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20141004_NIKON D800E_1955
Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, 2014
Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, 2014
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Jan, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
While attending the 2014 Albuquerque Internatinal Balloon Fiesta.Time
Very early in the morning in preparation for the Dawn Patrol. As the sun rises, the Balloons are spread out and he inflation begins. Hen the Balloons, if he weather cooperates, take off my row and in waves into the early morning light. The audience walks among the balloons and interacts with the balloonists. As I stood photographing the fan blowing air into the balloon and before the heating of the air began, a balloonist invited me to lie down inside the inflating balloon until just before the heaters were turned on.Lighting
Lying down inside the balloon as the rising sun lit the balloon making the folks outside appear as silhouettes. Inside the balloon, of course, was like one gigantic softbox.Equipment
Nikon D800e on Aperture priority with Nikkor 28-300mm, 1/200 sec and f4 at ISO 100, handheld braced by elbows on the ground, no flash!Inspiration
I was trying all morning to find unusual and different perspectives to shoot and maybe capture something different than the usual balloon flight pictures. It was so much fun it was sometimes difficult to remember to shoot what I was experiencing.Editing
Not much post-processing required. Just levels and highlights and shadows and a bit but not much fine tuning of saturation.In my camera bag
My bag normally contains the Nikon D4, D800 and sometimes the D7200 bodies and most often the nikkors 28-300mm, 14-24mm, 50mm prime and the 80-400 if critters are included in the day. If the day included birds I will opt for the Nikkor 200-400mm or the 600mm. I use one of several Feisol Tripods depending on the ball head required for the day. Throw in my Polaroid and neutral density filters, a 1.7x extender and some extension tubes and I am ready to go.Feedback
If you ever have the chance, visit he Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. Doesn't require a lot of specialized gear BUT depending on the weather provides a number of challenges to get great shots. The first, of course, is that cloudless day of shooting brightly colored balloon against that bright sky. Imagine every kind of day and every situation and have a ready solution. You might think if you miss a shot one day at you will get it he next but every day is different. And the you have the dawn patrol in the early morning hours and the night Glow on the other end of the day and after all of that the fireworks. Remember, if it is too windy the. Allows don't lift off, so be prepared for disappointment!
