Glowing

So, I guess I cheated a bit at this shot. This was a smaller balloon that was set up as a kids demonstration, and it was carrying a teddy bear in the basket.

On Top of the World

Yes, that's a person standing on top of an inflated hot air balloon. The guy was kind of strapped down to a platform on the top of the balloon as it inflated. After it was fully inflated, he unhooked himself, stood up and waved the American flag to a cheering crowd. I can't say I envy the guy... it seems like a kind of scary place to be. Standing overtop of a flame being held up by hot air? I'd rather be taking pictures of it. Needless to say... this was another balloon that never lifted off. He strapped himself back to the platform while it deflated to get back down.

Deflation

I have no clue what critter this balloon was supposed to be. It had little claw things on the end of it's many arms, a gold tooth, a pointy nose, spikey eyelashes and pointy ears. It never ended up taking off... just inflated, stayed up for a few minutes, and then deflated. I was just playing around in photoshop with a few shots I took in a row as it came down.

Lift Off!

We were standing right next to this balloon as it took off, so I snapped a few shots as it floated just overhead. It was easy to tell when a balloon lifted off anywhere nearby... people would clap and cheer as it left the ground.

Stages

I guess what I liked about this one is that the balloons sort of show different stages of taking off... one is just starting to inflate, one is lit up by the flames, one is just kind of there, one has just taken off, and the last two are well on their way floating away in the fog. Oh, and, it's colorful too. :)

Inflation

Took this one as we were driving in the long line of traffic to park. I like the little silhouette of the person... gives a sense of how big those balloons are.

27 Balloons

The Adirondack Balloon Festival was this weekend. I had every intention of getting up at 4am, and driving up for the 6:30 a.m. launch. But when I got up and looked at the weather, it showed rain. So, instead, we drove up for the evening launch. We got there a little later than expected, and by the time we parked the car, this was the view. It was very hazy, and many of the balloons either didn't take off at all, or didn't make it past the end of the airport runway. It was cool watching them float off into the haze though.

Considering how often I've been picking up the camera lately, I'll probably be using balloon pics for a little while here... so I suppose this begins a mini balloon series of shots for my PaD.

Fall Colors

So hard to believe the colors of the leaves are changing. I stopped at the store today and all of the little trees in the parking lot were yellow already. I was parked under one, so I snapped a quick picture before finally heading home after a long day.

Sunrise

Yep, another day missed. Sorry everyone. So I got up this morning and as I was puttering around, I noticed the blinds were glowing orange, even though the sun wasn't up yet. I peeked outside and the sky was all kinds of neat colors, from purples and blues down to the bright oranges of sunrise. So I snapped 3 shots (which I made into a panorama) with very little editing otherwise. By the time I put the camera away and went back to look at it again, the sky was completely dark blue and cloudy. A little peaceful moment before the chaos of the day. Aaaahhhh.

Togetherness

Hmm. One of my pet peeves is crooked horizons. When I posted this one here it felt off, and it seems that I leveled with the ground, but the bridge is slightly crooked. Anyway, yet another back pic from the other weekend.

Sky Lines

Yep. I missed yesterday. I don't know how much longer I can keep this going. It's starting to feel more like a chore than something enjoyable. With school starting, I've got lots to do, and less time to shoot. Granted, I take tons of pictures in a week, but they're all of my kids at school, and I probably shouldn't be posting those here. So, we'll see how things go. Anyway, here are some cool sky lines.

Bridge #2

Here is the other version of the bridge shot. I never really played with dodge and burn, but tried it on the clouds to make them more dramatic. Definately makes the sky less boring, but I'm not sure if I went overboard. Either way, it was good to experiment.

Bridge

Shot of the Rip Van Winkle bridge in Catskill. The clouds around the mountains looked really neat. I had two shots that I worked on, and I liked this composition better. Other shot coming tomorrow... if I have any energy left that is. Today was the first day of school, and I don't know how the kids left with any energy left... *I* was ready for a nap by the end of the day!

Holding On

Found this butterfly hanging on while walking around the other day on a chilly morning. I actually had time to go back to the car and get the camera, and when I did a second pass by this spot he was still there. I figured he wanted his picture taken if he waited that long.

Allyson Ann

Just a few boats that were sitting out on the water, with the very tips of the trees in the background starting to change color. All too soon, we'll all be out shooting the colors of the fall leaves.

Fisherman... Part 2

The same man from yesterday's shot... relaxing and maybe even catching a fish.

Going Fishing

So I got a few shots that I liked yesterday while I was out, so unless anything better comes up, I'll probably be using them this week. I took a few pictures of these posts, but the shot with the guy going fishing looked best. I cloned out a bright yellow thing he had in his pocket, and a few little pieces of distracting trash on the ground. I was also playing with different parts of the shot in photoshop. Hopefully it's not too evident.

Texture

Ok, so I'm a little late for the Rope challenge... took a few shots of some neat posts and rope, and sadly, this was the one I liked best out of all of them. Maybe I'll play with a few others to see what I can salvage.

Grasshopper

Well, a grasshopper and a little Photoshop. For those of you who like to see the original shots, here ya go...