Cool Balloons at Balloon Fiesta!

There were over 500 hot air balloons at Balloon Fiesta this year.  Needless to say, there were a number of cool balloons there – here are just a few –

 

 

This is the first time I’ve seen this balloon at Fiesta.  I really loved the vintage feel to this balloon.  It feels like this balloon should perhaps find its way into a digital collage…..

 

 

There were a few of these slightly different, but traditional, shaped balloon.  I think of them as tear-drops, altho I don’t know if that’s their official name.  I really like the look of them (with some more traditional round shaped balloons in the background).

 

 

This is another tear-shaped balloon.  This one reminded me of a quilt.  Hmmmm….maybe an idea for a future project!

 

 

Here’s another interesting balloon – kind of an elaborate design and some sort of semi-old fashioned colors.  I really like the feel of this one.

 

 

The day we were there was a salute of nations.  I’m not certain, but I’m guessing this balloonist is from Jordan.  Most balloons don’t sport the name of their countries on the balloon, but this one did.  I love the sort of landscape design of this balloon.

Enjoy!

Special Shapes at Balloon Fiesta

Fiesta is known for many things, and the special shapes balloons are some of the most fun!  By no means did I capture all of them, but I did get some fun ones!  In order to show the best variety, I created a photo collage of several of them into an image.

 

One of the most popular set of balloons are the kissing bees.  In this set of images, you can first see them uninflated on the ground – takes up a lot of space!  One of the amazing things about these two balloons is that the crews somehow managed to inflate them simultaneously – very cool to watch.  Finally, their most popular pose is when they turn the bees so that they appear to be kissing! 

 

This collection of images captures some of the more different special shapes.  The image in the upper left corner shows a diver and something that seems to be a cross between a pig and a spider!!  Next to that image are the pig/spider and a shark – such an incredibly blue color!  The bottom row consists of a cute little Froggy balloon and a basketball that seems to be a bit too big to fit in the hoop!

 

Don’t you just love the little penguin in the upper left corner?  This year was the first year I saw him and he made me go “Aww”!  Next to him was the winking kitty – again, the first time I saw this guy and because he’s a kitty, he’s close to my heart!  The bottom row gives us the happiest dragon I think I’ve ever seen, wrapped around a balloon and what I think of as the Joe Cool balloon!

 

These two balloons are cool for different reasons.  I love the bright color of the one that looks to be an orange and yellow racing snail (fun irony!).  And the cow is simply HUGE!  You can really get a good perspective when you look at the image of the 2 crew at the bottom of one of her feet!

 

This one is also one of my new favorite balloons – this adorable butterfly!  Doesn’t she have the cutest face?  Love her bright colors and the daisy she’s holding!  How do they come up with these ideas?  And, altho they didn’t fly on this day due to the winds, all of these balloons can and do fly!  It’s really something when all the special shapes go up!

Enjoy!

Nothing to Photograph (or so I thought)

A couple of mornings ago, I took Miki for a walk as the sun was coming up.  When I started out, for some reason, I didn’t think there would be a lot (or anything!) to photograph.  I’m not sure why I thought that, but that was my frame of mind……

 

 

As I walked along, I notice this very cool shadow.  It was almost as if the horse was playing hide and seek with me!  I love the feel of this image, altho it is a rather straightforward photo.

 

 

These stalks are of tall ornamental grass that grows in front of our home.  Somehow, I never really looked at them before.  I just love the look of the red – this looked much better as a painting than a traditional photo.

 

 

I’ve seen this birdhouse countless times before, but somehow, the photogenic qualities of it escaped me until now!  I really love the character of the wood.

 

 

I call this image “Summer’s End”.  As we walked along, I looked over and saw the last of the summer blooms of a neighbor’s.  When I started to frame the shot, I suddenly noticed the window, which, of course, had been there all along.  I love the warmth the sun adds to this image – sort of a last kiss of summer.

Enjoy!

 

 

Nothing to Photograph - Part II

At the far end of our walk, Miki and I came to our friend’s place.  Miki was so wonderful, just sitting patiently while I captured the warmth of the morning in my photos…..

 

 

This is an image of part of my friend’s home.  I have always loved the arched entrance to what I assume is a patio or some sort of enclosed area.  I really love the way the morning sun shines thru and accents the arch.  The rustic fence and tree just sort of add to the ambiance of the setting.

 

 

This is the view of the drive into my friend’s property.  I love the illumination behind the tree, and the warmth of the scenery beyond her property.  The morning wasn’t warm temperature-wise, but this view certainly warmed me!

 

Here are Ozzie and Jewel, the Norwegian Fjords owned by my friend.  I call this the “Morning Shuffle” as the two of them sort of shuffle around deciding which are the most tasty morsels to have for breakfast!  You can see another home in the distance, and just the rolling land beyond Ozzie and Jewel’s corral.

 

 

I captured this image of Ozzie just as he turned toward the sunrise, and you can see the sunlight reflected in his eye.  Ozzie is quite photogenic – I got a great image of him a few years ago, with frost on his coat.  This one ranks right up there as another of my favorites of him!

 

 

This image is similar to another one that is above, but it’s a closer in shot, and I converted it to a Monet-type painting.  I just love the dreamy feel of this – a lovely start to the day……and I can’t believe I thought there’d be nothing to photograph!

Enjoy!

 

Muted Morning Light

 

This morning the light was incredible.  It was so soft, it was almost muted.  Once again, we had a narrow layer of mist just holding to the earth close to the mountains.

 

 

I converted the above image to a painting to capture the detailed beauty of the sky - the texture of the clouds, the sunrise color below them, and the lovely blue sky above the clouds.

 

As I began to turn away from the actual sun, the colors softened quite a bit.  I'm not certain what made the colors so muted, but I truly enjoyed the transition from brighter to soft.

 

And, here's the best muted sunrise one could hope for.  It seems odd to speak about a sunrise as muted, but here you have it!  I also really like that the band of mist shows up in this image.  I never get tired of this.

 

Enjoy!

 

 



Misty Morning Walk

 

This morning, Jeff & I went for a walk with Miki around the airpark.  It was another misty morning.  We've had quite a few of these lately and altho it's different from the norm, they are welcome.  It's nice to have moisture in the air.  This morning, as we walked, we came across some horsey neighbors, Ozzie and Jewel.  I couldn't resist stopping and spending some time shooting them.....

 

As we approached them, I loved the look of them in their corral munching in the mist.  Such a peaceful start to the day.

 

 

Here's a closer view of them with the trees just outside their corral sort of framing them.  This looks like it could be a scene from the Midwest, since the background mountains are hidden in the fog.

 

 

Ah, they've finally noticed me!  I have this feeling they are wondering what I'm holding in front of my face!!  It's a camera, not food!

 

 

Look at them peeking over the top of the fence!  I think they are hoping for treats from me - sorry, little darlings!  I have nothing to eat on me!  What sweet faces!

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 



Separate Companions

This morning, I woke up thinking it just wasn't nearly light enough outside for it to be morning.  When I pulled open the shades, I saw that we were in the middle of a cloud of fog this morning.  What a lovely moody morning it is.....

 

 

 

As I stepped out onto our back patio, I noticed the little juniper trees at the end of our property (or is it our neighbors?), sort of melting in and out of the foggy mist.  It was such a still morning, I felt that my breathing was creating too much of a breeze.  

 

I turned and saw Jazz, who lives next door, looking out into the fog as I was.  The ground between us was not in as much fog and seems almost bright by comparison.

 

She turned to look at me, and in that moment, I felt we were separate companions, both embracing this moment.

 

Enjoy!