Going South, Day 3, Flying in the Valley of the Gods

The culmination of this wondrous weekend of photography arrived on Sunday Morning, checking out early, we followed the intermittent caravan of pilots and observers west from Bluff to the Turn off to "The Valley of the Gods" an area I had heard of, but never visited. It was spectacular, Monument Valley spectacular, but with dirt roads and no tribal restrictions on where you can go. The fact that Hot Air Ballooning was/is allowed here is mind blowingly awesome!

The sense of adventure contained in that morning is embodied in this shot for me. A string of cars headed into the desert, the sun just barely touching the not so distant buttes, off the beaten path on a dirt road. The exact opposite of what national parks have become, paved parking lots and bus's full of tourists at an overlook with a fence to keep you from getting too close to the edge. The very unfettered nature of this environment breathing joy into your soul!

As we waited for the balloonists to pick a spot to launch, we enjoyed the delicate beauty of the moon again sinking towards the western horizon in the early dawn light. I wished for more clouds to give the sky texture, but... I will take clear skies over full overcast! The rule of thirds didn't suit me here, so I broke it. I don't know if it works, but I like it for some reason.

I keep coming back to this shot, it was my wallpaper for awhile, I struggled with the red saturation, this is as close to reality as I can remember it being. Warm light on a COLD morning.

Away out there somewhere is Monument Valley, many miles away. I don't feel bad to have missed going there.

The travel of many vehicles  created some ground haze behind us, it looks worse than it is due to the sun's direction relative to the camera.

I think I had a strong infatuation with the moon on this trip, I remain unapologetic about it, steadfastly, I had a LOT of fun taking these pictures. And maybe more looking at them and playing with them.

As the balloons began to inflate and launch my excitement level soared, words cannot describe the beauty of these behemoths rising above the landscape, powered only by hot air. I need to finagle a ride on one of these someday. Hello Bucket List!!!

I wish I knew who owned this balloon, I think they would be interested in having this sequence of shots.

The action began to get even more fast and furious as more and more balloons launched.

The sky filled with balloons was a magnificent sight!

This panorama is my Piece de Resistance of the whole trip. I really want to print it large, really really large!

Typical of this area, all roads lead to beauty.

It turns out that landing something that you cannot really steer very well can be a chancy proposition, landing near a road nearly miraculous! But quite likely appreciated!

Back on the pavement again, time to head back home, dusty (Yes you can see the specks on the front of my lens element.....) but enthralled with the trip.

Thanks for coming along on this trip with me!

Going South, Day 2, AM

After arriving in Bluff, settling into our....... interesting hotel. (Think FEMA portable housing re-purposed as a hotel. But hey it was clean, had hot water and enough beds.) We went to the Senior/Community Center to eat Navajo Tacos and Navajo Fry bread and watch a program of the local indigenous tribes singing and dancing (Kind of fun actually!) we crashed and prepared for the sunrise fly of the Hot Air Balloons we were there to see!

6:45 am pilots briefing came early, after, we proceeded up to the cemetery that overlooks the town. There was some absolutely stunning color on the bluffs west of town, with our friendly setting moon hanging around to add something to the sky. I have to say that my biggest hardship was the lack of character in the sky, "Severe Clear" is great for the balloons but not so much for photography.

Some nice cumulus would have changed this panorama from "Nice" to "STUNNING!" rather quickly. It still captures a moment of great joy to me, poised to experience the ethereal beauty of Hot Air Balloons flying, camera in hand, anticipation building.

With a bit more telephoto, the landscape could be brought closer to hand, and interesting compositions could be had. I look at this photo and I can feel the utter stillness I felt simply gazing across that lonely town towards the west.

Despite the number of photos included here, there are more to see from this morning and the next, here.

Watching the choreographed movements of the teams laying out and filling the balloons was a sight to behold. They are first connected to the baskets while lying on their sides. Air is blown in by gas powered fans to partially inflate the envelopes. Then the burners are lit off to begin filling the balloons with hot air.

The heat can be felt from many feet away and the sound is a physical presence.

The basket is pulled upright by the balloon as it rises, I was quite nervous about the flame catching the envelope of the balloon on fire, but apparently the burner swivels and the pilots tend to be careful about where they aim.

The crews were nice enough to allow me to poke my camera into several balloons from the top as the fans were filling them. It seemed to me that I was poking my head into a bubble of stained glass, illuminated by the rays of the rising sun.

Crowding is apparently OK, the proximity of the balloons to each other was a little startling to me as an uneducated noob.

As more balloons made their exit, flying slowly to the East, it became apparent that we needed to get ahead of them to get the best light. We jumped into our trusty Pilot and headed east on UT Route 162 (also labeled "Mission Road") where we stopped at... wait for it... a church by the side of the road (I think it was the mission referred to) where we were able to see the balloons as they came to and past us.

It is not often that you get to see that many balloons at the same time.

Many of the balloons skimmed close to the cliffs. Almost too close for my comfort at times. I really need to arrange a ride in one of these some year!

As the sun rose higher the light grew harsher which posed some challenges to me as a photographer. Exposure became more critical, and protecting highlights a must!

The best skies seemed to come with the sun almost 90 degrees off axis from where you are pointing the camera.

Balloons landing ON the road while convenient, must be somewhat disconcerting to a driver who doesn't know what is actually going on. Though I doubt anybody in the county was not aware.

The sandstone makes a fabulous backdrop to the colorful balloons, I really find myself strongly inclined to go back and take my entire family next year.