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Summer begins for me with the Tigard Festival of Balloons. Here are a few shots from this year's Nite Glow.
It was toasty warm taking this photo as the crew stuffed the envelope with hot air. If only I had some marshmallows with me.
Of course there was a crowd of people. The festival keeps drawing them in.
They can't stay lit all evening so they got tipsy. I suppose some patrons of the beer tent did too.
The ground crew wanted to go home after a long day, after all they were up racing balloons in the morning just as the sun rose. But they couldn't leave until they squeezed out all the hot air.
Maybe next year I'll pry myself out of bed to catch the races. But the weather must be perfect.
Looks like fun. I keep telling myself I'm going to get to one of these events but something always comes up.
Several years ago while competing in shotgun events at the Tualitan gun club I woke up early in the morning to a giant cow balloon flying by... I chalked it up initially to having drank too much the night before. Not long after several others flew by from the festival going on.
Several years ago while competing in shotgun events at the Tualitan gun club I woke up early in the morning to a giant cow balloon flying by... I chalked it up initially to having drank too much the night before. Not long after several others flew by from the festival going on.
I've not been to the Tigard show in a number of years, but I use to make the circuit to all of them in the area, Walla Walla on Mother Day's weekend gave me a good excuse to go see my mom , Tigard because it was close and Bend because it was about the best in the area. Walla Walla had a hard time getting a weather break for a lot of years so they moved it this year till after Mother's Day (I went up to see my mom anyway) and I believe they had better weather too. I've always wanted to go to the one in New Mexico but have never had a chance. Maybe someday.
Thanks for sharing these. I have never been to the hot air balloons there and always wanted to. It was cool seeing your shots of what they do with them when they are on the ground, very nice!
I went down to Albuquerque in 2009 just for the Balloon Fiesta, and ended up spending the week running around the region! It is really beautiful down there. Here are some shots from the Fiesta:
This was at the Bend balloon festival a few years ago. This shot is made up of multiple images stitched together. I think it was 7 images, but it might have been more as it was across the field of the high school there.
This was one that came out different than what I expected when I took it at the Tigard festival. I was focused and exposing for the hole going into the balloon and the outside washed out from the early morning sunlight. This is how it came out of the camera.
I always find that it's hard to determine where the balloons are going to go and come down, so I usually stick around the field where they launch from. I've been up a couple of time, and it is a great experience... as long as you aren't tall and stand right under the burners when they go off. It gets a might warm.
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Just glad you didn't shoot down the cow. 