Saturday, October 07, 2017

Day One

Albuquerque's 2017 Balloon Fiesta got off to a great start with clear skies and gentle breezes.


I spotted this balloon from my front yard as it drifted south, about eight miles from the takeoff field.  I grabbed two cameras and walked a couple blocks to where it was making its descent on the street beside the Natural History Museum.


The pilot maneuvered with surprising precision to where the ground crew could grab the trailing lines and guide the balloon into a parking lot.


With the gondola firmly planted on the pavement, a vent was opened to collapse the envelope.  In a few minutes, the crew had everything folded up and stowed in the chase truck.

These pictures were made with my Olympus Infinity Stylus.  I shot an additional half roll of film in my Spotmatic of this balloon in flight, so I'll likely post those pictures in a day or two when I should have a few more pictures of the event.  The balloons will be launched at daybreak for the next week, weather permitting.  There is also quite a lot of collateral action connected to the Fiesta in nearby Old Town.  I'm looking forward to a Flamenco dance performance in the Plaza Vieja tomorrow.

2 comments:

JR Smith said...

During my many travels to Albuquerque on business in the 1990s, I seem to remember seeing Kodak as one of the sponsors on the welcome posters at Albuquerque Sunport. Would've been a wonderful way to encourage the sale of color film eh?

Mike said...

I think you are right about the Kodak sponsorship. I don't know who is advertising on the sides of balloons these days as I only see a small random sample of them since I don't actually go to the launch site. I didn't see a one in the sky this morning as I think what little breeze there was took them northward.