Anyone ever taken pics of a hot air ballon lighting..we have the countrys second

stlbob · Sep 14, 2012

That would be second largest and tonight before the race tomorrow AM they do a huge ballon lighting ceremony tonight.First time i have gear up to this task.I have an older Nikon D200 ( and before i get a dozen responses on how bad it is in the upper ISO's..I know and i can get great sharp pics..) and a lot of fast glass. Nikon 50mm 1.4-Nikon 24mm f2.0 (the second lens is an older af)Tamron 28-105 f2.8 Nikon 80-200f2.8..

My ideas is the 50mm 1.4 and the SB800.

Any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated.

480sparky · Sep 14, 2012

Don't use flash.

Designer · Sep 14, 2012

stlbob said:
My ideas is the 50mm 1.4 and the SB800.

Take the flash with you in the daytime when the sun wil be illuminating the tops, your flash will help with the undersides. Don't try to get the whole balloon in the frame, but enough to show the color and pattern. You should get some excellent shots of the gondola (basket?) and the people in it. Perhaps bounce the flash from the balloon onto the people. Yes, it will probably have a color cast, but then that is part of the whole experience.

Derrel · Sep 14, 2012

I shot one years ago at the Walla Walla Stampede, an annual hot air event in eastern Washington. It was a fun,fun time! Get up close if you can, and shoot some shots of the crews as they fill up the balloons! Pretty fun stuff as they burn that gas and fill those things up! When doing the close-in shots of the balloons being filled, ake SURE to shoot some TALLS, since the majority of the balloon will be cut off in horizontal orientation when the gondolas and the crews are filling 'em up.