From the Little Town of Telluride

Project Overview

From That Little Town of Telluride is a pure celebration of one of Colorado's most breathtaking destinations. This aerial film captures the dramatic beauty of Telluride—a tiny town dwarfed by massive peaks, surrounded by deep canyons and thundering waterfalls that few people get to experience from this perspective.

After completing several aerial charter projects that sharpened my drone cinematography skills, I knew I wanted to create something personal—a visual love letter to a place that had captivated me. Telluride, with its unique geography and scale, was the perfect canvas.

This wasn't about telling a narrative story; it was about showcasing raw natural beauty and demonstrating what's possible when you combine technical drone piloting with a cinematic eye. Sometimes the landscape is the story.

Creative Approach

Letting the Landscape Lead

Telluride's geography does most of the heavy lifting—my job was to not get in the way. The key was finding angles and movements that revealed the relationship between the intimate town and the overwhelming scale of the mountains that surround it.

Flight and filming strategy:

• Canyon navigation - Carefully piloted through narrow canyon passages to capture vertical scale and dramatic rock formations
• Waterfall proximity - Flew close to cascading falls to showcase their power and mist
• Town-to-peak transitions - Used ascending movements to show how small human presence is against nature's magnitude
• Dynamic camera movements - Incorporated orbits, reveals, and tracking shots to maintain visual interest
• Golden hour priority - Timed flights to capture optimal lighting across mountain faces

Audio design:

• Curated a music mix that matched the epic, sweeping nature of the visuals
• Balanced energetic and contemplative moments to mirror the flight experience
• Maintained pacing that allowed viewers to absorb each location

"Telluride doesn't need embellishment—it just needs to be seen from the right angles."

Role & Collaboration

This was a completely solo production and passion project from start to finish.

My responsibilities included:

• Location scouting and flight planning
• FAA compliance and safety protocols
• Drone operation and aerial cinematography
• All footage capture across multiple flight sessions
• Editing and post-production
• Audio mixing and music selection
• Color grading

Technical approach:

• Multiple flights over several days to capture varied lighting and conditions
• Backup batteries and equipment for remote canyon locations
• Careful planning around weather windows in mountain terrain

This project reinforced my abilities as an aerial cinematographer and reminded me why I fell in love with drone work in the first place—there's something magical about revealing perspectives that most people will never see with their own eyes.