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Would love your tips on photographing Hot Air Balloon's at Night
Feb 1, 2012 13:44:11   #
jwegge11 Loc: Stillwater, MN
 
This weekend in Hudson, WI is a Hot Air Balloon festival and the expectation is for 40 balloons.

Would love your ideas, past photos, and especially camera settings to shoot them at dark when they all light up. Manual mode, AV, TV?? Lens preferences?

I own a Canon 40D and my lens selections are all Canons... 16-35 L, 24-105 Macro L IS and a 70-200 f/2.8 L IS. When they do the 'Moon Glow' I've heard it doesn't last very long so I'm guessing I should use one lens and stick with it.

Any suggestions would be great. I definitely plan on using a Tripod.

Thanks in advance,

Jeff

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Feb 1, 2012 21:14:54   #
photo guy Loc: Chippewa Falls, WI
 
www.hudsonstarobserver.com is the local Hudson, WI newspaper website talking about the event in today's edition. It even has the full schedule of events for the weekend listed. Hope this helps you too. They are having different events throughout the weekend and even tell in the article when some of good photos could be taken. Hope this helps.

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Feb 2, 2012 08:21:43   #
Steve H Loc: Tampa, FL
 
Use a tripod/monopod, a remote shutter release if you can, an be ready. A .5-1.0 second exposure should do ok, depending on the number of balloons. They typically light up for just a few seconds at a time so you may need to pick a spot and be patient so you can get multiple balloons glowing at the same time. Have fun, wish I could be there!

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Feb 2, 2012 10:54:57   #
melphoto60
 
jwegge11 wrote:
This weekend in Hudson, WI is a Hot Air Balloon festival and the expectation is for 40 balloons.

Would love your ideas, past photos, and especially camera settings to shoot them at dark when they all light up. Manual mode, AV, TV?? Lens preferences?

I own a Canon 40D and my lens selections are all Canons... 16-35 L, 24-105 Macro L IS and a 70-200 f/2.8 L IS. When they do the 'Moon Glow' I've heard it doesn't last very long so I'm guessing I should use one lens and stick with it.

Any suggestions would be great. I definitely plan on using a Tripod.

Thanks in advance,

Jeff
This weekend in Hudson, WI is a Hot Air Balloon fe... (show quote)


I have some photos of St Louis balloon glow I can post them with exif data shot with 40D and 50 f1.8. if you want me to.

the 16-35 should be fine.

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Feb 2, 2012 10:56:41   #
rpavich Loc: West Virginia
 
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/photographing-a-balloon-night-glow-14308

http://www.photograffics.com/BALLOONS.HTM

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Feb 2, 2012 13:32:11   #
Gil Loc: Dublin, OH
 
Did this last year in Cincinnati. Used a lot of different settings and some in auto mode - a lot of them turned out good. I don't think can go there with a single setting - you need to vary your settings during your shoot. I was surprised at the quality of some of the "short" shutter openings, but then the balloons are pretty bright in the dark.
The photo of the group of balloons shot at dusk was as follows:
.4 sec @ F8 (@17mm with a 10-20mm) ISO 200
The single balloon was shot after dark as follows:
1/10 Sec @ F3.2 (35mm with a 24-85mm) ISO 200 Some pp was done to lighten the sky on this one.
Nikon D300





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Feb 2, 2012 14:44:40   #
jwegge11 Loc: Stillwater, MN
 
Gil,

Beautiful photographs and appreciate your ideas!!

Jeff

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Feb 2, 2012 14:57:08   #
jwegge11 Loc: Stillwater, MN
 
Just wanted to say thanks so much to everyone who's taken time to respond. I can't wait for Saturday--the weather is unseasonably warm for the Minneapolis area...I'm secretly hoping for at least partially clear skies to use the deep blue as a backdrop after the sun sets.

I'll post some pics later!! If there is anyone who is attending let me know, we could hook up and strategize together.

Warm Regards,

Jeff

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Feb 3, 2012 13:06:14   #
fstop11 Loc: Huntington Beach Ca
 
If you just want to shoot the glow then the tripod is good. We were in Albuquerque NM last October for the first time. I used Auto ISO & Av Adjusted my exposure compensation using histogram reading so I was + 1/3 to +2 depending on the time of day. Lens was 28-300mm on a 5DMk2, Most focal length were 28-200mm, also Google how to take hot air balloon pictures, lots of info.

Good luck it's really exciting being on the ground taking pictures.

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Jul 20, 2012 09:20:14   #
annemariegray Loc: Dudley Ma
 
Great shots-beautiful glow

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Jul 26, 2012 02:04:28   #
reenilswin Loc: UK
 
Awesome photography done last year in Cincinnati ! I have just started to learn photography techniques, and it is the best time to see beautiful photos at this stage. So, it is best opportunity to see such a great ideally article of photography. Hope I will get some more helpful tips.

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