How to take a hot air balloon photo is better?

Although drone photography has become more and more popular in recent years, instead of enjoying the beauty of aerial photography in front of the computer screen, why not fly up and experience it yourself? Whether you like to take a bird's eye view of the city in the air by hot air balloon or enjoy a large number of hot air balloons flying on the ground into the clear sky, these spectacular scenes of colored balloons with natural beauty as the background are worth taking pictures!

First, prepare to shoot before dawn and dusk.

For safety reasons, hot air balloon festivals in many places are held in the early morning or late at night. 6: 30 in the morning

It may be too early to go to work, but not for a hot air balloon. The morning before sunrise provides a charming background for balloons, and the sky presents rich colors, from blue to orange-red. We took colorful balloon photos with headlights. Special attention should be paid to the changes of light and color temperature before and after sunrise when shooting. When shooting at dusk, it is recommended to use a higher one.

ISO settings. In addition, you can also use a tripod to assist ground shooting. For people flying in balloons, high-speed shutters and small apertures should be used to ensure clear images. If the photo is underexposed, please increase the ISO accordingly.

Settings.

EOS- 1D X？ EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM？ 1/50s？ f/8.0？ ISO 100

Second, telephoto and wide-angle shooting for different scenes and details.

In addition to shooting skills, what kind of lens to bring is also to be considered. Wide-angle lens can capture the vast environment, magnificent scenery and unique local landscape; The telephoto lens can be used to shoot close-ups, making the subject more prominent and providing flexible focal length range for different framing. Choose the lens you want to use according to your own preferences!

If you watch the balloon at close range on the ground, you can capture the magnificent scene with a wide-angle lens by including the balloon that just took off from the ground, the surrounding people and the environment in the composition.

EOS 5D Mark III? EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM？ 1/60s？ f/22？ ISO 1600

Generally speaking, the focal length of 70mm is enough to capture a large number of balloons in the composition.

EOS 50D？ EF 70-200mm f/4L is USM? 1/200s？ f /5.0？ ISO 100

EOS 7D？ EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM？ 1/500s？ f/6.3？ ISO 100

Although the hot air balloon feels great at close range, it looks small when flying in the air. In order to capture close-ups in the distance and ensure the flexibility of shooting, we need a 200.

A lens of mm or more. Because the light changes greatly at sunrise, it is suggested to set "automatic ISO" to ensure that the shutter speed is fast enough to obtain a clear image.

EOS- 1D X？ Ef500mf/4l is II USM? 1/3200s？ f/4.0？ ISO 1600

Third, try different angles to get the best composition.

Besides catching balloons at the magical moment of sunrise and sunset, what else can be photographed in the festival? All the pre-flight preparations made by popular people, the moment the balloon lights up, the audience's movements and expressions are all good themes.

This photo shows how big a balloon is compared with the size of the crowd.

EOS 5D Mark II? EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM？ 1/40s？ f/ 6.3？ ISO 800

When the balloon reaches its maximum height, we can take photos of the balloon in the unique local scenery.

EOS 7D？ EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 is USM? 1/250s？ f/5.6？ ISO 160

This photo provides a new perspective by capturing the projection of the balloon.

EOS 5D Mark II? EF 24- 105mm f/4L is USM? 1/200s？ f/8.0？ ISO 160

Fourth, pay attention

Remember to check the local travel time and weather before trying to fly a hot air balloon!