Balloon flight

A balloon flight is a must do, if you get the chance!

The clouds put a gentle reassuring arm around me, as the balloon floated peacefully over the world below. This sense of calm and restfulness during the flight was truly magical. I felt the observational view really put a different perspective on the way I see the world we live in. Silently a bird glided by as Nick the pilot lit the burner. This is eerily the only sound that could be heard apart from our general conversation.

Did you know that the balloon material will last approximately 350 hours before it has to be retired. At present there is only two balloon manufactures in the UK.

Balloon Flight - Simon Taylor Photography Bath

Balloon Flight – Simon Taylor Photography Bath

Balloon Flight - Simon Taylor Photography Bath

Balloon Flight – Simon Taylor Photography Bath

Balloon Flight - Simon Taylor Photography Bath

Balloon Flight – Simon Taylor Photography Bath

Balloon Flight - Simon Taylor Photography Bath

Balloon Flight – Simon Taylor Photography Bath

I created a single storyboard to give a general overview of the event. The only bit that was left out was the packing away, as I was helping to carry the gas cylinders and the basket and therefore removed from my preferred photographic duties.

For the flight I only took one wide angled lens. I had to use physical zoom for the ground shots, in other words I moved closer. In the balloon I needed to shoot most of the images manually and guesstimate the exposure due to the tricky metering. The reason for this was the vast expanse of white clouds that could easily produce contrasting results with not much detail. One thing I did learn to my surprise is that I was not scared of looking down… in fact I was strangely fascinated by the miniature world below.

The whole experience from setting up the balloon to landing and dismantling it in a field was fantastic…  I just want to save up and do it again!

Photographic equipment 

Canon 5D Mark III DSLR camera
Canon 17-40mm f4 L USM lens