Thursday, 29 October 2009

Skywatch Friday - Balloons Over Reno...



A couple of weeks ago, The Great Reno Balloon Races, were held here in Reno. On the Sunday morning, a friend,her daughter and I went up Rancho San Rafael Park, to watch the mass ascension.

Instead of going to the park itself, we went up on the hill behind it. The view was incredible, with the balloons ascending in front of us and then coming low over our heads to land on the other side of where we were.

Here are a few photos I took of the event. The first two were taken with my film SLR camera, but came out a bit faded. I've since been told about poloroid filters and how they brighten a photo, especially landscapes. I've bought one and look forward to playing with it :-)

(CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE)

The balloon carrying the American flag taken against the rising sun..


The fly past ...aren't quite sure what type of planes they are..


Smokey the Bear didn't stay up very long. :-)


The two balloons carrying the American flag and the Nevada state flag. They'd already started rolling up the Nevada flag as I snapped this shot. Even as a Kiwi, I got a lump in my throat as I watched these two balloons rice and gracefully float over us, as 'God Bless America and 'The Stars and Stripes' were sung.


The Mass Ascension begins...


'Wanna Hug??' :-)


Beautiful, colourful balloon...


Balloons swooping in low to drop a bean bag on a target that was stretched out on the ground. This was happening just yards in front of us and was fascinating to watch..


Balloons coming in to land directly across the road from where we were standing..


Walking the balloon down the slope..


Makes me chuckle the way the lady in front, is hanging on for dear to the basket supports :-)

All in all, it was rather a fun morning. :-) I have some more that I took the day before, when I was chasing them all over downtown Reno, where they were landing in the most interesting places !!

Have a great weekend :-)

Go to SKYWATCH for views of the sky from all over the world !

18 comments:

My name is Riet said...

Oh , those photo's are fantastic. Great shots

ninja said...

What a good idea it was to watch them from a hill! Great, colorful shots.

Dewdrop said...

I hope to one day witness this firsthand! What amazing shots!

Coffeedoff said...

I adore hot air balloons, these photos are stunning!

amatamari© said...

Everything but really everything
is so beautiful that is a joy to watch these your wonderful photos!
Thanks!

Carol said...

What an enjoyable post...great shots of those magnificent helium balloons....I've taken balloon shots from the ground; but on a hill must have been breathtaking....

Eaglesbrother said...

Great Ballon shots...I always wanted to come out that way for the ballons...maybe some day.

eileeninmd said...

Great balloon photos. I see the lady holding on, I hope she had a good ride.

Paula said...

So beautiful.

P-TER said...

Amazing ! ! !
It's beautiful to seen this!
Great pictures!
Gr.
P-TER

Pearl Maple said...

Fun photos for Sky Watch Friday, hot air balloons are a magestic image and perfect addtion to your sky photos.

Carletta said...

Great shots!
I rather like the look of the first one. My son bought an SLR film camera and hasn't had much luck so far. He says he needs practice.

Motorcycle Clothing said...

its really very beautiful thanks for sharing this with us...

Romantic sms said...

Yah i agree with all these posts.

Women Perfume said...

Some pictures in this blogs are very rare.

gig microphone stand cup holder said...

may b its all rare but it looks so beautiful. i like them all. thanks for this.

sanjeet said...

What a good idea it was to watch them from a hill! Great, colorful sho
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