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Next weekend, weather cooperating, the wife and I are going on a hot air balloon ride for an hour or two. In preparation I have bought a polarizer filter that I have wanted for a while now.

looking for shot ideas, or if anyone has had a similar experience.

beltbuckle wrote:Next weekend, weather cooperating, the wife and I are going on a hot air balloon ride for an hour or two. In preparation I have bought a polarizer filter that I have wanted for a while now.

looking for shot ideas, or if anyone has had a similar experience.

beltbuckle,

Weather is starting nice there, Springtime! you'll enjoy the flight!

Go to the Army surplus stores, get yourself a personal parachute

Jeepers Birdie a parachute That will give him a lot of confidence

The launch site is about a mile from my house... I am hoping the wind is blowing the right direction so I can get an some aerial shots of my house. I am thinking their will be room to use the monopod inside the balloon if I need it.

And I'll take my chances without the parachute!

Have a great time beltbuckle and I look forward to seeing your shots...keep us posted!

Take the widest lense that you own. Fisheye shots up into the balloon look great. Wide panorama's are good. Try to avoid shooting straight down unless you have a pattern on the ground it is near impossible to get any depth in the shots.

Have a look at http://www.flymetothemoon.com.au/yeti for some shots in Alaska and Canada

or

http://www.flymetothemoon.com.au then go to flight info and photogallery for some of my shots of Brisbane.

But most of all enjoy your flight

Steve

Hi beltbuckle..

I went on a balloon over a game reserve when I was in Africa earlier this year and it was amazing. Not sure if you'll need the monopod, gets pretty cramped (depending on the configuration of the balloon) and I just took a beanbag and leant on the side. The balloon moves so smoothly that you may be able to handhold a lot of the time and find the monopod a little restricting.

As Steve says, try not to shoot straight down (but don't avoid it completely) as you'll get your best shots of the ground around 30-45 degrees down. Assuming your flight is early morning/late afternoon, the light will be STUNNING!

Enjoy your flight and fill us in when you land!

Liam =]

Beltbuckle - ideal time to use a 12-24mm, if you have one

From what I experienced from an airplane, the 12-24 would be very good to capture scenes inside the basket as well as general views, but if you want to take a picture of your place a 70-200 or longer is needed (as well as a bean bag or anything else if you do not have VR - does not apply to 12-24...)
Cheers,
Gerard