Hot Air Balloon

Hot Air Balloon
Originally uploaded by Photographer Christine Taylor.

This is a portrait done of a hot air ballooner in WIsconsin. Her husband is to her right and assistant to her left.

What a day.

It was a very windy day, which as many of you know can be very dangerous for ballooning since you are working with fuel and fire, not to mention hundreds of pounds. It was my first time in a balloon and probably one of the best experiences of my life thus far.

The actual shoot here was difficult. The balloon was flailing all over the place. It was very early in the morning. From the time we arrived on site to when we were up in the air it had been about 10 minutes.

I was also helping hold the balloon down while I shot. Yah. They were short handing so the rope was wrapped around my arm, I held the flash with one hand, and the camera with the other.

WOW. Scary. It got more scary up in the air though. We even had a crash landing in someone's back yard in the country. Nothing quite like a fire burning over your head while you are being swallowed by some synthetic material, shooting a camera and trying to gracefully get out of the basket.

It was amazing. You MUST go up someday because its the closest thing to being weightless I've ever experienced. Besides that you feel free and connected to the land in such an unrealized way.

A good ballooner is certified so please do not go up with someone who is not a professional!

I photographed her with an off camera strobe and diffuser of a white bounce card taped onto my Canon flash - set to manual so that I can get a little extra hot light onto her. If you let the flash TTL usually you do get a "perfect" flash pop - which to me often = BORING.

So experiment with using the manual settings. You will memorize them in time and it will all become second nature.

BTW: Wisconsin is truly a gorgeous state. If you go there, be sure to stay at Devil's Lake for some crystal rock climbing. You will never forget it.