Hot Air Balloon Advice

bdial · Oct 27, 2015

I think the Portra will work ok, I've done some really nice fall foliage with Portra 800, plenty of color.
If I were choosing between it and Ektar, however, I'd use Ektar, especially since the colors are starting to get a bit muted.
Depends on how bold you want to be though.

BrianShaw · Oct 27, 2015

Good luck; enjoy!

mgb74 · Oct 28, 2015

I'm a bit scared of heights too. But leaning out of the window of a small plane taking aerial shots never bothered me. Perhaps a balloon would be the same.

As noted earlier, you lose contrast with haze, even if the haze isn't apparent. Asphalt parking lots or roads make for a handy 18% grey card (with spotmeter).

Roger Thoms · Oct 28, 2015

RobC said:
should be fun landing a hot air ballon in the dark.

The earth is pretty big, shouldn't be to hard to hit.

Roger

LMNOP · Oct 28, 2015

Thanks everyone for the advice. This was so much fun and I wish I could have paid closer attention to what was going on below me, I was so focused on getting sharp focus. This was my first time, so I knew there would be a learning curve. Two things I realized instantly, the Mamiya RZ67 would have been a mistake, and I wish I shot faste film.

The gw690 was a great camera to have, ergonomically speaking, though I wish it was an SLR, maybe with my L grip and a prism the RZ would be ideal. While I shot two rolls, and won't know til tomorrow how they turned out, I am really concerned that my shots will look horrible for two reasons. I was shooting between f3.5-5.6 depending on the shadows, and generally at 1/250 but some shots at 1/125 - the balloon was in constant motion but very slow. With this particular camera, I have seen some pretty dark corners on shots like this, not to mention how the focus will look.

I know this camera pretty well so maybe it won't be as bad as i think, but there is always this awful waiting period. The other weird thing is infinite focus. I was shooting the ground a lot, streets and houses from above looked incredible, of all towns we happened to fly over the street I grew up on. To focus on the street it seemed like JUST before absolute infinity was lining up in the viewfinder. Whenever I would focus all the way to infinity, it was a bit off, but I won't know until tomorrow.

in general, this was life changing. I cannot believe what I saw and I cannot wait to try again some day. I find myself in search of a new method to get in the Sky, I love this perspective so much.

Theo Sulphate · Oct 28, 2015

Eagerly awaiting your photos. I have a GW690 as well, so I think that was a perfect choice - DOF should take care of any focusing issues.

I imagine you went through quite a few rolls.

LMNOP · Oct 28, 2015

Theo Sulphate said:
Eagerly awaiting your photos. I have a GW690 as well, so I think that was a perfect choice - DOF should take care of any focusing issues.

I imagine you went through quite a few rolls.

I shot three rolls total, two of which were ektar 120 and almost finished 36 frames on the Minolta. I left out one detail, I carry a digital camera for metering, this is the quickest method I've found for getting accurate light reads, and I have to say some of those damn digital shots are amazing, but I would rather wait and share the good stuff. I am so excited to see the 6x9

LMNOP · Oct 29, 2015

Update:

I owe this forum at least one shot, a quick edit, one of several more I'm working on, but this gives you an idea of the view.

This shot is kinda weird because I focused just above infinity, it seems like the upfront subjects are in focus and the mountains are soft. I feel like a second shot at this would yield better results. I DO have some pretty amazing street shots of the suburbs and trees, I am excited to look closer at these. Overall, I learned a lot from this experience. I have to reiterate, this is far from the best shot of the day, but it illustrates the challenges of shooting this way.

RobC · Oct 29, 2015

There is a lot of haze which makes it difficult getting far distance looking really sharp AND the tiniest camera movement which is unavoidable with the balloon movement and hand held combined will make getting far distant really sharp almost impossible even with fast shutter speeds. So I think its not bad at all. Not as colourful as I was expecting but that may just be how it was with the lighting.

LMNOP · Oct 29, 2015

RobC said:
There is a lot of haze which makes getting far distance looking really sharp AND the tiniest camera movement which is unavoidable with the balloon movement and hand held combined will make getting far distant really sharp almost impossible even with fast shutter speeds. So I think its not bad at all. Not as colourful as I was expecting but that may just be how it was with the lighting.

Honestly I wish I shot slide film, but that would be even less forgiving as far as exposure goes. Here is a shot that I am much more fascinated by, and what I aim to shoot much more of next chance I get. I grew up a block away from this selection or streets, and walked to school on this main road every day. It was really cool to see it like this, and I want to make HUGE prints of these shots.

I agree with your statement about the haze. That is partially why the 'looking straight down' shots look so much better. there was a weird haze in the sky that day, almost clear if you squint but a washy, milky cloud structure was covering the blue sky. This is really easy to ID in the digital shots, on film it just looks like a filter or something. I have a second roll with more tree shots I am excited to see.

Alan Klein · Oct 29, 2015

Nice shot. Looks like you had a grand time.

mgb74 · Oct 29, 2015

Definitely haze in the far distance (mountains). Even the foreground doesn't look too sharp - though may be the scan or my monitor. What focal length lens and what shutter speed?

Sirius Glass · Oct 29, 2015

Distant haze can be reduced some with a UV filter, but it will not be eliminated. Going up on a smogless day helps.

LMNOP · Oct 29, 2015

mgb74 said:
Definitely haze in the far distance (mountains). Even the foreground doesn't look too sharp - though may be the scan or my monitor. What focal length lens and what shutter speed?

Almost all shots were 5.6 at 1/250th - some were down at f4 and 1/125 for the dark tree areas.

LMNOP · Oct 29, 2015

For me, these are extremely soft, but my standards are high since I shoot 95% on a tripod with cable release. That said, some good shots came of this, I am proud of the street shots.

mgb74 · Oct 30, 2015

LMNOP said:
Almost all shots were 5.6 at 1/250th - some were down at f4 and 1/125 for the dark tree areas.

I don't know how a balloon compares with a small aircraft, but shutter speeds seem long (especially 1/125).

winger · Oct 30, 2015

I got to go up in a helicopter once in the area where I worked in MA. Things looked totally different, but still familiar and it was really cool seeing where roads came close to each other and how things related from the air. Way better than just a map come to life. So I can understand how the street shots are the most interesting to you. Just a cool viewpoint to see things from, huh?

LMNOP · Oct 30, 2015

winger said:
I got to go up in a helicopter once in the area where I worked in MA. Things looked totally different, but still familiar and it was really cool seeing where roads came close to each other and how things related from the air. Way better than just a map come to life. So I can understand how the street shots are the most interesting to you. Just a cool viewpoint to see things from, huh?

Well said. It was a thrill, and I seriously cannot wait to try again. I am now in search of local pilots of any kind who will allow me to ride along for photographs.

RobC · Oct 30, 2015

LMNOP said:
Well said. It was a thrill, and I seriously cannot wait to try again. I am now in search of local pilots of any kind who will allow me to ride along for photographs.

I suspect you will end up being chase crew who follow the ballon on the ground to pick it up when it lands in return for the occasional flight. The novelty will wear off.

I used to fly paragliders but stopped when it finally dawned on me that it was really very dangerous. I even carried on after an accident which hospitalised me requiring surgery. What made me stop was seeing two other people have accidents requiring air ambulance callout.

Get a drone, much safer for aerial photography. If you want to get airborne yourself, then take up gliding, its relatively cheap and pretty safe.

piu58 · Oct 31, 2015

> Get a drone,

It has to be a large one capable carrying a RB 67 ^_^

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