Last weekend, I took a solo road trip to Death Valley. One night after the sun had set with no other soul around, I decided to motor through the 9 miles of narrow twists, turns, and dips of the scenic one-way "Artist's Drive" loop. It was a blast. I stopped in this parking lot to admire the "Artist's Pallette" viewpoint and noticed that my Mini was looking mighty pretty sitting there, even covered in dust and rain-spots.




Then, I thought, why not do some "artistic driving" on "Artist's Drive" and capture some long-exposure painting with light using my car's head-and-tail lamps? Ok, sounds interesting...



So, this was quite fun! Camera on tripod, car-in-waiting off-camera-left, trigger my 10-second shutter timer, run to the car, drive into the scene, begin making smaller and smaller circles, kill the headlights and exit the scene. 30-second exposure. Tried it 5 times, this might be the best shot.

...I must have looked ridiculous.

 

Nice shots! Looks like you had some fun.

I've been to Death Valley several times now, but in a minivan with students.

I've always wanted to go back and do those roads in the MINI.

 

Great pictures! It looks like you ended having a great "Mini" road trip

 

Nice work!

 

Thanks folks.

It was funny, when I checked into the hotel at Furnace Creek, the lady asked me for the make and model of my car. When I said "Mini Cooper", she looked up and said, "well, that should be fun. We don't get too many of those 'round here."

 

awesome pics!!!

 

Very cool.

DV was my first major roadtrip in my MINI. Artists Pallette is a spectacular drive.

 

Great shots!!!

 

I loved the circle roundup, will have to find a unlit parking area some where and try the same thing. Thanks for posting.

 

Nice work. Thanks for posting them up.

I'm kinda missing the desert these days.

 

HA HA! Them are some fast donuts! lol Nice shots!

 

More pics please!!!

 

Creativity has no boundaries indeed. Excellent "Death Valley Twists" shot.

 

Sweetness! My new wallpaper, thanks. YOU RULE!

 

These are great pictures! This is what I aspire to in photography. Out of curiosity, what camera set up did you use? Thanks.

 

Sounds like a great trip. Nice pics!

 

lovely!

 

Awesome shots!

 

4 of us from SCMM did a Death Valley MINI road trip between Christmas and New Years. A truly spectacular place with desert scenery unlike anywhere else.

Did you go up to Dante's View, Badwater, Ubehebe crater, Scotty's Castle?

 

Awesome!! looks like it was a blast!