Day three of the Rio Grande Balloon Classic is done. All three days we were awake by 3 or so and out of the house around 4ish. All to take pictures and score targets and eat food and see special shapes in the sky.
Really it was fun but terribly exhausting and I was not really doing anything but taking unofficial pictures.. hahahaha.... Today's shot count is around 1367 or so. There are a lot of cyclic shots of throws on targets and other stuff. There were quite a few out of focus shots due to the fast movement of the balloons. Really fast up and down. I should have put the cam on active focus but really didn't have time and I hate giving up the ability to reframe my shot.
In the background were a GoPro and the 360 Kodak cam. The GoPro came out good but the 360 caught the antics of the balloons pogoing above us. There were also baggies raining down everywhere on the first target. It was in face dangerous to move about without looking up. I stayed in one place mostly and just let my neck ache away as the Pilots came over head. Once we saw that most of the balloons had passed we headed to target two and got a bunch of shots of more special shapes and then onto target three to see that last of the competitor s cross and then hunt for a place to land.
So many good pictures but I just tripped about 35 of them. Way too many to try and do everything tonight and I have been up since early this morning without a nap so what I am typing might be quite weird.
It was a good time and Keith and Michelle and the team did a bang up job of pulling it off.
Below are a few that I really really liked and my favorites for the day.
Eyes of the world.
Kodak 360 and GoPro attached to a multi arm attached to a manfrotto tripod... The baggie was intentionally thrown to scare the cameras.
Jockeying
Three Lindstrand Racers jockeying for position over a complicated target....and a tiny pibal in between.
Concentration.
One of my favorites....down and venting to get lower.
Popping off!
Three baggies were necessary to achieve a good score on this target... two blues in adjoining zones and one in the middle. Tough when you are trying not to hit the ground other anything else... THis was the first baggie and this Pilot had all three out and didn't look up to see where they went until after... He did good.
Approaching from the South.
A nice approach and good throws... No space to put all of them.
Champs.
The flames curling around overhead was pretty amazing.
Distance.
A baggie must unfurl all the way before hitting the ground and its mostly easier to wind up before you throw for distance.
SPECIAL SHAPE!
Getting the most out of your balloon is what is happening here. So vented and dropping so quickly that the envelope is sucking in. Since I own the same type of balloon I was able to see that even when seriously vented you can still burn up through that opening and stop.. which he did... many times.
Reaching out.
A rule.. your feet cannot leave the basket floor.. .. even if that floor is at a 20 degree angle... A heck of a toss and a good score! His face is awesome!
Overhead and ready.
One of our up and coming Pilots who is kicking butt with a great attitude and a serious good bunch of flying. Just prepping to throw.
Morning dew!
Yeah.. my head is all over the place and since most of the balloons were above my neck was in lots of pain.. so when I put it down to rest it there I see some little flowers with dew on them... so ... snap.
Volcanic Mountains.
Just the suns reflection off of the clinging clouds and wonderful to see. I even used it in my fb banner for the day I liked it so much.. see...
I will be using it as wall paper too..
Logo .. another self shadow... Not a selfie thank goodness!
I have a video from the 360 processing but its taking forever to set the thumbnail. I will post a link to it tomorrow...
Peace!
