripod for a shot has been great as well.

Photographed from a kayak with a polarizer filter.

The kayak has also proven to be great with helping me photograph birds. They seem to let me get a whole lot closer on water than on land. Getting out early can provide some incredible fog on the water images like this:

Canadian Goose and fog photographed from a kayak.

If you are a photographer or just want to get a better look at mother nature, I would highly recommend purchasing a kayak. After much use, the Equinox 160T gets two thumbs up from me. Kayaking is green and good exercise as well.

Please enjoy this sideshow of images that I have photographed from my kayak or from shore line that I kayaked to. Click the full screen icon for a better view. Are you a  kayaker? Please comment and/or post a link to a favorite kayak photo of you or that you have shot, or a favorite kayak photo story. Have a question about one of the images, ask me.

Photography from a Kayak - Images by Scott Thompson

These images in the slideshow above of Lake Tahoe, Donner Lake and Prosser Reservoir were all photographed from my kayak or from shoreline that I kayaked to. All are available as large fine art prints, gift items, and as stock photography. 

-Scott Thompson

Fishing and Photography on Lake Tahoe

Fishing and photography go great together, and when it's on Lake Tahoe, well, just view the slide show below. I'm lucky to have a friend with a small aluminum fishing boat and an addiction to trolling for  Mackinaw. He gets out a ton and I've joined him a couple times this spring with my fishing and photography gear. Both trips left me with no fish but plenty of photos. He has caught a Mack on both trips...

Fishing Lake Tahoe - Images by Scott Thompson

Not only did I get some fun photos of fishing poles and of the boat, but I shot a bunch of landscape and stock photos while trolling along the West shore of  Lake Tahoe. The quickly changing shoreline can be a lot of fun shooting from a boat.

Lake Tahoe from a Fishing boat - Images by Scott Thompson

When shooting Lake Tahoe from a small fishing boat, weather resistant gear is highly recommended. I bring minimal gear, my Canon 5D Mark II, a 24-105 L lens, a flash which I've never used out there, and a polarizing filter. The small camera bag fits into my small dry bag, which gives me peace of mind when I'm not shooting. Both times I've been out this spring it has snowed or hailed on us. The weather can change fast but can provide some beautiful scenery.  Dress warm with layers and a waterproof jacket if you suspect you may encounter some weather. I'd also recommend bringing a rag to wash and dry your hands between fishing and shooting for obvious reasons.

I wish I could give some great fishing tips, but as I mentioned, I got skunked both times. My buddy caught his big Mackinaw on our first trip with a red and blue pattern Rapalla in about 15 feet of water. The waves were a bit too big for his boat when we came around a point so we had to U turn and head back to the calmer waters. Right then he snagged a "rock", we turned around again to save the lure, and when we got closer, he realized he had actually hooked a huge fish.

Photographed on a Motorola Droid

The second fish was caught on the second trip with a big lure attached to a new down rigger in fairly deep water. It started snowing/hailing on us and just as we were about to call it a day, he landed another Mackinaw.  Then we called it, we'll have to bring waterproof pants next time...

Photographed on a Motorola Droid

The Lake Tahoe photos in the slideshows above are available as fine art prints, gift items, and as stock photography. Click on the slideshows for purchasing information. Thank you.

Tufas of Mono Lake, California Photography

This last Sunday, May 2, 2010, I was driving back home from Mammoth Ski Resort and I realized that I had time to stop at Mono Lake and get some photos of the tufa towers. I had been wanting to shoot this area for years but I'm usually in a hurry when driving by.  This weekend wasn't supposed to be a photo trip but I got lucky and made it one.

I fired up Google Maps on my Motorola Droid and I easily found the South Tufa area. Here's a link to the location I tagged with my Droid. (I plan on writing a post soon on how my Droid and it's great apps help make me a better photographer, stay tuned) For more information on visiting Mono Lake, please visit www.monolake.org

I had a great afternoon and evening running around like a kid in a candy store shooting the giant tufa towers. There are plenty of trails around the tufas, and there are signs posted to not climb on them or remove pieces. I saw why. There were about ten other photographers out there but I saw one of them try to climb up a tufa tower to get a better angle. I was thinking "that's lame" when all of a sudden a chunk the size of small ice chest broke off and came crashing down on the guy. He was obviously very embarrassed but he was proud he didn't get hurt or break his camera. I wasn't impressed.

When you follow the trail from the parking lot to the South Tufa beach area, you can go to the right at the beach and keep your shoes clean. But if you go to the left, expect to get your shoes muddy this time of year. I veered a little off the trail and stepped on what looked like solid ground but I broke through the thin dry crust and ended up past my ankle in green stinky mud. Oops.

I didn't have my big camera bag with all my gear, only my Canon 5D Mark II and a 24-105 L lens. I also had my graduated neutral  density filter and I saw other photographers using theirs, but I opted not to use mine. The tufa towers break the horizon too much in my opinion to use it. I also didn't use my polarizer filter but I kind of wish I had when I shot the very green water, I would have liked to cut down on the glare a bit more.  I occasionally used my flash to help fill in the shadow areas of the tufas with some light and also during late sunset when the tufas would have all been silhouettes without it.

I would highly recommend using a tripod out there. Most of my shots were at f22 in order to get the tufas in the foreground and background in focus. This made the exposures too long to handhold, especially at sunset.  Bumping up my ISO would have helped but I prefer a low ISO when I'm planning on making large 30"x40" prints.

All in all, I was very happy with my Mono Lake photo experience. Easy access, no need for my 4x4. Very unusual and bizarre subject matter. The sunset was incredibly beautiful and seemed to last a very long time.  My only complaint is that I didn't get to shoot a sunrise, good excuse to go back. Here are the photos from the shoot. What are your thoughts?

Tufas of Mono Lake, California - Images by Scott Thompson

To view larger images, click on the "full screen" icon on the slideshow.

All photos are available as stock photography and fine art prints.