Well, Happy New Year! The first post of 2026. I'm already feeling the motivation of a new starting, the excitement to continue creating. The excitement to grow and learn and adapt to new environments and events. The thrill of getting out there into the world and discovering all the stories it has to offer. I think I went out of 2025 on a bit of a high, where things were starting to fall into a place, albeit at a relatively slow pacing. Though it didn't bother me. More a sign that I have been on the right track recently and the momentum just needs to continue. New lenses for creativity. New perspectives on creativity. New possibilities opening up each day. Over the previous days I had found that within walking distance is this location in the photographs. A small Armenian village that sits within a little canyon. A huge surprise given it resides within Yerevan.
This area sits next to two major Soviet industrial zones: one being an aluminium plant, a massive space constructed around the 1950s. I know this from the smoke stack that remains of the era which holds the year of 1950 painted on its side. To the other end of the canyon is a hydro electric power plant from the Soviet Union, likely constructed a few decades later. Sandwiched within the middle is this tiny village of homes that look like they've been built by their owners, thrown together with all sorts of resources made available to them. Scraps of metal from the nearby factory, pieces of tarp, little rooftops and gardens that seem totally derelict. Though walking through you might hear or see someone. I might do a post on the ground perspective of this place at some point to show it a bit more. Though I discovered that this isolated area, with its quiet atmosphere and natural setting, actually made for a perfect place to fly my drone at ease.
The drone is showing its age though. I do think it is on its way out. The gimbal has started to produce a noticeable shake in videos which could be a number of problems. It seems fine for flying around and taking stills, at least. But flying it around and attempting to take videos with it does bring in the question of when to put this thing to rest. I think I've had it for over five years now, and I've used it quite extensively, in multiple countries. It has only crashed twice, with no actual damage taken and all because of my own silliness flying it low around bushes. Still, I put it to its limit. I threw it up high and around the industrial zone too, to capture that strange sight of a different time. I flew it around the village, taking in the snowy winter landscape that has been beautiful lately. Especially with the first two images: a day in which it had snowed heavily the night before, but the sky opened up and produced a beautiful golden light into the surroundings.
I think going into this new year I want to get back into flying the drone more. It's another side of photography that just offers such a beautiful perspective on the world around. It's beautiful that we have such tech at a consumer level now where we can view the world from above, get unique looks at the spaces we might otherwise take for granted.