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

This Morning's Cool Shot

It was another chilly morning, here in Truckee, California. The snow forecasts lately have been very wrong. We've gotten a little hear and there, but nowhere near the amounts that were predicted. The temperature forecasts have been more accurate, and that means more icicle weather!

I took a little walk across the street to Donner Lake, to see what I could see this morning. This little stream was running pretty hard, splashing, and creating some beautiful icicles. Many photos were shot, but this one caught my eye. I loved the cool tones of the ice in the shadows contrasting with the warm tones of the sunlight on the rock. What do you think? It's not a big dynamic landscape scene, but I really like these little looks at nature being beautiful on a smaller scale.

"Icicles 5"

The cluster of icicles can be seen on the far right.

Cold but happy photographer!

Yes, I'm always trying to sell more prints... which are available for ordering on my website HERE.

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

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com

New Icy Abstract Photos

It's been a while since we've gotten any fresh snow here in Truckee, California. We have a little in the forecast and I'm hoping to get some new winter wonderland shots soon... However, when the weather conditions are cold and dry like they have been lately, we can often get some really cool patterns in the ice on the surface of local lakes.

Yesterday, I had some time in the morning to take a little walk along the shore of Donner Lake. These angular patterns were all along the shoreline. I was digging it, so I shot it! Simple yet kind of wild looking. What do you think? Do you like this look?

Prints available through my Donner Lake Photo Gallery. Thanks for looking!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.TruckeeTahoePhotos.com

XC Ski Lesson With MVB Coaching

Yesterday afternoon was a lot of fun. It started with a group cross-country ski lesson with my friend Martin of MVB Coaching. Martin is an endurance sports coach who offers coaching to folks all over the world, through the magic of the internet. I've shot many photos of him for his website and social media, and Martin gave me my first XC ski lesson last year.

The group lesson was great for beginners, and it was good to be reminded of the basics as I know I've developed some bad habits... After the lesson, the two of us got out for a long ski and we tried to find a nice spot for a sunset shoot. There actually wasn't a lot of nice lake views at the Nevada Nordic ski area, but we did find a couple decent spots. For some reason, my Garmin watch did not record the activity, but it was a lot longer of a ski than I'm used to, I was exhausted when I got back to the car.

The sunset was not as explosive as we had hoped, but we still got some nice shots with Lake Tahoe in the background. Here's a couple of them below.

Both of these photos were shot with the Canon 5DS R and a 24-105mm lens.

The shot above was ISO 400, the lens aperture was f/14, and the shutter speed was 1/320 of a second.

The shot below was ISO 1000, the lens aperture was f/5.6, and the shutter speed was 1/200 of a second. A flash was used for this shot, or else Martin would have been looking very dark.

Martin was giving free hour-long lessons all day, my group was a fairly small one compared to the other big groups. He was passing out business cards in hopes to get some folks signing up for his lesson/training packages. It was a smart idea!

And of course, the obligatory selfie with the camera, lol.

Thanks for looking and I hope you are all having a great weekend!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

Snowy Shoot At Donner Lake

Yes... I got out yet again on the cross-country skis recently at Donner Lake, here in Truckee, California. I try to get out a few times a week for exercise and to enjoy the Great OutDoors. And of course, I almost always bring the Canon camera with me.

I wasn't really expecting to shoot much. There was some strong winds with the snowstorm the night before, so most of the snow wasn't looking perfect in the trees, the wind tends to knock it off of the pine needles, it falls onto the soft snow on the ground, and it leaves a less than perfect look. However, out at the lake shore, away from the trees, the snow was still looking nice and smooth. The sun was out so we had bright whites, a bit of blue sky, and some dynamic looking clouds. It all motivated me to actually take the camera out of my backpack and get some cool shots!

These below were all shot handheld with the Canon 5DS R and a 24-105mm lens. No lens filters, flash, or tripod were used.

I thought I was done shooting and was on my way back to the cross-country ski trail when I stumbled upon these icicles. They had the perfect background so I got the camera back out, and went back to work. Yes, I said work... These will all be on my website soon, available as large and small fine art prints. I also offer image licensing of my images, high resolution versions can be purchased and downloaded through my website, and used in publications or in a business's printed and online marketing efforts.

Thanks for looking and I hope you all had some great outdoor time today as well!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

Lat Night's Sunset Above Donner Lake

Well... It was not an easy cross-country ski out to this spot yesterday, above Donner Lake and Truckee, California. The snow was frozen and fairly solid on top, but it was easy to break through that crust and it was soft and powdery underneath. This meant that the skiing was incredibly difficult. I tried taking the skis off and walking but I was sinking in up to my knees, and it was even harder. I almost gave up and went back to the car, but I needed the exercise so I kept on fighting through it. When I got to a favorite overlook spot, I was sweaty and underdressed for the windy conditions. Brrrr.... But it was worth it, the sunset ended up being a beautiful one!

Shot with a Canon 5DS R and a 24-105mm lens. This is a stitched panoramic photo. About 22 vertical photos were stitched together to create one very wide angle image. The ISO for each photo was 200, the lens aperture was f/20, and each exposure was .8 of a second long. A tripod was used, and a graduated neutral density filter was used on the front of the lens.

That's a fake smile above, lol! The color hadn't fired off in the sky yet and I was so COLD! The uphill fight back to my car warmed me back up, and when I eventually saw the photos on the computer monitor, I did end up having a genuine smile :)

Thanks for looking and I hope you are all having a nice and warm day!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

New Icy Abstract Photos - Which One Do You Like Best?

I went on a little icicle hunt today at an unnamed creek that feeds into Donner Creek, up above Donner Lake here in Truckee, California. Success! I found some ice along the creek, it was looking beautiful, and I ended up with some keeper photos that are now up on my website.

There was about 1-2 feet of snow in the area. This is a very low amount of snow for that spot during this time of year. Last year, there was probably 10 feet of snow there mid-December and the creek would have been buried, with no visible ice. It was fairly easy to walk along the creek and get some "cool" photos of the ice.

These were all shot with the Canon 5DS R and a 24-105mm lens. They were also all shot with a lens aperture of f/22. This is a small aperture that creates a good depth of field, where the foreground is in focus, and the background is in focus. Well... actually, these were macro type shots so even at f/22, the ice that was further back was still a little out of focus. The ISO and shutter speed varied, but they were all somewhat long exposures that required the camera to be on a tripod. This helped give a bit of a smear look to the moving creek water. Frozen water mixed with water in motion is a look I like.

I do like all of these, but I couldn't decide which one I liked best. The photos are numbered, please let me know which one you like best (if you even like them at all...). Thank you!

1

2

3

4

5

6

Thank you for looking and I hope you all had a great day.

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

Snow Snow and More Snow, New Photos

It's been snowing a bit in my area. Ok, it's been snowing a ton! We aren't having the biggest year yet since I've lived here in Truckee, however we are getting close...

I was planning on taking Quill dog for a snowshoe hike yesterday afternoon, but after trying it in the backyard before I left, I decided not to bring him. It was just too deep. I was ok with my snowshoes so I walked down the street to Alder Creek for a little photography fun.

As you can see in the photos, Alder Creek is buried in areas and was a bit sketchy to walk near. I didn't want to fall through the snow into the creek. It was great exercise and I ended up with a few keeper photos:

These were all shot with a Canon 5DS R and a 24-105mm lens, handheld with no tripod or filters. I was trying to keep things simple and not add a bunch of weight, it was a tough enough hike as is. Fortunately, someone had already broken trail so some areas of my hike were a bit easier than others.

We've been getting some surprise colorful sunsets lately that were not in the forecast, so since I had some free time, I thought I'd cross my fingers and go for it. Nope... It was a dud sunset. There was a touch of warmth to the sky as you can see below, but not what I was hoping for. Oh, well, it was fun to get out.

Thank you for looking and I hope you are all having a great day!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com

More New Snowy Truckee Photos

Life has been busy lately, I almost forgot to share these new photos.

The image below was shot a few days ago right after the big snowstorm that we had. Yup, it's another Downtown Truckee photo... Yes, I shoot a lot of images of Truckee, California. It's where I live and it's a tourist town so I sell lots of prints as souvenirs at Gallery 5830'. I also license these images as stock photography to local businesses. In fact, our local Chamber of Commerce has already licensed this new image below and it was in their email newsletter this morning, woohoo!

Prior to the photo above, I took a 5:30 am walk with the camera in the little main area of Historic Downtown Truckee. I had posted some Christmas photos of Truckee a few days ago but they had a lot less snow in the images. These new photos are of Truckee with a proper fresh coat of snow.

It was looking incredible out!!!

Today, I did some rearranging of artwork on the walls of Gallery 5830'. The little prints on the left wall are brand new. 8"x12" metal prints that are ready to hang and are reasonably priced. One of the cool things I like about this gallery is that they accept certain crypto currencies for payment.

We've been trying to display more winter images for the holidays, there are plenty on the wall now. Tonight is the last "Festive Fridays" in Downtown Truckee. The gallery will be open late and I will be there, enjoying the holiday fun!

Thank you for looking and I hope you are all having a great day. Enjoy the weekend. CHEERS!

Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
www.ScottShotsPhoto.com