Hot Air Ballooning (Spectator Heaven)

I finally got to do something I’ve wanted to do for longer than I can remember. My fascination with Hot Air Balloons began some 30 years ago when I saw one up close anchored in front of Rosie O’Grady’s in Florida. I’ll probably never get to the mother of all balloon festivals in Albuquerque until I retire, but it is on my list of “someday I will…” dreams.

The big “if” about these events is that they are weather driven. The lift offs are scheduled for dawn and just before dusk because that’s when the winds are supposed to be the lowest. In the summer, it’s always a crap shoot as to whether the late afternoon brings thunderstorms.

I got lucky. Last Saturday the 7PM-ish lift off at the Hillsborough Balloon Festival actually happened (but the later balloon glow did not nor did the second day of evening activities as there were, er, tornado warnings posted along with t-storm warnings).

I shot something like 20 gigs of RAW digital. It was gorgeous, amazing, inspiring.

Up, up and away!