Coming up August 6-8 is the Pittsfield Balloon Festival in New Hampshire. Three days of food, crafts, helicopter rides, games for the kids, live music, a great fireworks show, and of course, the colorful hot-air balloons. My wife and I visit the festival when we can, along with other New England balloon festivals. I am by no means an expert, but I offer some balloon photography tips I have derived from experience.
Most balloon launches happen around 6AM and 6PM. The sun at both times is low in the sky, which lights the balloons with a warmer light. Since the balloons are moving, you will need a fast shutter speed, at least 1/250. Try to stay at the lowest ISO whenever possible, and a spot focus works well, especially if your camera allows target selection. Aperture should be at least f8 to avoid vignetting, which is especially noticeable in pictures of flying balloons where there is a lot of sky in the shot.
If shooting on a clear or partly-cloudy day (better) a polarizer can deepen the blue of the sky, make the clouds jump out, and make lighter-colored balloons seem brighter and more vivid. White balance is a matter of taste, but to cancel out the bluish cast of some polarizers, one should use "flash" white balance instead of "daylight". Due to the 1 to 2 stop light loss in a polarizer, you might have to slow down the shutter to 1/250. But if your aperture can't be opened wider without vignetting, you light have to increase the ISO rather than risk motion blur. Or do vignette correction in post-processing. To play it safe, you might want to slightly underexpose, which tends to protect against washed-out bright colors, especially white. You can always push it later. Of course, if shooting on an overcast day with diffuse light, a polarizer won't be needed.
"Moonglow" is especially fun to shoot. At twilight, the balloons are kept on the ground and are occasionally fired, lighting them up like lanterns. The basic techniques of night photography apply; use a tripod, a remote shutter release, minimum ISO to reduce noise, and about 1-4 seconds shutter speed (or use Bulb - but watch exposure). F8-16 works well. White balance is to taste. I use 4000K which gives a slight warm cast to the image, but you can go as low as 3000K if you want to the blues, greens and neutrals to be more accurate. Settings also vary with cameras, sensor type, lenses, etc. I shoot with a Nikon D80.
Here are some photos taken at the Pittsfield Balloon Festival during recent past years. I hope you like them.
Thanks,
Art
