Another day, another post nobody will read! Well, anyway, things have been incredibly interesting as of late. A whole lot of exploration and filmmaking with the drone. Maybe at some point I will post some of it here on Hive, but I don't really have the interest to put in so much effort at the moment. Today I visited some odd places up in the mountains. A church which held a Soviet BMP military personnel vehicle. A space observatory in the distance, and a Radio-Optical Telescope on the other side of the mountain, with yet another church. Less about the interesting stuff, however. These are a few of the photographs from the Sony A6000 over the last few days. I haven't been using the camera as much recently just because the environments are more interesting with the drone. I beat another record with it today and sent that thing 355 metres into the sky, an additional 100 metres than my prior highest altitude. It makes sense that the camera isn't as interesting when you can fly a camera around an environment you can't otherwise explore on foot. But I still find moments for it and try to use it to capture specific moments. Not that I have put it aside entirely, I most certainly haven't. Just that I have an interesting blend of the two in my general workflow in each day now.
I've been carrying the 35mm focal length lens with me around alongside my primary 85mm lens, as well as a Soviet Zenit film camera with the beautiful Helios 44-2 glass that made its way into Hollywood recently. A whole lot of gear, and a whole ton of fun when venturing into various environments. I feel it's best to carry a wide range of gear instead of entering an unknown environment without something that best suits it, ultimately missing out on compositions.
When it comes to photographing things outdoors, I feel the 85mm is best, alongside the aerial view with the drone. I love the up-close perspective it gives and the beautiful bokeh that is found within certain environments. The 35mm being best for more tighter environments such as interiors. I love being able to photograph a bit of everything and knowing I'm never limited. That feeling of pure freedom with multiple cameras or focal lengths really keeps you thinking as you run around a space, almost thinking in focal lengths as you witness the surroundings. Sometimes I do wish I had something above 85mm though. A telephoto capable of capturing the vast wildlife in Armenia. I saw a hawk the other day, large herons, and even a praying mantis alongside snakes. I wish I could capture them from afar without disturbing them, as well as capturing landscapes from afar while still capturing their vast sizes. Mountains and horizons that tower over all else. The ways in which the landscapes roll up into the distance and speak of almost an impenetrable wall. Driving through them is another experience as the surroundings shift their forms rapidly. From rocky, dry landscapes coated in dust to beautiful greenery and colourful flowers all over. That feeling of barely ascending is felt, only acknowledged as you look back down at where you came from. Subject barely a dot down below you.
It's a humbling feeling to look at your surroundings and feel the sense of scale, power, and your own insignificance. To witness nature in its glory as it remains the authority.
I often feel a sense of peace in such places. To escape the chaos of modern life and return to the natural landscapes. Around you either natural environments of the remnants of simpler lifestyles: farmers, quiet villages and homes that show their age with the crumbling architecture and handmade improvements. It's more silent, the air is cleaner, and the people generally look happier and more likely to talk to you. A total difference to the soullessness of your average city folk. I come from an English village and even there I noticed the changes in culture through the pains of gentrification. Here, however, it's the total opposite. The elderly remain in the villages, clinging to their simplistic ways of life, rejecting the horrors of modernity. You can really see it in their faces. The sadness in how their children and grandchildren rejected their pasts and culture, pursuing an interest in the capital as village populations dwindle and the iPad generations metastasize. I experienced a similar situation in Georgia, seeing an aged population of rural farmers that had a few harvests left with nobody seemingly prepared to take over. People here escape the countryside life, people back in England are desperate for it, while turning it into the very thing they escape from.
It's odd how the world operates, isn't it?
Meanwhile, for me, it's Armenia's history and culture that fascinates me so much. I long to experience more of it. To witness the beauty of a place that still holds its identity in a world so persistent on destroying it. Anyway, these are the ramblings of a photographer travelling a part of the world so few dare to. But who cares?