New Scott Shots Photography Logo!

Introducing the new Scott Shots Photography logo!!!  Designed by Cesar Lopez of Atypical Design.

I have been using my previous logo for about 7 years, it was something I designed when I was a "hybrid" photographer. Meaning I shot on 35mm slide film, then scanned the film into a computer using a 4000 dpi scanner, and printed on a large ink jet printer. The film strip logo with ones and zeros instead of film sprockets was fun, but it's been a while since I shot film so I felt the logo was outdated.

I have known Cesar for quite some time as a friend, client, and service provider. He has designed business cards for me and helped me with my website. During a recent meeting about branding with some of Truckee's best marketing minds, the Market Well, I mentioned that I had been wanting a new logo but was stumped on what to do. Without even asking Cesar to do so, he had an incredible logo ready for me a day or two later. And I loved it! A few minor adjustments later and it was perfect.

When I first saw the logo, I immediately noticed the interesting, retro like font the Scott Shots was in, which gave a classic look to the logo. Then I noticed the Instagram-like camera, which said to me "modern photography". The "since 1998" well, that let's you know I've been at this a while. The rough edges and "wine stain" circle felt fun and artsy. The "Commercial - Fine Art", hey, that's what I do. Cesar Lopez nailed it all in a visually appealing circle of awesomeness.

I asked Cesar for a few words about his creation and he had this to say:

"The logo for Scott Shots Photo manifested in a flash of inspiration. Using some pre-existing textures and some typographic inspiration I was able to quickly create this logo simply as a proof-of-concept sketch for Scott Thompson to consider. Of course, I didn't expect for the quickly drafted concept to become reality and serve as the actual brand mark. However, as Scott put it, "Man, you just nailed it!" After a few tweaks and refinements we have a meaningful new brand mark for Scott Shots Photo.

I'm left wondering if it was truly just a flash of inspiration that created the design. Or, whether it was the 30 blessed years of working as a graphic designer and visual communicator that really did all of the work. The world may never know."     

- Cesar Lopez, AtypicalDesign.com 

Thank you Cesar, I look forward to using the logo for years to come!

-Scott Thompson

Photos of Art Obsessions art gallery

Did you miss it? My exhibit at Art Obsessions art gallery a couple weeks ago was a lot of fun. I had many of my large 40"x60" canvas prints up and I thought the Jordan, the gallery director, did a great job with the hanging and presentation. So good that I decided to take a few photos of the exhibit and the rest of Art Obsessions.

I've sold my large photography prints out of Art Obsessions for a few years now. Art Obsessions used to be located on Commercial Row in Downtown Truckee but a while back they moved into the old Star Hotel building on West River Street. My big exhibit may not be in the "featured artist" area of the gallery any more but I still have many large prints available there year round. So please stop by and check it out in person, but in the meantime:

(click play and then the full screen icon for the best viewing experience)

-Scott Thompson

My 10 Best Tahoe Photos of 2014

For the last few years, photographer Jim Goldstein has challenged other photographers to blog about their top photos of the year. He posts links to the blog posts of participating photographers on his blog (Click Here for his blog). It's a fun project I look forward to every year, where I get to reminisce about my adventures. 

2014 was another great year for beautiful scenes in the Tahoe area. Really, I don't think Tahoe has ever had an un-photogenic year. Below are my favorite ten Tahoe photos of the year. I hope you enjoy them!

-Scott Thompson

1)  Perhaps my favorite photo I shot this year. The sky above Donner Lake just exploded with color that evening. 

"Donner Lake Sunset 21" - Photograph of a colorful sunset above Donner Lake in Truckee, California.

2)  Just another beautiful sunset at Donner Lake. Yes, the sky really was that color.

"Kayak on Donner Lake Sunset" - Photograph of a kayaker fishing on Donner Lake at sunset, shot from the East end of Donner. 

3)  Truckee, California sure does look good in white. Photographed from the hillside near Cottonwood Restaurant.

"Downtown Truckee 14" - Photograph of a snowy Downtown Truckee in the morning.

4)  You can't go wrong with a classic view of the Truckee River in Downtown Truckee, California. However some mornings are more photogenic than others. 

"Snowy Truckee River 3" - Photograph of a snowy Truckee River shot in Downtown Truckee, California.

5)  I drove all over town this spring day, looking for the perfect snow covered flower. It turned out my favorite was a daffodil in my front yard. 

"Snowy Daffodil 1" - This snow covered Daffodil or Narcissus flower was photographed in Truckee, California in the spring.

6)  I shoot this shack just about every year in the Fall. This year, I decided to use my tilt-shift lens to do something different. The tilt-shift is how the soft focus effect is achieved. 

"Shack in the Aspens 7" - This old shack and yellow aspen trees were photographed in the Fall near Brockway Summit in Tahoe. 

7)  Finally! I've been trying to get a good bear shot for years. I finally got a cool shot of a black bear eating a Kokanee Salmon. 

"Black Bear at Taylor Creek 1" - This brown colored black bear was photographed with a Kokanee Salmon in it's mouth at Taylor Creek in South Lake Tahoe.

8)  This amazing sunset above Lake Tahoe was shot on a fun evening shooting with my friend Tony Spiker of www.SpikerPhotography.com 

"Sunset at Lake Tahoe 30" - Photograph of a orange and yellow sunset at Lake Tahoe, shot from near the fire lookout above Crystal Bay.

9)  Kings Beach, Lake Tahoe has been providing photographers with some unique opportunities this year. Visitors have been creating tons of cairns, or rock piles, giving the shoreline a fun look. Mix that with a beautiful sunset and magic happens.

"Cairn at Lake Tahoe 1" - This cairn or man made stack of rocks, was photographed at sunset in Kings Beach, Lake Tahoe.

10)  The grand finale of this years top ten Tahoe photos, a fireworks show above Donner Lake in Truckee, California. Bonus, my wife and son were with me for this one. 

"Fireworks at Donner Lake" - This fireworks display at the West end of Donner Lake was photographed from a mountainside on July 4th.

The photos above are all available to purchase as fine art prints. Click on an image for more details. Digital downloads, and photo gift items are also available. 

"Tahoe" the book

I am excited to announce my second book! "Tahoe" is a collection of some of my best Tahoe area photography. It is about 150 pages filled with beautiful images of Lake Tahoe, historic Truckee, and the surrounding lakes, meadows, forests, and more. A full preview of the book is available below. Click the full screen icon for the best viewing experience. 

The book's price is $154.95. It is an 11"x13" image wrap hardcover book with images that are printed on a lustre finish premium paper.

If you would like to order the book, please click the shopping cart icon in the preview below or click here: Tahoe book.

Also, all of the images in the book are available to order as large fine art prints, printed by me personally. They can be ordered through my website ScottShotsPhoto.com,  from Art Obsessions in Downtown Truckee or from the Vista Gallery in Kings Beach. 

Please feel free to contact me with any questions about the book at info@scottshotsphoto.com. Thank you!

-Scott Thompson

Tahoe by Scott Thompson - Scott Shots Photography | Make Your Own Book

Scott Thompson with his new book "Tahoe"