Balloons have shape and color, the weather conditions in Albuquerque provides the light. And we had lot’s of variety of Light, Color and Shapes to choose from. Enjoy.
Tilting back to look straight up in the sky with a balloon directly overhead, emphasizes the colorful patterns against the blue sky…
Nikon D4, AF-S 28-300mm 3.5-5.6 VR
The balloon is filled with air, now a burst of gas will give it the lift to stand the gondola upright. I used the graphic pattern of the balloon as a background rather than showing the full balloon to tell the story…
Nikon D4, AF-S 28-300mm 3.5-5.6 VR
Perspective is achieved with balloons at varying distances. The size of the two balloons compared to the zebra adds depth to the image…
Nikon D4, AF-S 28-300mm 3.5-5.6 VR
Some of the chase vehicles (and their names…The Gentle Stripper below) were as colorful as the balloons…
Nikon D4, AF-S 28-300mm 3.5-5.6 VR
The graphics and composition caught my eye in this photo. I had to work quickly to capture the image as I saw it before the balloons moved…
Nikon D4, AF-S 28-300mm 3.5-5.6 VR
Standing back from the crowd allows me to see the overall picture and select compositions that are cleaner than from the middle of the field where it’s most crowded…
Nikon D4, AF-S 28-300mm 3.5-5.6 VR
Getting right in the thick of it is a different experience and I used a couple balloons in the foreground to frame balloons in flight to convey the sense of the number of balloons together in one place…
Nikon D4, AF-S 28-300mm 3.5-5.6 VR
While I was wandering amongst the balloons I found a couple with interesting graphics and asked permission to step in really close with my 14-24mm lens to shoot inside the balloon…
Nikon D4, AF-S 14-24mm 2.8
Stars and stripes are popular patterns and there are several flying the red, white and blue colors proudly at Balloon Fiesta…
Nikon D4, AF-S 28-300mm 3.5-5.6 VR
All the while I was shooting the balloons I kept my eye open to the east watching for a balloon to pass in front of the sun. It couldn’t be just any balloon; I wanted one with color and pattern (ok, that’s easy enough) and it had to have translucent fabric so it would glow when the sun backlit it. I like the effect I was able to capture with the sun peeking over the edge of the balloon, taking a small bite out of the balloon and adding a halo effect…
Nikon D4, AF-S 28-300mm 3.5-5.6 VR
I waited until this racing balloon had completely blocked the sun before squeezing the shutter. I brightened the sky slightly to remove any color making the balloon stand out brightly against the white sky for a different look…
Nikon D4, AF-S 28-300mm 3.5-5.6 VR
Once again, the morning flew by in a flurry of activity. Soon, hundreds of balloons were mere pin pricks in the sky and their images were captured on our cards. We loaded up and headed back to the hotel to spend some time going over our images to see what we liked and what we needed to work on. Looking around at the group, all I could see were smiles from ear to ear. There’s nothing like the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta to bring out the kid in us. Stay tuned…and…Keep Smiling…
Nikon D4, AF-S 28-300mm 3.5-5.6 VR
Great images, I would like to see all of them. I am still in ABQ, my Belgium friends wanted to see the Grand Canyon so se spent three days exploring. Off to Taos for the Taos Mountain Balloon Rally Oct. 25 / 28. Then off to home in Idaho. Back to Gallup November 30 through December 2nd. RedRock balloon Rally.
Hope to C U next Fiesta!
Tom Gough