Hot Air Ballooning over Lancaster County, PA

[LPZ_Stitch!]

My DW and I recently took a hot air balloon flight over scenic Lancaster County, PA with the United States Hot Air Balloon Team. The flight was about an hour from liftoff to landing and we covered about 12 miles in the air, from just above the treetops to over a mile above the fields and farms!

Ballooning was soooo peaceful. There's no wind or sensation of movement at all; just the beautiful landscape drifting along below!

I took a ton of pictures, but here are six of my favorites:

The pattern of the Amish farm fields far below was fascinating:

Looking down on an Amish farm:

And, straight up into the balloon:

One and a half MILLION BTUs of liquid propane-fueled heating capacity ... about two feet overhead!

Coming in for a landing in an Amish family's field, everyone came out too watch. These three Amish boys pitched in and helped the ground crew haul down the balloon without anyone even asking for help:

After rolling up the balloon, the Amish kids helped (again, without anyone even needing to ask) to stuff it back into the travel bag by jumping up and down on it. The little Amish girl looked directly at me, just as I pushed the shutter button:

 

[plyeng2ff]

So jealous I haven't been on a balloon ride in six years and that one sucked. We started out great but the wind died down about ten minutes into the ride. We went about two miles. Now my first balloon that one was awesome. Ten miles and an hour in the air and most importantly some great pictures.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Beautiful pictures, Stitch. I love the dirty feet in the last shot - very genuine.

 

[denise]

what great shots!
it really takes me back.....I took hot air ballooning in college! Yes it was a course and I got an A! The teacher lectured about wind and all sorts of things that were so boring...and no one cared about....everyone was there for the ride. He split the class into groups and my group was the only one that got to ride! It was always too windy for the other groups each Saturday. He said if you have to wear a helmet then there is too much wind!
I would love to do it again....over Napa would be fun...

 

[Frantasmic]

I wouldn't have thought about this either, but it would have been great to get a release from these kids' parents (if possible, don't some Amish still shy from photography?). That picture of the kid in the blue would probably win a contest or two.

 

[dcg0317]

Great shots, I've always wanted to do this and seeing your shots really has me wanting to go even more. I like on the last one most are barefoot.

 

[bob100]

nice pics, I would love to take a hot air balloon ride

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

Thanks for all the kind words, everyone!!

It was so much fun we're already planning for a fall balloon flight, too. It should be gorgeous floating over the fall colors!

I wouldn't have thought about this either, but it would have been great to get a release from these kids' parents (if possible, don't some Amish still shy from photography?). That picture of the kid in the blue would probably win a contest or two.

I think the Amish from Lancaster PA are used to people taking their pictures ... they know their community is a big tourist attraction for PA. No one seemed to complain that I was taking their picture.

IIRC, model releases are only necessary if you're planning on using the pictures for commercial purposes. For editorial and "fine art" purposes, you don't need a release. I believe a photo contest falls under "fine art".

The ballooning company runs a photo contest ... I was planning to enter, I was thinking either the "ground crew assistance" or the "kids on the balloon bag".

 

[artistico]

wow...........wow .... fabulous colors and shots ... i am i love with 4rth and the last picture

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Any shooting tips? We're signed up for a balloon ride in Boulder soon. I'm trying to decide what lenses to take and what to shoot.

 

[fireplug]

Very Cool pics!

Squid

 

[goopysolelady]

My first hot air balloon experience was at Downtown Disney and I LOVED it! Can't wait to do it again. Any more photos you'd care to post? Would love to see more...fall ones should be awesome!

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

Any shooting tips? We're signed up for a balloon ride in Boulder soon. I'm trying to decide what lenses to take and what to shoot.

I used my kit lens (the widest lens I have) for 90% of the photos I took; I only switched to my 55-250 for the shot of the Amish "ground crew" and a couple of shots where I wanted to get in closer. But, to capture the broad vista of land unfolding beneath a balloon, I think wider is better. I think a couple of shots with a UWA would have been great.

I wanted large DOFs and sharp pictures so I set my aperture fairly small (f8 - f11); but, the biggest mistake I made was not being careful watching what shutter speed I was getting. A number of what would have been good pictures came out motion-blurred due to slow shutter speeds. I tend to forget that my T2i is pretty much noise-free all the way to ISO 1600, and try keeping it down on ISO 100 too much. I probably should have just shifted to Auto ISO and let the camera pic it! Sometimes I think my T2i is smarter than I am.

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

Here's three more pics from our hot air balloon flight.

A limestone rock quarry:

An Amish "buggy race":

Amish kids helping deflate and pack the balloon:

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I used my kit lens (the widest lens I have) for 90% of the photos I took; I only switched to my 55-250 for the shot of the Amish "ground crew" and a couple of shots where I wanted to get in closer. But, to capture the broad vista of land unfolding beneath a balloon, I think wider is better. I think a couple of shots with a UWA would have been great.

I wanted large DOFs and sharp pictures so I set my aperture fairly small (f8 - f11); but, the biggest mistake I made was not being careful watching what shutter speed I was getting. A number of what would have been good pictures came out motion-blurred due to slow shutter speeds. I tend to forget that my T2i is pretty much noise-free all the way to ISO 1600, and try keeping it down on ISO 100 too much. I probably should have just shifted to Auto ISO and let the camera pic it! Sometimes I think my T2i is smarter than I am.

Sounds like good advice. I'll probably take a 17-40mm and a 15mm fisheye for wide stuff. I'll also bring along a 70-200mm in case I see anything I want to zoom in on.

 

[klmall]

Your pictures are wonderful! They make me want to take a balloon ride too! Lancaster is pretty to begin with and looks even better from the air!

I'll have to dig out my pictures from the mid-80's when a hot air balloon "asked permission" to land in our backyard!

It was still pretty early on a Saturday morning and I stepped out on our front stoop to see what the fall morning looked like when out of nowhere I hear a booming voice call out "May we land in your yard?" I was so startled, I almost dropped my coffee. (I'll admit that thoughts of God speaking to me passed through my mind for a moment....). I couldn't see anyone or anything unusual nearby. We live in a semi-rural area and have a 2.6 acre yard with few trees and lots of grass.

Eventually I did see a balloon appear in the distance. I waved and indicated yes, that he could land. And about ten minutes later the "sag wagon" or whatever it's called, chase car appeared and drove up our driveway. They made sure we gave permission to land. Evidently the balloon was running out of fuel and was very grateful to have a gentle, safe place to land. They were very nice and left us with a custom thermometer and picture of their balloon.

Neighbors came out to watch and help (not Amish!) but our toddler was scared to tears and doesn't remember a thing now of course about this momentous event!

Sad to say also, a few months later, another balloon company lost two riders when a balloon got caught on electric wires about 1 mile away.

We still see balloonists in our area especially in the early weekend mornings in the fall and spring but nothing will equal that wonderful personal visit!