Hot Air Balloon 002-MJB-2251315-0903
I had been at the Headcorn Air Show with the lads we were retuning to the car, they were setting up the balloon needed to change the lens over quick this was th...
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I had been at the Headcorn Air Show with the lads we were retuning to the car, they were setting up the balloon needed to change the lens over quick this was the shot taken just as the balloon cleared the trees and headed skyward.
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Sep, 2015Views
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Awards
Action Award
Zenith Award
Creative Winter Award
Curator's Selection
Top Shot Award 21
2020 Choice Award
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
Peer Award
Superior Skill
All Star
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This image was taken at Headcorn aerodrome, Kent, UK, and is one of the first images that I took when taking up the hobby of photography.Time
I had just spent most of the day taking pictures at a local air show without much luck either getting the wrong ISO setting or wrong F-stop clearly was not ready for very fast objects, at the end of the day the balloon was being set up.Lighting
With all my photography I have shot RAW from day one, and I would say that for the three years that I have been doing the hobby the one thing that I always do is manage to explode the cloud and lose definition and this image was no exception, the sun was starting to set so I had to re-set every couple of minutes because the light was dropping off so fast.Equipment
This was shot with a Sony Alpha 100, 18-70 lens, no flash, no tripod just me and the camera in the middle of the field.Inspiration
Folkestone is a busy town during the summer months we have the Spitfires coming over the house on most days, being an aircraft avionics technician by trade, seeing a hot air balloon technically the first flying machine in the world up close and personal has always interested me. This inspired me to take the image as it is something that you do not get to see every day, and something about some of the images I take like this one the best images creep up on you when you least expect them.Editing
I used about 10% dehaze filter to bring the definition of the clouds after three years I still explode the clouds when I take an image and this one was no exception, some general settings for lenses, and a very slight crop the balloon was originally off centre by a couple of millimetres carried out in camera raw prior to export unfortunately at the time that was about all my experience with photoshop so the opportunity of carrying out any major post processing was not a option for me at the time.In my camera bag
When this picture was taken I had just started so I had the Sony Alpha A100 mated to a Sony 18 - 70 lens. now if I was to go out and you wanted to have a look in my bag you would find Sony Alpha A700 mated with a Sigma 28 - 70 F2.8 - 4, Sony Alpha A77 Mk1 mated with Sigma APO 70 - 300 F4-5.6, military grade tripod, with FLIR manual pan and tilt and large wedge to mount the A77, a range of filters plenty of memory cards and spare batteries so when I am out and about I am ready for anything.Feedback
I feel that at the time capturing this image was pure luck but thinking with hindsight back to the time when I took the image, despite all the stress that was leading up to being in the right position at the right time knowing where the wind was coming from and what direction this balloon was going to set off in was paramount. Come away from the view finder and assess your surroundings and what is happening then you have a plan, think about the angle and distance you are from the balloon this was taken just above tree height just after the balloon had set off from the ground so at this point it was 30 foot up and about 60 meters out with the lens wound right back, it filled the image, but I feel this gave the image a soft angle almost as if I was looking out of a basket from another balloon which is something that personally attracts me to the image If you are new to photography like I was when this image was taken never doubt yourself if you have that object be it a balloon, plane, building, pet if it is in your view finder and your meters are all looking good don't hesitate, relax, hold your breath and press the shutter release I feel that is something I did and if I left it another second I would have missed the opportunity when it comes out good the buzz from gaining kudos from taking a good image will be there for years after you have taken it.
