# Tips for photographing hot air balloons?



## EllasMama (Apr 6, 2011)

I have a place near my home that launches hot air balloons every morning at sunrise. I called them last week to ask if I could come take some photographs and they agreed. They called me today and told me where to meet them at 6:30 tomorrow morning! I'm so stoked, and entirely nervous. I'm not sure why, it's not a paying job and they won't even see the end results. It's just for me. So, that in mind. Do any of you have any tips or advice for photographing hot air balloons during sunrise?! 

TIA!


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## Robin Usagani (Apr 6, 2011)

Shoot it when the flame shoots because the subject will be well lit, and your background will be at the right exposure(because you dont expose it too long).  Dont always try to put the whole thing into the frame.  Sometimes taking pics just a portion of it produce the most interesting results.  When it is up in the air, then you fill it the whole frame.


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## EllasMama (Apr 6, 2011)

Schwettylens said:


> Shoot it when the flame shoots because the subject will be well lit, and your background will be at the right exposure(because you dont expose it too long).  Dont always try to put the whole thing into the frame.  Sometimes taking pics just a portion of it produce the most interesting results.  When it is up in the air, then you fill it the whole frame.



Thank you! I'm not sure how close I'll be or anything about the details really so it will be interesting to just go with the flow. I hope they let me watch the set up and inflation, that would make my freakin' day


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## molested_cow (Apr 6, 2011)

If I were you, I won't try to be too greedy on your first try. You live there so it's not like a rare chance to shoot hot air balloons. So take your time. In fact, if I were you, I'd spend more time trying to understand the ins and outs of hot air balloon and try to capture the story first. You can always schedule another time, or make friends with them and hang out in the future.

That said, the after burner has some really neat mechanical details to them. I'd also be there early to see them set the balloons up. I will also make good use of the golden sunlight at sun rise to capture some good lighting. Bring wide angle lens if you have one. Bring your tripod too. Just remember that you are there to capture the event, not the objects.

I was at a hot air balloon festival once. It was too bad that by the time the balloons arrived, it was already close to sunset and I had to deal with bad lighting. I was using a 35mm camera, so I didn't have the option of going with higher ISO.
Here's shots from that event. These are obviously heavily edited photos. I was trying to salvage them since I couldn't get the lighting I wished for.
Hot Air Balloon pictures by molested_cow - Photobucket


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## EllasMama (Apr 6, 2011)

molested_cow said:


> If I were you, I won't try to be too greedy on your first try. You live there so it's not like a rare chance to shoot hot air balloons. So take your time. In fact, if I were you, I'd spend more time trying to understand the ins and outs of hot air balloon and try to capture the story first. You can always schedule another time, or make friends with them and hang out in the future.
> 
> That said, the after burner has some really neat mechanical details to them. I'd also be there early to see them set the balloons up. I will also make good use of the golden sunlight at sun rise to capture some good lighting. Bring wide angle lens if you have one. Bring your tripod too. Just remember that you are there to capture the event, not the objects.
> 
> ...


 
Thanks for all the advice! It's not actually a launch with several balloons, it's just one family going up in one. They know I will be there but also know I'm not there to photograph them. Your photos are great!


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