Monomad: The first drone shots of Tbilisi

In some of my posts I have been mentioning that I haven't been doing a whole lot of photography as of late, and that I had been really motivated with my drone and wanting to get out and shoot everything from above. I mentioned that I had been shooting a few aerial videos and with the intent of selling them online as I build a larger portfolio. I never posted these though, under the assumption that I'd have to start taking stills with the drone and had generally forgotten to do so. But today, with no sleep again, I ventured out into the park and shot a few morning videos of the area while the environment was mostly empty. At home, while going through it all, I had this sudden epiphany: I am indeed rather stupid. Let me explain a little before you take that self-deprecating humour a little too seriously: I had somehow forgotten that I could simply take the videos I had already recorded, go through certain moments of them I like, pause it, and export that individual frame as an image. That means I had tons of images I could have been posting all this time but hadn't. So, this post is the first of Tbilisi from above that I can share, stills from the 4k resolution videos I have been shooting throughout the past month here. It was a challenge to think of which ones I would post first, but I felt like I'd stick with a more local theme of the residential side of things, the ecological and the old and new.

As you can see from these images, Tbilisi is an incredibly green city. It blows most wester cities away in that regard, to which it almost feels as if in the west, particularly England, we have simply forgotten what a tree even is. Remember nature, anyone? Remember shade that isn't just from those huge towering creations of concrete and steel? What I like about this city is the mixture of nature and development. There's so many old districts, so many old commie apartment buildings mixed with some of the newer stuff. No too old, not too modern (and soulless).

I have been a bit nervous with flying the drone around Tbilisi though. I'm not sure why, but I think some of it comes from just a general fear of gaining the wrong sort of attention while I'm out, not necessarily from the law. It seems people fly their drones in some of the most populated and historical spaces here without permission. But I feel I am often one of the few unlucky ones that would suddenly be stopped, or somehow manage to get on the bad side of some locals and have to somehow deal with them. I often find these more isolated spots to take off and land from. Where I know that nobody will be bothered by my presence or know necessarily where I am. A bit of a secretive operation in which I try to be quick with things, by the time the drone is in the air, there's nothing for anyone to see but just a person standing around looking at their phone from a quick glance. I have always typically shot things from afar, trying to avoid any interaction with people or flying over areas that are generally highly populated, so some of these shots are some of the first of cities I have ever shot. Armenia was far too difficult to shoot in due to the high number of airports and military bases in the areas. Especially with how close things were to Yerevan itself. It wasn't worth the risk.

I think I'm pretty smart with the drone as a result of how I fly it. I avoid people, I check the areas well beforehand to ensure there's nothing in the area I should be avoiding and keeping a large distance from. And I ensure I don't just end up making people uncomfortable by flying a bit too close to people's own private spaces. Today I launched from the court outside my apartment, a couple of older people walked in with the three dogs, I simply grabbed the drone and waited for them to leave before continuing. I think this style enables more creative shots in the end, as I have to be quick and think creatively once in the air and not take too long. A flight and go.

And it's in these spaces that I feel there's a lot to discover, short flights but ones that often lead to new places I should check out, or trying to shoot in different ways. I never thought I'd shoot a football court, but here I am. And I think it ended up being rather fun. Perhaps a bit more fun that typically shooting things with a film or regular digital camera. I fell in love with the drone back in England to the point in which my adventures were almost daily with it, always shooting something or going for a walk with it, something I felt I did less and less with regular cameras as spaces became more mundane and repetitive to me. That aerial view never gets old, it's always an excitement to see the world from above, such beauty in the grand scheme of things. As the world beneath grows smaller, and the light that impacts it is incredibly different given the height. I love it so much, and it really excites me to be able to pursue this side of things in a more commercial manner: shoot whatever I want and wherever I can, and find creative ways to capture that environment for the intent on finding a client later. It's a really fun way to look at having a drone, even if for a hobby. To the point where I'm already considering what sort of drone I'd want to get once I save up a bit more money: upgrade to something bigger and more serious? Or keep the Mini model? That's a hard decision once the fun kicks in...

Perhaps I am getting a bit ahead of myself though. There's a lot of patience to be had with this thing, and while it's very exciting, these things don't happen overnight. It takes a lot of hard work and actually getting out into the world and interacting with it, and sometimes either life itself or the weather don't quite line up with it. But that also makes those more brief flights more enjoyable. Really loving every second of seeing the world from above.

Anyway, these are the first of Tbilisi to share! I look forward to having some time to go through the rest of the videos I have and find stills I can use from them. There are some really beautiful shots I've taken that I never thought I would be able to capture. And the best thing: it's just the start of it all.