This Evening's Moon Rising Above Truckee, California

I attended a Christmas party in Downtown Truckee, California this evening. But, right before I went in, I knew I had some work to do...

I knew the moon would be rising any moment, and I had the camera in the car. So before I went in to enjoy the fun, I enjoyed this Christmasy moment in my favorite little mountain town.

Shot with the Canon R5 MarkII and a 100-500 Canon lens, set at 300mm. The ISO was 400, the shutter speed was 8 seconds, and the lens aperture was f/25. A small lens aperture was used so I could get both the candy cane and the moon in focus. And of course, a tripod was used...

It's already up on my website truckeetahoephoto.com, and Christmasy gifts are already available.

I hope you all are enjoying the holiday season!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com - Art
Scott Shots Photography - Services

New Gallery Exhibit at Art Truckee!

I have some great news... I am now exhibiting and selling out of Art Truckee in Downtown Truckee, California! It's been a couple of years since I've sold out of a Truckee gallery, but I am back at it! Art Truckee is a tiny little gallery in an old historic tiny building. It's perfect for two photographers to share the space, rent, and time spent at the gallery. Michelle Erskine is the other photographer in the gallery. She is another long time Truckee local who has many incredible photos of the Tahoe area as well.

Art Truckee is located at 9950 Donner Pass Road in historic Downtown Truckee. Right behind the famous Moody's Restaurant. We will be keeping the gallery open 11-5, Thursday - Sunday, and we may increase our hours as we approach the holidays.

Here are a few photos of the gallery.

If you're even in Truckee, please contact me, stop by, and say hi!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com - Art
Scott Shots Photography - Services

This Morning's Snowliage

Yup. Snowliage is supposedly a word... I love the look of fresh snow on autumn foliage! And this morning, I ran around Downtown Truckee, California with the camera for a bit, capturing a few lovely scenes. These two shots were my favorites.

Both shot with a Canon R5 MarkII and a 24-105mm lens. Handheld, no lens filters or tripod.

The fall colors have been incredible here the last few days. Hopefully they stick around longer for some more photos. And I hope you get to enjoy some of the color in your area!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com - Art
Scott Shots Photography - Services

New Photos From Last Weekend's Backpacking Adventure

I finally had time to go trough and work on some new photos from a little overnight solo backpacking adventure last weekend. The destination was Flora Lake and Azalea Lake. Both lakes are near each other. It was a lot fun being out there, but it was mostly relaxing being all by myself.

In this first drone sunrise photo, you can see Azalea Lake on the left and Flora Lake on the right. Donner Lake and Truckee, California can be seen in the distance.

Here's one of Flora Lake at sunrise, with Donner Lake in the background. Again, shot at sunrise with the drone.

I love Castle Peak! And you can see it in the background of this Azalea Lake photo below.

This one is a nighttime shot, the light was provided by the moon. The water was so still and peaceful.

And another reflection shot, I really like how the rocky shoreline was looking at Azalea Lake.

And my peaceful little camp spot. Nobody else was out there!

I hope you all have some nice adventures this weekend...

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com - Art
Scott Shots Photography - Services

Just Another New Rainbow Bridge Photo...

I'm pretty happy with this pretty shot! I was very lucky to be at the right place at the right time. This location is not what I had planned. In fact, I was on my way to a real estate shoot. The place where I live is down under those clouds, across the street from Donner Lake. I had called the real estate agent and asked how the weather was looking at the summit house, because it looked grey and non-photogenic at my house. She assured me it was mostly clear with a blue sky at the house I was shooting.

As I was driving up the road to the house, I got above the inversion clouds and was treated to a beautiful view. Since I was a little ahead of schedule, I pulled over at Rainbow Bridge, hopped out of my SUV, and shot this image. Three minutes later I was back on the road, headed to my shoot.

Shot with a Canon R5 MarkII and a 24-105mm lens. ISO 320, the shutter speed was 1/160 of a second, and the lens aperture was f/22. Handheld, no filters.

Thank you for looking, and I hope you all had a beautiful day too!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com - Art
Scott Shots Photography - Services

New Rainbow Photos

The weather has been wild this last week. So much rain in the afternoons! And what does that mean??? Well, lately it means RAINBOWS!!! There have been rainbows the last three evenings, and I have been lucky to have the time to get out with the camera and capture them.

This photo is above the cherry on top for me. I can't wait to print it up huge. I have been trying to capture a rainbow over Rainbow Bridge and Truckee, CA for over 20 years. Every time I make the drive up there after seeing a rainbow in town, it is gone by the time I make it up Old Hwy 40. Finally! And with yellow blooming rabbitbrush in the foreground, yes!

Shot with the Canon R5 MKII and a 24-105mm lens, with a polarizing filter on the front of the lens. The ISO was 50, the shutter speed was 1 second long (camera on a tripod), and the lens aperture was nice and small, f/22, in order to have a sharp focus on the flowers in the foreground and the mountains in the background.

Here's a couple more rainbow photos, above and below. These were actually shot across the street from where I live. It's so nice to be able to look out the window at the lake, see the rainbows, grab the gear, and capture these scenes.

Thank you for looking and I hope you all have a beautiful day!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com - Art
Scott Shots Photography - Services

New Book Release! - Docks of Donner Lake

I've been working hard the last couple of years, compiling a collection of images of the "Docks of Donner Lake". I finally completed the book, and it is now available on Amazon!

The book is a photographic study of the docks along the north shore of Donner Lake in Truckee, California. Here is a little look at the book.

10"x8" image wrap hard cover, 53 pages, premium paper, photo paper finish. Printed by Blurb, sold through Amazon.

ORDER "Docks Of Donner Lake" ON AMAZON.COM, CLICK HERE

I'm very excited about this! Thank you for looking!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com - Art
Scott Shots Photography - Services

This Morning's Donner Lake Rainbow

I could tell this morning that it was "rainbow weather". So I was keeping an eye on the sky, and wouldn't you know, I saw one! It was an incredibly bright and vibrant rainbow, I happen to be driving along Donner Lake, here in Truckee, California when it popped out. As usual, I had my camera with me so I pulled over, slapped a polarizing filter on the front of my lens, ran out to the shore, and started shooting. I ran because experience has taught me that rainbows can disappear fast. I've seen them before, got all set up, only to have them fade away right before I start clicking.

Shot with a Canon R5 MarkII and a 24-105mm lens. ISO 400, the lens aperture was f/13, and the shutter speed was 1/200 of a second. Again, a polarizing filter was on the front of the lens. They help bring out the color a bit more in rainbows. But be careful with them, they can also make rainbows disappear if the polarizer is not adjusted properly. Handheld shot, I was rushing and didn't grab the tripod or have time to set it up.

As always, prints and photo products available on my website www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com.

Thank you for looking, and I hope you all have a beautiful day out there!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com - Art
Scott Shots Photography - Services

Mule Deer, Shot Yesterday. They're Back!

I mean photographed.... Not shot... Gotta watch my words when referring to photographing wildlife.

Yesterday, I was driving to a paid shoot here in Truckee, California when this beautiful sight caught my eye. So I backed up my ride, got the camera out, and fired off a few photos. In my opinion, it was totally worth being a couple minutes late to meet up with my clients. These mule deer were very busy eating the little bit of grass and didn't mind me being close. One of them looked up for a few seconds, but went right back to eating after checking me out. We had a couple big snow storms recently, so these deer seemed happy to find a little food exposed. It's that time of year where all the deer start making their way back up here, to higher elevations. Always fun to see!

Shot, I mean photographed... with a Canon R5 Mark II and a 24-105mm lens, set at 105mm. The ISO was 200, the lens aperture was f/14, and the sutter speed was 1/200 of a second. Handheld photo, no lens filters.

As always, prints are available on my website, www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com.

Thank you for looking, and I hope you all see something cool and unexpected today!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com - Art
Scott Shots Photography - Services

This Morning Along An Icy Donner Lake Shoreline

The temperature was 15°F at my place this morning. And I could see from my living room window that there was a little bit of ice on the surface of Donner Lake, along the shoreline. So I took a little walk with the camera, to see what I could find... Success!!! There were actually many little scenes like this with air bubbles trapped in the thin layer of ice on the surface of Donner Lake. I took quite a few photos. But this one happened to be my favorite, one of the last photos I shot. I've seen bubbles trapped in the ice many times, but in my opinion, it looks best when the ice is very thin, clear, and not too thick. Just like this!

"Donner Lake Morning 28"

Shot with a Canon R5 MarkII and a 15-35mm lens, set at 30mm. It was a handheld shot, no tripod. The ISO was 400, the shutter speed was 1/100 of a second with the lens image stabilizer on, and the lens aperture was f/22. A nice small aperture created the best depth of field I could get. The mountains and were still a bit out of focus despite the small aperture, because the camera was very close to the surface of the ice. Oh, and my boots were in the ice/water and I had water up over my shoelaces. Fortunately, they are quality boots and my socks did not get wet. 😁

This photo would make a very nice large print, I envision it looking best above a desk in an office. A peaceful scene to look at when feeling stressed out about all the office work that needs to be done.

Thank you for looking and I hope you all have a great weekend!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com - Art
Scott Shots Photography - Services

This Morning's Icy Donner Lake Sunrise

I try to bring my camera with me most places, even when I plan on just leaving it in the car. I really didn't have any plans to shoot this morning when I headed out to meet up with some friends for coffee. But wouldn't you know..... Sunrise ended up being a nice one so I pulled over along Donner Lake and shot this cool scene along the shoreline of Donner Lake, here in Truckee, California.

"Donner Lake Sunrise 56" (Available as prints on my website)

Shot with a Canon R5 Mark II and a 24-105mm lens, set at 24mm. The shutter speed was 1/100 of a second since it was a handheld shot, no tripod. The lens aperture was f/22, nice and small in order to get the best depth of field possible and to try to get the foreground and background in focus. And an ISO of 8,000, a high ISO was needed and a healthy amount of noise reduction was needed in post processing.

No selfies or video clips. This was a quick shoot, a few photos were shot, then I jumped back in my car and headed to my destination. But I'm happy with the unexpected shot that I got!

Thank you for looking and I hope you all have a great day, and weekend!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com

Snowy Downtown Truckee, California. Shot 2-16-25

It was a beautiful morning out in Downtown Truckee, California today. Finally, we have been getting some snow again. And it was actually cold dry snow, not wet sloppy snow. This made for some very nice photogenic scenes around town. I took quite a few photos, but these two were my favorite. I also shot a little video clip of our Commercial Row in Downtown. This little strip of town has a lot of history to it.

Both photos were shot with a Canon R5 Mark II and a 24-105mm lens. Handheld, no tripod.

As always, prints and photo products of these images are available on my website www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com. Thanks for looking and I hope you are all having a great day!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com