The Reno Hot Air Balloon Races are coming on September 9th – 11th in Reno, Nevada and I thought it might be good to share some tips on photographing this fun event. This is a great fun, family event that can provide even the amateur photographer with some stunning wall-hanger images. Let me share a few more of my images from my trip there in 2009.
The good news is the event if free (although you usually will have to pay for parking). The bad news is it starts VERY early in the morning. How early? Well the Glow Show, shown in my first image above, is scheduled for 5am. (You can see the full schedule and other details in the link in the first paragraph above.) I think I left Loomis at 2:15am to get up the hill, parked, walked to the venue and setup in time to photograph this. If you want to spend the night up in Reno, it makes it a lot easier. A couple of general tips: Wear some clothing layers as it will be chilly before dawn. Also the park is dirt, uneven grass and gravel and not real stroller friendly. Bring a flashlight! You also might want to bring some waters and maybe a blanket to put on the ground. There will be some vendors at the park with drinks, food, and hot chocolate. Some folks bring chairs to watch the show but if you are shooting, you’ll be moving around too much to sit. If your family doesn’t want to get up this early, see if you can find another photographer to go with you.
For the Glow Show, you will have to have a tripod. You should also know how to set your camera on “manual” mode since you need to take a longer exposure. The first image above was exposed at ISO 200, at f7.1 with a shutter speed of 1/4 second. The nice thing about digital cameras are that you can quickly play with different exposure settings and see the result right on your LCD screen. (At the show is NOT the time to open your camera manual to learn how to change these settings!) Here is a tip for this part of the show: look around the perimeter of the 4-5 balloons that are setting up for this and find the rest of the photographers setting up their tripods and go there. They will probably have picked the best viewing location and you can usually ask them what settings you might use to start.
The Glow Show goes on for about 20 minutes with them lighting up the various balloons. Then these balloons will rise as the Dawn Patrol. Once these balloons go up, you will see lots more ballooners arrive and start setting up their balloons (just before dawn). Once you start getting some light, you can put the tripod away and switch the camera to a more automatic setting.
One of the great things about this event is that you can get up close and personal to the balloons. You can get lots of interesting shots as they first partially inflate the balloons with air from a huge gasoline powered fan and then with the propane burners. The balloon owners are usually very willing to let you snap a picture looking into the partially filled balloon (the 2nd image in the 2nd set above). Tips: Just ask the handler if you can take the picture. Watch for the wires and cables of the balloon. Don’t step on the balloon fabric when it is laid out. Watch out when they turn on the propane burners! (But this also makes for a neat shot.)
Try for some interesting angels. Fill the frame with the balloon. Switch to wide angle to get shots of groups of balloons. Zoom in to get details. Once dawn comes, the balloons will all start going up pretty quickly. I’m usually on the move from balloon to balloon looking for the best colors and interesting shots. One thing I like to do is get right under a balloon as it is rising and shoot straight up. Try also shooting towards the east so the balloons are backlit by the rising sun.
Sometimes you just have to wait for the shot to come to you. In the top image of the 3rd set with the balloon and the moon, I was lying on my back in the field shooting up at this balloon and saw the moon almost right above me. It was then just a short waiting game until this colorful balloon moved right next to the moon and I had my shot.
This event moves pretty quickly and by 9 or 10am, all the balloons have lifted off and scattered around the area. There is a small pond on the park and sometimes you can get reflections of the balloons in the water as they come back to land. By then, I’m usually thinking about where to get some breakfast!
Cheers,
Rog
