Unconventional Watercraft

This morning 12 of us met before the crack of dawn, looking forward to shoot some hot air balloons skimming the surface of a local reservoir.  With sunrise arriving at 5:56 am, it seemed like a good idea to get there at 5:30.  At least it seemed like a good idea until I actually got up at 4:40 am!  Upon arrival it was clear that no hot air balloons were anywhere around.  Had I gotten the date wrong?  There wasn't much mist on the lake, and there were no clouds to catch the sunrise light, so it looked like the morning could be a bust.  Those of us who hadn't met before introduced themselves, we chatted for a while.  I think I mentioned going into town for coffee and breakfast.

As I was getting used to the new concept of having the morning free, a truck pulled up pulling a trailer.  The trailer had a photo of a balloon on the side!  Another one pulled up… at least we'd have two!  It turned out that we had the right date, a couple of dozen balloons would be launching, but the preferred launch time was right around when the sun would hit the launch site, closer to 6:10.

So we ended up having a very nice morning shooting the balloons, with calm water to catch their reflections.  Here's my first image from the day; the other images in the album are from previous years, mostly 2004 and 2006.

We'll be back out there tomorrow morning, this time probably closer to 6:15 am!

Photographing the balloons

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