Balloon ride tips

Going on my first ride for our 23rd. I have a XSi and kit lens so nothing fancy. Its 7AM, upstate NY and I want to be sure and capture the color as best as i can. Thanks for sharing any thoughts.

Get there early and get pics of them inflating the balloon, it's a rather interesting process and lots of flame shots possible. Make sure you use some sort of strap on the camera, it's a long ways down if it goes overboard. Enjoy yourself they are great to ride in.

Bring a jacket or sweater, It's cold up there at 7 am. Nobody likes to photograph when they're cold

Except there's no wind in flight...

Nature Nut wrote in post #14908535
Bring a jacket or sweater, It's cold up there at 7 am. Nobody likes to photograph when they're cold

Actually, it's not that cold "up there". I've dressed up in fur-lined thermal overalls to fly in microlights, but I generally fly in balloons in just a t-shirt, even very early mornings (ballooning is rarely done when the day has warmed up as the wind from the thermals can be tricky).

You have to keep in mind that the envelope is full of very hot air, and there is a lot of heat from the burners too. The basket tends to be quite warm because of that. Don't forget, there is no wind as the balloon is travelling with it, so is in "stationary" air, relatively speaking (zero airspeed) so there is nothing to blow the heat away. That will change briefly if the pilot decides to change direction, so ascends or descends into a flow of air heading in a different direction, but it is only brief and then you are travelling with the air again, but in the new direction.

Of course, it can still be a little chilly on the ground waiting around until the burners start up, particularly around the mouth of the balloon when they start to inflate it with a fan.

You should have a great trip, the first one is always very memorable. Just be sure to follow the pilots instructions fully, and be ready to keep a good grip on your camera when landing as they can be a bit bouncy if the wind has got up a bit (or terribly boring when it hasn't, as the balloon just touches down and stops - I like a good drag across the field myself, far more interesting :lol.

don't fall out.

I'm moving this to "Talk".

So the ride was a blast, but the balloon was black and the landscape was really boring. We got in the air about 830AM and the light was already harsh. no other balloons around, a lot of the crops had been harvested so fields had no neat lines. it was a great ride but with limited photo ops.