rick_drawbridge Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 <p>Our local balloon festival has taken place over the course of the past week. It's always a spectacular event, with this year's showpiece being the huge Pegleg Pete, the pirate parrot. I'm always astonished by the creativity exhibited by the constructers of these huge creations. I got along to an early-morning launch at a local park; in our breezy climate ballooning takes place in the few hours after sunrise before the off-shore or on-shore winds build up. We still have our Daylight Saving (Summer Time) in place until Easter, so the six am. gathering started out in low pre-dawn light, OK for the digital but barely manageable for film. Along with the digital gear I took along a Yashica FR-1 fitted with the 42-75mm Yashinon f/3.5-4.5 and totally forgot the film, but found an old roll of Kodak Gold 400 in the bottom of the camera bag. Just for the interest of Forum members I'll post a few images; some of the earlier ones were really stretching the exposure possibilities, but the quality improves as the sun rises. Scans from the Fuji Frontier.<br> <br />First, the camera pic:</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_drawbridge Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 <p>No.1</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_drawbridge Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 <p>No.2</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_drawbridge Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 <p>No.3</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_drawbridge Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 <p>No.4</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_drawbridge Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 <p>No.5</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_drawbridge Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 <p>No.6</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_drawbridge Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 <p>No.7</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_drawbridge Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 <p>No.8</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_drawbridge Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 <p>No.9</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_drawbridge Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 <p>No.10</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew in Austin Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 <p>I really like the first and third shots. Since hot air balloons are most noticed in the sky, I don't usually see them testing the burners.</p> <p>I used to live a few blocks from a large park where hot balloons would launch. It was a very eery sound coming from the sky in the quiet early morning that usually caught my attention as they passed by at low altitude. An impressive sight to behold - but never anything as impressive as Pete.</p> Best Regards - Andrew in Austin, TX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck_foreman1 Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 <p>Well with only one roll of 400ASA film you still managed well. I guess the lens limited your speed a abit nut as you mentioned as the sun slowly rose speed became less of a factor. You color shifts were nothing to what I often get in low light with 400 ASA. The Pegket Pete balloon was amazing the detaisl from skull/crossbones on the hat to the dagger in the belt.. simply great !</p> <p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jj_golden Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 <p>Excellent Rick! love that balloon, I actually dug out my old retina after seeing this, I haven't shot 35mm in forever, thanks for the post</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCL Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 <p>There's a balloon port near my house and in the warmer weather early am and sunset you can hear the "whoosh" of the burners before you see the balloons. However, I've never seen anything approaching Pegleg Pete. What a wonderful balloon, and congrats for capturing some of his magnificence. I love the old Yashica cameras (as well as some of the Contaxes) and some of the lenses, both Yashica ML (not DSB or YUS) and Zeiss ones. I'd never tried any of their zooms. but seeing your shots in low light with the zoom sparks my interest. Thanks fpr sharing.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Gammill Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 <p>Nice results and interesting thread. I've never been to a balloon festival or show but hope to go some day. You did well with the Kodak 400 film and the FR I and Yashica zoom lens provided a good performance. Back when my family had a camera shop we sold Yashica (including the FR, FR I, and FR II). The manual plus aperture priority of the FR I was the best seller of the three. The original FR, though, was nice because it could use a lot of the Contax RTS accessories, including the infrared remote. The FR II was auto only, but a nice entry level camera to the Y/C lens system. Possibly some RTS stuff might work with the FR I, btw, but I don't remember which ones. Thanks for an enjoyable and informative post.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDMvW Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 <p>Nice.<br> Balloon shows are great in general, and peg-leg adds a certain je ne sais quoi, doesn't it?<br> ;)</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony_lockerbie Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 <p>Very cool Rick, hot air balloons are about the ultimate colour subject, and Peg Leg Pete is quite a character! The conditions looked difficult to say the least, going from shadow to bright sunlight...but well handled.<br> Our nearest ballooning venue is Canberra, and that starts around Easter...must make an effort to see it this year, the balloons are quite majestic.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_drawbridge Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 <p>I'm pleased the pictures created a bit of interest. Thanks, <strong>John</strong>; since your large format work awakens old yearnings in me, it's only fair that you should go fondle your old Retina... <strong>Les</strong>, I like the electronic shutter release, but it takes me a couple of frames to get used to it, and it's certainly very precise. I have the Contax RTS which shares this feature but I actually prefer the FR I as a user, mainly due to the fact that you can lock the exposure display on, rather than having to depress the switch when you want a reading. As <strong>Mike</strong> pointed out, some of the accessories are interchangeable between the two systems. Thanks <strong>Tony</strong>, I hope you make it to Canberra, and thanks <strong>Andrew</strong>, <strong>Chuck</strong>, <strong>Stephen</strong> and <strong>JDM</strong> for your comments.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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