February, did you enjoy that month? I think I did. But, it could’ve been better. To keep things short, the Friends & Lovers Balloon Rally (Albuquerque, NM) had one successful day of flying. The Kanab Balloons & Tunes (Kanab, UT) was weathered out on all three days. The event in Utah was more of a bummer since I had driven many hours to get there; taken work days off which I could have saved instead; and I got fatter.
Read MoreOh, boy, it has been over a month since the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, and I hadn’t made a blog post about it yet. Until now. Why the delay? I don’t really have a good excuse other than the event made me super-exhausted and I just couldn’t be bothered to do anything more with it once it ended. Keep in mind that my photography for these balloon events are not financially motivated yet (I would certainly like to be paid but that’s not happening) so I have zero obligations to really get this kind of stuff done right away. But, that’s just lazy so, I can’t really say that there was much reason for holding this off.
Read MoreLast weekend I made the drive down to Alamogordo, New Mexico to participate in the White Sands Balloon Invitational (WSBI). In so far as I know, this is the only balloon festival that I’ve encountered that takes place within National Park grounds. I’ve visited White Sands Nat’l Monument once earlier this year, and I was thoroughly impressed by it. So… balloons + white sand dunes should be a winning combination. Well, it sure would be but, I just didn’t get the chance to photograph what I wanted. More on that later.
Read MoreTo sum up my photography experience during this festival, it was: cloudy. Personally, I have a very difficult time photographing balloon festivals when it's cloudy. Good light is obscured, the sky gets blown out way too easily, and the balloon colors are dulled. In scenarios like this, it's always good to have a backup plan. For me, while it wasn't a photography related plan, I planned on crewing for "Vacation" piloted by Janet who I had previously met at the Elephant Butte Balloon Regatta. Had it not been me being occupied with crewing, I think my overall experience would have been poor since I wasn't getting the photos I wanted.
Read MoreThis past weekend was the Elephant Butte Balloon Regatta located at Elephant Butte State Park in New Mexico. I went for two of the three days as I was completely unaware of the media & sponsor day. I had an enjoyable experience overall but, I'm not sure if I would go to this particular festival again next year. I'll explain myself on that thought later.
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