Ground scenes at International Balloon Fiesta Park

[Cobras]

In Albuquerque, NM, the Annual International Ballon Fiesta ( http://www.balloonfiesta.com/ ) is currently in progress. The Ballon Fiesta Park opens at 4 am in the morning. My son in Phoenix, AZ, came home to see the ballon fiesta again . Both of us woke up around 4 am and went to the balloon fiesta park at around 4:30 am last Sunday. It ws dark. The temperature was around 40 degrees. When we got there, there was already a big crowd in the park. Here are few scenes at the park.



This picture was taken around 4:30 am. There are lots of food vendors. We had a warm burrito and a cup of hot tea. The burrito was delicious.



People are waiting for the balloon launch. The small white tents behind are vendor's tents.



A ballon is about to set up.



The guy with zebra sweater at the center is a sort of the balloon controller. Without by his hand signals and whistles, no balloon could be launched. Even Obama couln not mess with him. He is the very powerful man at the park!!!



Ballons are waiting to be launched (actually they are waiting for the arrival of the zebra balloon controller).



Beautiful Micky Mouse balloons.



Balloons in the sky after the mass ascension.



Balloons in the sky after the mass ascension.



The US Air Force band in the local Kirtland Air Force base provided beatiful music for the festival.

Thank you for looking.

 

[design7]

I miss the Balloon Fiesta! I lived in Albuquerque for three years and that was the highlight of the year. I remember the chilly mornings watching the dawn patrol fire up! I hope you can take some photos of the Special Shapes Rodeo when they send up all the creatively designed balloons!

Here is a pic from the Special Shapes Rodeo two years ago:



--



Frugal Nikon D40 & D60 Photography at http://abqstyle.com

 

[Cobras]

Your pictures are sharp and beatiful.
I am trying to learn to take sharp landscape pictures like yours.

I use D90 and 18-200 mm VR lens. Your suggestion for settings would be appreciated. Cobras

 

[Canadian Club]

Nice coverage of this event. The crowds must be hard to get through.

Loved all your pictures. What a great scene.

Thanks

CC
--
Canadian Club with a chaser.

3D Frames and OOB Gallery
http://www.pbase.com/otfchallenge/george_mocks_3d_frame_gallery&page=all

 

[Absolutic]

Your pictures are sharp and beatiful.
I am trying to learn to take sharp landscape pictures like yours.

I use D90 and 18-200 mm VR lens. Your suggestion for settings would be appreciated. Cobras

While I am not a big fan of 18-200 lens, I've seen some very sharp photos taken by it. I think some of your photos might be a little overexposed and I would add contrast as well.

--
Nikon D300- Nikon D40- Panny TZ5- Sanyo E2 - Canon SD770IS
Previously owned DSLRS: Canon 40D, Nikon D40x

 

[Priscilla Messinger]

They look like bumble bees to me.
Nice, colorful pictures.
--
Priscilla
http://www.pbase.com/priscillm

 

[wildwilly]

That festival sure has grown over the years.

Nice photos.

--
John

 

[Cobras]

That festival sure has grown over the years.

You're right. I moved in Albuquerque from Ann Arbor, MI, about 35 kears ago. At that time, the balloon event was s a small scale event. There was no Park and Ride transportation, nor foods vendors. There were not many balloons either. Since then, I did not care about the annual balloon fiesta. Now, I find that the fiesta is a huge event in this city. When I got there last Sunday, I was surprised to see a sea of people at the balloon fiesta park even at 4:30 am!! It was too dark to see anyhthing except for lighted vendors tents. I got to wear a winter jacket to withstand the chilly temperature. In the park, I saw many Canons, Nikons, tripods, and monopods. It seems that almost everybody carries a P&S camera. Trusting the VR lens (18-200 mm), I did not bring my tripod. I wish I had. Most of my pictures came out to bee too dark or too biright. I felt that taking pictures of ballons in the sky needs more practice to adjust an optimum exposure. It is raining this morning possibly since last night. This city is very wet and cloudy today. So the balloon event is cancelled for today. The most popular Special Shape Redeo event for tomorrow is doubtful because of the wet weather. Thank you for your comments.

 

[design7]

You are really at the mercy of whatever light conditions develop at the Balloon Fiesta. The overcast mornings with heavy cloud cover are the worst because the shots tend to look dull as a result. It is the clear days when you can get a crisp blue background that gets the best results. I hope you have better weather for the Special Shapes Rodeo and can post some pics! I've gotten pretty dramatic photos of the Dawn Patrol by timing my shots to coincide with the big fllames from the burners on the balloons! I shot these four years ago with a Samsung GX-1L at 400 ISO in almost total darkness handheld by waiting for the burners to illuminate the scene.









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Teaching the basics of good photography at http://abqstyle.com

 

[Cobras]

You are really at the mercy of whatever light conditions develop at the Balloon Fiesta. The overcast mornings with heavy cloud cover are the worst because the shots tend to look dull as a result. It is the clear days when you can get a crisp

You are correct. On Sunday morning, the weather was partly overcast. So I had a hard time to get a proper exposure. Generally speaking, the weather is used to be good around the time the fiesta was held. But no luck for today.

When I looked at the outside from my office window, I feel that we are going to have wet weather through tomorrow, and I now hear thunders too. Too bad!

 

[tyb599807]

I remember going to this all the time back when Kodak was a big sponsor. These days I wonder how many rolls of film they sell, manybe a handful if lucky

Boy how have times changed for that company as we've all gone digital and they missed the fact they are in the imaging business and NOT the film business.

 

[Cobras]

The Balloon Fiesta was over last Sunday.
Here is a page one article on the balloon fiesta in today's Wall Street Journal:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125529956646079025.html

Its video (WSJ):

I did not know that this was the biggest balloon fiesta in the world until I read the article. Enjoy and come to visit Albuquerque for next balloon fiesta with your Nikon camera.