May 18, 2021

Baikal by Birds Eye


Baikal by Birds Eye
Seeing a frozen Lake Baikal is on almost every Russophile's travel list— and now with this video's help, you almost can.  Photo by Ekaterina Sazonova via unsplash.com

While manufacturers generally don't recommend you fly your drone at temperatures below freezing, that didn't stop videographer Vadim Sherbakov from shooting this amazing film depicting a frozen Lake Baikal. 

 

 

The short film is titled The Noor, which means "lake" in Buryat (the language of the native people who inhabit the region around Lake Baikal).

Every picture of Lake Baikal ever taken is breathtakingly gorgeous; it comes with the territory of the location. What makes this film unique is the high altitude camera angles and Sherbakov's expert command of the drone.

Another interesting quality of the film is the somber tone Sherbakov captured in his video editing. As he writes in the YouTube caption for the movie, he wanted to create a different experience in this video, specifically one that counters the cheerful, touristy vibe of most Baikal vacation videos. He wanted to help the viewer imagine what it might be like to be a lone traveler, or a person who has survived in the terrain for years. 

It wasn't only the well-below freezing temperatures that gave Sherbakov trouble during filming, but also the heavy winds (the drone he is flying should not be flown in winds over 10 mph). Occasionally, he admitted, he would set the drone down on the ice, walk away, only to find that it had started to blow away before it could take off.

But the beauty of the project is so worth the troubles. Sherbakov's other works, including one featuring Moscow are also well worth a watch. 

You Might Also Like

Saving Baikal
  • September 01, 2004

Saving Baikal

You would think it would be easy being the deepest, cleanest, most ecologically diverse lake in the world. But Baikal has had a rough go of it this past century. We report on how a handful of non-profits is working to reverse civilization's assault.
The Blue Pearl of Siberia
  • May 01, 1997

The Blue Pearl of Siberia

There is no place on earth to compare with Lake Baikal. Explore its shores in this, the third installment in the Westcott's saga about their drive across Russia.
Baikal and Irkutsk a Century Ago
  • January 01, 2011

Baikal and Irkutsk a Century Ago

An excerpt from George Kennan's famous diary of his travels across Siberia, Tent Life in Siberia, in which he finds out he is not so fluent in Russian as he thought he was.
Descendants of the Swan
  • November 01, 2003

Descendants of the Swan

In the remote, open landd southeast of Lake Baikal, beyond typical tourist itineraries, where Genghis Khan once roamed, live most of Russia's 370,000 Buryats. We decided to pay them a visit.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955