The opportunity to see the Maasai Mara from the air was just too good to pass up. We imagined floating a few hundred feet over the open plains with nothing to obstruct our view of the herds of elephants, zebras, antelope, and the like. Breathtaking, right? Definitely the thought of it was enough to get 12 of us to plonk down a whole chunk of change and put ourselves at the whim of the wind where only the height of the balloon can be controlled. The speed and direction are left up to chance.
Here’s your challenge for today. You are up in a hot air balloon with 14 other people including the pilot. There’s not much room to maneuver and the closest animals are indiscernible specks on the landscape. The image you see here was the best I was able to get that morning. What would you do? Zoom or wide angle lens? Shoot the people in the balloon or concentrate on landscapes? Do nothing and just enjoy the ride? I’ve yet to see the images taken by others that day so I’m not sure it was worth the money we paid. But call me crazy, I am starting to think that given the chance, I might do it again.
I like the way you make me think when you post questions like this. It falls into the whole -what if – prior planning- just in case this ever happens to me thinking. I thought about this a bit since you raised the question and being I am not much of a landscape shooter I probably would have tried the 10-20mm and shot the people with balloon or land in the margins. Of course being a belt and suspenders kind of guy as well I would have lined my pockets with a couple of other lenses just in case that didn’t work out like I wanted. I think the first reaction would be to try to shoot the animals given where you are for the balloon ride, however sometimes it makes sense to just enjoy the experience to make new pathways to seeing. Sometimes when we run to fast trying not to miss something we miss everything important.
Beautiful image and evokes that feeling of mystery that hills and distance bring with them.
Have you and Jeffrey been chatting, Ray? He said something very similar yesterday which I thought was very profound. I do think that this trip I spent far too much time chasing images and next time I will try to remember to slow down.
Wow this must have been such an awesome opportunity!
You pose some interesting questions. I like how you added “Do nothing and just enjoy the ride?” I find that sometimes in the quest to always try to find the next great photo, I sometimes forget to enjoy the moment and actively participate in whatever activity I’m involved in – I get so obsessed with the photos. So this is kind of a reminder to do that.
Sure, maybe being more prepared might have helped you take some “better” shots (always in the eye of the beholder anyway!), but maybe it was just worth it to enjoy the ride?
All that being said, I think the photo is absolutely fantastic – as the previous commenter said, the feeling of mystery is palpable.
I really know what you mean, Preeti! I was completely obsessed with creating images and to some degree I think it paid off. Luckily no-one knows the images I missed making only the ones I was able to get
I really like the layers to this image.
If you had left the camera behind without any particular images that you wanted in your head, would it have been great experience?
If what you are saying is was it worth the time when you could have been shooting somewhere else, I understand those feelings. Free vacations with too few hours makes me very frustrated when I get skunked.
Thanks Chris; I like your questions!
If I didn’t have a camera with me, I would have been in a different place mentally. My assessment of the whole experience would be less indecisive because the choice would have been made for me.
There were a couple of people who didn’t go on the balloon ride and they had a really good game drive. We had a number of game drives so the initial feeling of “salt in the wounds” wore off relatively quickly but the taste still lingers.
Sabrina, I would like to see the image in B & W or even two-toned and without the vinetting.
I would have also gone for wide-angle shots of the Pilot flying the balloon, especialy at take-off when the burners are at full power or even air-to -air shots in there were other balloon flying within shooting distance.
I could never imagine that such a flights are a waste of money, unless you going to well and truly out of pocket.
Interesting Michael, I was wondering if I was a bit heavy-handed with the vignetting. I’ll re-process and share the results with you.
I did look for other balloons but they were just as far away as the animals so no love there.
As for the money aspect, the truth is that what we spent on the balloon ride would have made a considerable difference to the school children that we visited along the way. For that reason, I feel like I might have put my money to better use.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by sabrinahenry, Preeti Desai and Beate Dalbec, Mark Krajnak. Mark Krajnak said: What a cool image. RT @SabrinaHenry "Up, up, and away" –Yes, the hot air balloon ride post is live http://tinyurl.com/ygsfq6t [...]
You know, more than likely I wouldn’t have had a single keeper. I have a hard time holding steady, even at fast shutter speeds. I would have made nothing but blur in a situation like this.
My instinct falls along the lines that Michael’s mentioned. I might have turned around and shoot the shooters, or turned my attention upward to try to get shots of the balloon against the sky. Making it about the experience and less about the setting.
That said, I really like this shot of yours. The haze in the valleys is wonderful!
That’s good advice Erin. The next time I do this, I am going to take the opportunity to tell a story and I’m sure I will have more than one keeper. In fact that might be a strategy to employ any time I’m in a similar situation not just when I’m up in a hot air balloon.
Can’t lose with story.
Not sure who said it… David, Ami or Matt, but one of them reminded us that when we’re shooting to always look behind us. Depending on the light, sometimes a better image is playing out in the opposite direction to where we’ve planted ourselves. Which has nothing whatsoever to do with your post lol, but what you wrote brought it to mind.