Hot air balloon glow photography with film

[Ricochetrider]

I have some pictures I can share, but I'm not sure how to get them in here. I try to copy the link from Dropbox, and all I get is that broken IMG thing.

 

There should be an easy link in drop box to "save" the image to your photo files on desktop, PC, or laptop (whatever you use). You can even save them to your. phone. Another option is to email each photo to yourself then save to your photo files.

 

If a file isn't too big, you can simply drag & drop one into the Reply box here. Otherwise you can add them to a host site and copy/paste a URL by opening the "add image file" icon at the top of the Reply box (as suggested)

[williamtk1974]

Ok, finally, some pics to share. Please keep in mind what I said about how the event didn't turn out the way it was advertised.

 

I'm not claiming that the pics are perfect, but I think they turned out pretty well and showed that this type of photography can be done on film.

 

 

[William Michael]

Ok, finally, some pics to share. Please keep in mind what I said about how the event didn't turn out the way it was advertised. I'm not claiming that the pics are perfect, but I think they turned out pretty well and showed that this type of photography can be done on film.

 

Roger that. I am interested in the outcome, because I shall be interested what you learned from the exercise.

 

WW

[Ricochetrider]

Thanks for posting the photos! Looks like you had reasonable success to me, no not perfect, but pretty good for a first time attempt at this.

Were these shots hand-held or shot with a tripod? Seems like a tripod and a cable release would go a long way here. Granted, everything is in motion and time is of the essence.

Nice work!

happy new year.

 

EDIT: can you tell us the film used, please? Apertures and shutter speeds would be nice to- but I understand not everyone records such info on everything...

[William Michael]

. . . can you tell us the film used, please? Apertures and shutter speeds would be nice to- but I understand not everyone records such info on everything...

 

Ditto.

 

WW

[williamtk1974]

Ok, the film was Kodak Ektar 100. The camera was a Nikon F90X with a Nikkor 50mm F1:1.8 lens. If memory serves, I shot some of the pics with the lens at f8 and some at f11. Some might see this as cheating, but I set the camera at Aperture Priority and used Spot Metering. I was using a tripod and the Nikon electronic cable release that fits that particular camera, so any blur was a result of movement from the balloons during a long exposure.

[William Michael]

Thank you. I think using Spot Metering (assumed on the balloons) was a good idea. Av Priority was "safe" in the sense of exposure and I understand that approach - as you mentioned (actually I read as an implied statement), you were hoping that you'd get some keepers, without much Subject Movement - and you did. Well done.

 

Were the negatives suitably exposded?

 

What's the summary, of what you learned?

 

WW

[williamtk1974]

I believe that Process One did a good job with the negatives and scans at a reasonable price.

 

With regards to learning, I learned that this sort of photo project is doable. Having the right tools and technology were helpful. That said, I probably could have put the camera into fully manual mode and made good images there, but that would be more of a gamble. These weren't the only pics that were ok, but I thought they were the best of the lot. There were some others that were disappointing. I tried to get some pics of the ferris wheel on site, but could never catch it at its most illuminated, so those pics seem a little dull to me. Out of 36 or 37 exposures, less than half were all that good, but that doesn't come as much of a surprise. The limited number of exposures forced me to be careful.

 

Now, I made brief mention that the event didn't go off as advertised. I believe that had it gone off as planned, I would have been able to get some better images. The event organizers advertised the event as a balloon festival that would also include a tethered balloon rides and a tethered balloon glow once the sun was down. There also happened to be a carnival of sorts taking place, as well as numerous food and craft vendors present. When it came time to do the glow itself, I couldn't help but notice that at least 1/4 of the balloons which had been present earlier in the evening were deflated and packed up. Once the time of glow's beginning passed, a delay was announced over the PA. About a half hour later, an announcement was made that they would continue to offer tethered balloon rides. No explanation was given about the state of the glow itself.

 

The following week, the organizer's Facebook site seemed to be overflowing with increasingly negative and vitriolic comments about the festival's failure to live up to its advertising. It got so bad that the organizers had someone monitoring the site at all times and quickly removing anything other than posts about how someone had soooo much fun at the balloon festival and how they couldn't wait for it to come back next year. The cynic in me couldn't help but wonder if some of those postings were created by shills. If an explanation had been given at the event over the PA, I doubt they would have been subject to so much harsh criticism, but they handled the whole situation poorly at best.

 

Thank you to everyone for your helpful advice on this posting and your kind words regarding the end result of the project. Maybe 2020 will see me getting to have another go at it somewhere else.

 

-William

[William Michael]

Thank you. Well done.

 

WW

[rodeo_joe1]

The following week, the organizer's Facebook site seemed to be overflowing with increasingly negative and vitriolic comments about the festival's failure to live up to its advertising.

That's typical of balloon 'festivals' IME. They're too weather-dependent to be reliable and most end up as purely tethered, or even grounded events. That's why there are other lame attractions on the ground. So that punters aren't left completely without entertainment.

 

You're probably better off staking out an airfield where balloon flights take off from.

[williamtk1974]

That's typical of balloon 'festivals' IME. They're too weather-dependent to be reliable and most end up as purely tethered, or even grounded events. That's why there are other lame attractions on the ground. So that punters aren't left completely without entertainment.

 

You're probably better off staking out an airfield where balloon flights take off from.

 

Funny thing about it was that reports from the following night indicated that the organizers made announcements about potential wind-related delays and fewer people ended up disappointed. Not sure why they couldn't have done that the night I was there. Their poor handling of the first night made it into local news media reports.

 

About three hours south of where I live is a resort named Callaway Gardens. They've been there for a long time and offer pretty much the sort of amenities you'd expect at a place like that, such as golf, hunting in season, a man-made lake with a beach, a huge pool, extensive gardens, a butterfly pavilion etc. Neat place. Every year at the Labor Day weekend, they do an end of summer festival that includes a balloon glow. I went a few years ago and was not disappointed. It was clear that they've been doing this long enough to know what they're doing. I tried to get pics that night, but the US Mail lost my film.