I know YouTube is infested with Lebanese drone shot videos but some just stand out and are too good not to share. The one below is produced by Dark Matters and is available in UHD resoultion, so if you have a suitable display and a hopefully fast connection just let it load in 4K and enjoy the cool shots and music.
The Lebanese Army announced two days ago that from now on drone owners in Lebanon need to apply for a licence from the Air Force, and they have three months to comply with this requirements. Moreover, a special permit will be needed from the Army Guidance Office each time they want to fly these drones especially around military bases.
I’m not sure how serious is the army going to be about applying this new regulation since they issues a similar memo two years ago but few people seem to have complied with it.
Other countries such as UAE and Kuwait have implemented similar regulation and I believe it’s about time to regulate drone usage in Lebanon, not necessarily everywhere but at least around sensitive locations such as Beirut Airport since it is very close to residential areas and any drone there can disrupt the air traffic just like what happened in Dubai last October.
I always enjoy watching aerial photos and videos from around Lebanon especially that some photographer and drone operators have been doing a great job exploring cool places around the country.
Over the last couple of years, I think I came across photos/videos from almost all around Lebanon except for Dahyeh due to it being considered a security stronghold for Hezbollah, so taking photos there is usually a big No-No and can even get you in trouble. But that was until I recently stumbled upon some photos taken by Mahdi Skafi with his drone over Dahyeh and Hadath, and found them pretty cool as they were taken at night with a long exposure.
Mahdi also have a lot of other photos from various villages and villages and cities around the country and the ones below from Kfarsir, Tyr, and Sawfar.
You can check more photos from Mahdi on his Facebook page.
And as hard as it may sound, I also feel curious about aerial footage of the Palestinian refugee camps be it in Shatila, Saida or Naher el Bared, as well as the Syrian refugee camps and conflict zones in Arsal and Jroud Arsal.
A lot of people are uploading drone videos from Lebanon but Marc Howayek’s work really stands out from the rest with the editing he does. His latest videos shows parts of Faraya and Faqta using his DJI Phantom 3.
This 46 seconds video took one whole day to shoot by the way since the DJI battery drains out in 20 minutes and needs around two hours to fully recharge.
The Angel Drones is an initiative by Al Rifai that aims to donate packages of clothes, food, and other essential items to needy families in Lebanon using drones that are labeled as “Angel Drones”. The whole campaign sounds pretty nice as it goes with the spirit of Ramadan in term of helping poor people and feeling with them. Moreover, technically speaking the video is well executed and kudos to whoever made the filming.
Even though the video started good and felt very touching, at the end of watching it I was only left thinking about drones and how much weight they can carry around… I bet I was not the only one who thought about that and I really doubt this was Al Rifai’s goal from “The Angel Drones”.
In addition, I really didn’t like the way they displayed the stories of the families they are helping on their website. I mean this is the kind of things that Tony Khalife and Joe Maalouf would do to score with the public… If you want to help poor people then either do it discretely or simply don’t reveal their identities, publicizing it actually goes against the values of Ramadan.
Giving the video a second thought will probably qualify the campaign more as a stunt than a socially responsible campaign. Social responsibility in our case lies in actually donating to the people instead of over-thinking a sophisticated and expensive way to deliver these donations.
In my humble opinion, what Al Rifai could have done instead is producing a video that motivates people to help each other. Take for example the videos that Pepsi Masr produces every year, they touch you really deep and inspire to do good to others or at least be good to them.
Although realtively short, this video shot by Marc Howayek using a DJI Phantom 3 shows some great scenery from the coast of Byblos.
I have also seen a sneak peak of other video he took in different regions of Lebanon and they look really awesome. I hope he uploads them sometime soon so that I can share them as well.
