Up, up and away in my beautiful balloon

[BrianA61]

Balloon Fest 2018 in Tigard, OR. I got up at OMG-early this morning, grabbed a cup of coffee, my camera and drove over to the park where the sunrise (0545) launch was taking place. The weather was PERFECT. Not a breath of wind, clear blue skies, and the "golden hour" rising sun. This is looking from the top vent panels during cold inflation. Very little PP. I had so much fun at this event, I didn't realize that I had shot almost 120 shots until after I got home and downloaded them from the memory card.

[zen]

I like this one a lot, Brian. A riot of color and a great perspective.

Thanks for sharing.

Zen

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured.

[Tom Barry]

A great idea, perfectly executed.

[Donald]

A riot of colour.

You could crop at the bottom because there's not a lot of interest in that part of the image. Make it something like a 2:1 image.
And you could take out that rope cutting across the left hand side.

[rpcrowe]

I agree with Donald's suggestions. However this image has a lot to offer. I might also suggest that the implied horizon could be leveled just a bit...
Hot air balloons are wonderful subjects and the more of them there are, the more photogenic. The Albuquerque (New Mexico) International Balloon Fiesta is almost visual overload but is a wonderful photographic experience. I would recommend that if possible, this event should be right on top of your photographic bucket list
https://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Travel/A...ALLOON-FIESTA/

[Ike Harel]

Majestic colors. Good use of the backlight.
Cheers.
Ike

[Jim A]

I wholeheartedly disagree with cropping the bottom of the image, Brian. If you do so, then your image will become somewhat ordinary and blah! The bottom of the image, in my opinion, preserves a perfect counterpoint to the above, usually more attractive aspect of the image. Personally, I trust that you will preserve it, and thus find concurrance with the more discerning Judges in the photographic world. There is a bit of a danger, as always -- being able to choose your judges, which is far from easy. Be staunch!

[BrianA61]

I wholeheartedly disagree with cropping the bottom of the image, Brian. If you do so, then your image will become somewhat ordinary and blah! The bottom of the image, in my opinion, preserves a perfect counterpoint to the above, usually more attractive aspect of the image. Personally, I trust that you will preserve it, and thus find concurrance with the more discerning Judges in the photographic world. There is a bit of a danger, as always -- being able to choose your judges, which is far from easy. Be staunch!

Thanks for that, Jim. I prefer it the way it is with the exception of the rope that is a little distracting. I haven't figured out a good way to clone it out without looking like I cloned it out. I'm not that great with photoshop.

[FootLoose]

Thanks for that, Jim. I prefer it the way it is with the exception of the rope that is a little distracting. I haven't figured out a good way to clone it out without looking like I cloned it out. I'm not that great with photoshop.

Get to know the clone tool better, Brian, it would be quite easy to remove that rope with it.

I think there is more than one picture in this frame, it's not a case of one being better than the other. I could also see a crop removing the left half of the image to throw attention on the shadows of the people on the right side. I hope you worked this scene from more than one point of view.

[BrianA61]

Get to know the clone tool better, Brian, it would be quite easy to remove that rope with it.

I think there is more than one picture in this frame, it's not a case of one being better than the other. I could also see a crop removing the left half of the image to throw attention on the shadows of the people on the right side. I hope you worked this scene from more than one point of view.

I only had a small time window and very narrow view to get this image, Greg. There were people behind me waiting to get a shot as well. I just stuck my camera in the vent panel, lined up the shot as best I could and quickly snapped a couple of images. I've tried the 'content aware' fill in PS but it doesn't do a very good job. The rope doesn't have a very precise defined edge, so it's hard to select it with any accuracy. Also, the colors are varying widely and that is also difficult to eliminate the rope. Maybe it's just that I'm not that confident with PS as I am with LR that I normally edit my images with. I'll play around with it and see if I can get rid of the distraction. Thanks for the input.