Balloons

Every year about this time is the Bristol Balloon Fiesta. If you’re in the city and the breeze is blowing the right way you might be lucky enough to see a sky filled with colourful hot-air balloons. With the usual prevailing winds being more or less south-westerly, those north-east of the Fiesta’s base at Ashton Court would be most likely to see such a sight. One day in August 2011 it happened that the light breeze was just the right amount more southerly than westerly to bring many balloons over the suburb in the north of the city where I then lived.

Both of these photos were taken from a second-floor window with my Nikon D80 using a zoom lens (probably the one that came with the camera). For the first one the focal length was at its maximum of 300mm; while for the second it was at 145mm. Both images are cropped, the second a little more so. A couple of the balloons ended up floating low and nearby enough that I could quite clearly see the aeronauts in their baskets.