Hot Air Ballooning

Cliff

Cliff

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Cliff
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Hi

I am newly registered here, although I have popped in and out for a while.

I have a Nikon D5000 which I have owned for about 10 months but still consider myself a novice that learns something new every time I go out with my camera.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, I am taking a Virgin Balloon flight from Sywell Aerodrome in Northamptonshire during the early evening.

I wondered if anyone had any tips for me on the best settings to use for taking landscape pics from hot air balloons please.

I have the 18-55 that came with the camera and a 55-200 zoom too but was only planning to take the smaller lens with me.

Also, I leave a UV filter on all the time to protect the glass. Would it be worth swapping this for a polarizing filter tomorrow evening?

Many thanks

Cliff
 
I have never been in a hot air balloon so cant offer any exact settings or anything, but a few things spring to mind:

You might need a faster shutter speed that you would normally think, I have no idea if the basket vibrates at all, but if it does you might need a fairly fast shutter speed to compensate.
Obviously shoot on the lowest ISO that you can still get some decent shutter speeds with, but you might have to increase it depend on how late in the evening you are flying. I would imagine with these nice sunsets we have been having recently you will be fine on 100 ISO.
I am really not sure what sort of aperture you are going to need, I don't know how being up high effect the depth of field. I would probably be shooting at around f11 (or higher) if you do use the wider (smaller) lens, this way you should stand a good chance of keeping most of the scene in focus, but as I said if you are looking down you might not need such a large depth of field.

Overall it sounds like great fun and I wouldn't worry too much about setting and just try and enjoy it :) If all else fails stick it in auto and get some general snaps to remember the occasion.
 
I hope the weather is perfect for you flight tomorrow. Just make sure the captain is happy for you to have a DSLR with you as I have known some that will not allow them in the basket. If all is OK the flight is very smooth (Maybe not so the landing) and going at the perfect pace to capture the landscape below. You could try photographing the balloon being inflated too, and if they allow you inside, wow, you will get some stunning shots. Also when you're in the air, look up and try to photograph the inside on the balloon and the burners.

Ian
 
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. (apologies for posting in the wrong thread). I love taking sunsets and hopefully will be ae to get some from a slightly different perspective. Will post some pics after for your constructive criticism.

Kind regards

Cliff
 
Once the balloon is airborne, it should be very, very smooth and serene. There are no vibrations through the basket, it's not being powered by a motor after all. If you're tall, take a cap though - I'm just over 6' tall and I found it uncomfortable when the burner was going!
 
Take some very good protection for the landing it can be rough if the wind picks up and trying to hold on to your camera and to the basket can be tricky, my last landing we were dragged across a field at more than 45 degrees and it was bumpy but great fun I loved the experience.
 
Enjoy it , I did it last year and its the most amazing experience, light should be fantastic as it will be early or late. They should let you help with inflating the balloon which lets you right into the balloon itself. Buners give good photo's as does all the scenery. Its so smooth and quiet.
I'm looking forward tyo doing it again.
 
Hi,
Did a balloon flight a few weeks ago in perfect evening light. I took a 24-70 and 70-200 and used both. I found at height [500 ft+] the shorter focal length was a bit 'samey'. A few panoramas are great but any more is a bit of a waste. The 70-200 allowed some selective shots of interesting 'things'!
The sun [hopefully it will be nice for you] will be low so i found shooting with the sun behind, as always, the best shot. Even if I was shooting behind the balloon. ie what it has already passed over, I found I was looking ahead for potential shots and then waiting until it went under the balloon to get the light behind. Depends on your wind direction!
The balloon is a really stable platform!! In terms of settings I used F10 ish to get good DOF but less on the longer lens. Have a play around its all very slow and serene, maybe shoot in manual its always interesting to see the results later!
Don't forget to take a few shots of your fellow passengers, I did a few of an elderly couple and they loved them. I loved it and have booked another.
Enjoy but take the long lens!

Dunc
 
Last year when I was enjoying the ride on hot air balloon, I had placed one camcorder on the strings of the balloon. I had set one timer which was taking photographs after each half an hour of us.
 
Missed this otherwise I'd have said for you to say hello to my cousin who usually helps the groundcrew. Hope you had fun.
 
Hey guys

Sorry its been so long. The flight was cancelled duie to high winds and I am hoping (fourth attempt) to go this Sunday late afternoon but hope the weather improves or there is no chance!

Once again booked in at Sywell, Northampton and will post some pics of my experience afterwards.

Thanks for the further advice above.
 
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