Highlights from my 2017 Nevada/Mojave trip

Ray Dunakin · Aug 1, 2017

Here's a "trailer" showing a few highlights from my 2017 camping trip to Nevada and the Mojave desert, part of my ongoing quest to photographically document old mines, mining camps, ghost towns and other abandoned or historic places. (I've been doing this for 30 years now!) This year I had a new tool at my disposal, the Mavic Pro camera drone.

I still have a lot more video from this trip, so I'll be posting more as time allows. It takes time to edit this stuff, and I also have plenty of still photos to go through too. Be sure to check out my website to see more pics and info about ghost towns, mines, etc: www.raydunakin.com

Please let me know what you think of this video. Constructive criticism would be especially appreciated.

Edit: This is the revised version. I made a few changes based on people's suggestions. Also did a bit more color correction. Of course, this is still just a trailer. The full report with all the videos and photos is on my website.

sonof40 · Aug 1, 2017

Wow very nicely done. You're way ahead of me in your accomplishments. Surprised you don't have Bodie on your site.

Saj · Aug 1, 2017

Nice work! Looks like you had fun!

Video is great, only thing I would change is getting rid of the title sequence at the start seen as though the video says it already. Apart from that you did a good job putting it together!

stapenhillphoto · Aug 1, 2017

Very nice! It made me want to be at those places. Looks like you have a lot of fun!

TrayBoz · Aug 1, 2017

Great job man. Nice shots, nice editing, nice flying, nice use of the mavic flying features, nice angles.

My only criticism, if I HAD to come up with one, is that there are an awful lot of very similar shots of just the vehicle driving down the dirt road, which gets a little bit repetitive. Unless your goal is to show that you really had to drive a LONG LONG WAY for a LONG TIME, or so it would seem. I think that editing (for me) is the hardest part. It's always so difficult for me to omit shots that I think "look great", but I know that they're repetitive and probably bore the viewer - it takes a type of will power I'm not good at.

But I feel silly critiquing your video, when it appears that overall your filming and editing skills are better than mine. Nicely done. You made a desert look quite interesting.

Ray Dunakin · Aug 2, 2017

Thanks guys!

Yeah, I did kind of want to show that there was a lot of driving involved. Also, this is just a "teaser" type trailer. There'll be more videos and photos from the trip later, once I've had time to sort, edit, and post everything.

YsniperY · Aug 2, 2017

I thought you had a lot of pretty cool shots as well. You used a number of different angles and types of flying. I agree that there was a bit too much truck. Could have cut some of that out and put more shots of the very interesting places you were at. I would love to see that stuff. Where exactly where you at? The music was a good choice.