Monomad: Photographing Mother Georgia With A Drone

in Black And Whitelast month

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It has been forever since I last wrote a post in this community. I was at this point where it was a daily thing and I was shooting things like mad with all kinds of cameras. But a lot of that has died down as storage became a bigger problem and I was focusing more on my videography side of things to build a portfolio. The stills took a bit of a dive around that time, and I've noticed I don't pick up the camera and share those pictures as often while the drone is my main focus. It still is, though. But I haven't been taking all that many photographs with it, I love the video side, capturing all kinds of scenes and areas of life with it. Stills can be fun, but the real fun side of the drone is navigating through a space and seeing how you can capture it in that crisp 4K resolution. Here and there I take a few shots though. And this here is a post on some of them. The other day I wrote a post on how I passed out on the bus. I had spent the day roaming through the city in search of things to shoot with the drone, and I had neglected food and drink as a result. The moment I stepped on the bus to get home, I felt off. And moments later I dropped to the bus floor surrounded by confused strangers. These photographs were the last ones I took that day, of Mother Georgia overlooking Tbilisi from the mountain.

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I had walked up the mountain, up metallic and steep on stone steps to get to a viewpoint in which I could take off and land with the drone without interrupting the hordes of tourists above the mountain, as well as avoiding the nearby cable cars and their station which took people up the mountain. As I mentioned, I had walked up, but not all of the way. It was exhausting with the backpack and a hoodie, to which I had been wearing in the totally wrong weather as it had been raining the days before, and was threatening to still that day. But the sun was more intense. I set up things around the halfway point of the mountain, and flew the drone up and around the statue, taking a few photographs from different perspectives, as well as a few video shots which turned out astonishing. You really get a senes of scale and how important of a symbol the statue is when it's standing out on the mountain, looking down at Tbilisi like some overseer of all things. It's a Soviet built statue and it's no surprise that it holds such magnificence over the city with the stance it holds. I'm not sure what it holds in one hand, but in the other it holds a sword.

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This is a pretty normal thing to see in this part of the world. Armenia's Yerevan capital has its own version of this, also Soviet. When flying the drone up and around it, you can really see the size it holds, the details and the way it was put together. Almost like it was sliced up into pieces and rebuilt. Which to some degree is true as you can see the lines that run through the structure and how it was placed together, almost like a huge Lego structure. It really towers above, really feels massive. I knew I wanted to get some shots that showed that scale, ones that showed the way it overlooked the city and the mountains behind it. Just behind the statue is the Botanical Garden which I had been visiting the days before, on rainier days. A massive garden full of dense forestry and beautiful sights as autumn comes rolling in. I decided to go up to the mountain at the end of the day to capture the sunset scenes. The colder autumn blue hour that was present. I timed things well enough, but at the same time it did start to pick up with the wind, darker clouds came above. A little drizzle here and there. So I was quick with the drone, took what I needed and started heading back down.

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Little did I know I had overdone things. I had greatly overestimated my strength and had pushed myself a little too hard this time. All in the attempt at capturing the world in various beautiful ways. But that's the fun of creating things, isn't it? There's a little bit of sweat, blood, laughter, or even tears in the process. And that's why things like photography and videography can never really die off: each has a story behind how and why it was taken.

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I love the stories behind the photography and videography... not so much knowing about that fainting you had on the bus. You need to take care of yourself!!!

These photos are wonderful. I'm not going to kid you, I too neglect eating and taking care of myself when I'm doing what I love, but it shouldn't be.

I too neglect eating and taking care of myself when I'm doing what I love, but it shouldn't be.

It's so easy when you're running around from one place to the next, having so much fun and trying to capture things. Especially when you're in that moment of thinking how to capture things.

I definitely had been pushing myself a bit too much, but I really think most of it was the bus itself. I felt fine until I stepped on it. I only lasted about four or five stops and barely got down the road. From the moment I got on it, I just started to feel hot. That temperature just kept increasing and more and more people were getting on the bus. It felt like the air just disappeared and there was no circulation. A similar thing happened the other day when I tried getting the bus again: full of people, no air circulation. I felt the motion sickness appearing and my temperature rising as I couldn't really breathe.

If I get the taxi around I'm fine. I'm also fine walking around. I don't feel anything in those instances.

I don't like buses either. And I know what it feels like. What scares me the most is that you stop listening and voices become distant. And the vision is blurred. Maybe you had an anxiety crisis. Try to always carry water with you and an energy bar or chocolate.

What scares me the most is that you stop listening and voices become distant. And the vision is blurred.

Yeah that's sort of what happened moments before I dropped. My hearing went, and my vision was almost like I had been drinking something incredibly strong.

Try to always carry water with you and an energy bar or chocolate.

I usually do. I actually had something to drink just before getting on the bus. But the water someone gave me after definitely helped. I've never actually experienced anything like that before. It was an oddly peaceful feeling. I didn't feel stressed, it was like total exhaustion hit me and I accepted the rest.

Maybe you were abducted hahaha....

Okay, just kidding. Have a nice day. I'll be more attentive to your posts although there were days when it wasn't possible because we had a 4 day power cut here.

This post was curated by @wilfredocav from the Visual Shots Team | Be part of our Curation Trail - Delegations are Welcome

The pictures came out nice! But maybe don't risk life, limb and health quite so much for the shots otherwise you won't be able to take any more and that would suck ^_^;

Yeah I have really pushed myself, more than I have recently. I think I was already a bit exhausted, but the thing that really took me out was the lack of air on the bus. So dense in people, no air to breathe, and that heat.

Yeh the bus conditions definitely wouldn't have helped x_x you're doing okay now though?