DigaPixBlog

Balloon festivals around the US such as Paris California and Albuquerque New Mexico can be a photographer’s delight.  There is so much color and excitement that it is difficult not to come away with a number of excellent images.  But don’t show up at noon or you will get the same shot as a hundred other photographers.

This image was taken before dawn.  The only light source it uses is the flame from the heat source for the hot air balloon.  The silhouette of the people in the foreground gives depth to the composition.  You will note the photo-artist has cropped the balloon so that the top portion of it stops at the top of the frame.  It would have been to common to show the entire subject.  This way we get a nice horizontal format rather than a square layout.

The only objection I have to this work is the operator in the lower right hand corner is not sharp.  Perhaps this is due to a slow shutter speed at the time the photograph was taken.

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I don’t normally do this but I would like to compare this photograph with the Stockholm Outlook in black and white shown above.  This is a good example of how composition can make a big difference when photographing the same subject.  (The photographer sent both images too DigaPixBlog at the same time.)

The black and white emphasized the vertical tree over the horizon skyline.  This image has the same elements but arranged in a horizontal format and now the skyline is the primary subject and the trees are merely framing elements. 

The tree on the right while still nicely silhouetted has lost its visual impact and the left hand tree has even less interest.  The church spires on the horizon are not enough to hold our attention. I would suggest to the photographer that between the two images this one has much less importance as a story telling instrument.

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