Lloyd: You're a braver man then I am Gunga Din! Superb photos. Outstanding color. Where's your parachute? :bugeyes: :thumbup:
(my mother did this over the Serengeti about ten years ago.
)
Cheers, Matt.
http://mdriscoll.zenfolio.com
Lloyd; A wonderful photo essay illustrated with brilliant color, personalities,
and what to me would be a hair raising experience let alone photography.
Difficult to choose from the series. Each one stands on its own.
But choose I must and the above is my choice..for more than just wonderful
photography.:salute:
Lloyd, quite a nice story beautifully illustrated.
I'm with Rayyan on picking that last shot
"for more than just wonderful photography". :thumbs:
Now i remember why the thought of being up there is so scary (in addition to heights)
Tremendous set & story Lloyd! What a Neat Adventure! Beautiful Images!:thumbs:
Thank you, my friends. It was a memorable experience, and that moment you all choose may be the most memorable... something of which I never tire.
BTW, a couple of things we learned about ballooning. First off, addressing Matt's question about parachutes: I wondered that myself. Turns out that even if the balloon experienced a traumatic (total) loss of hot air (which is virtually impossible), the "terminal velocity" of the falling balloon and basket (even with a full load of passengers) is 1200 feet/minute (20 feet per second). Military parachutes are made for a descent of 1500 feet per minute. So if it falls, bend your knees at landing and you walk away. Even a partially inflated balloon actually descends quite slowly.
The pilot told us that they occasionally take sky divers up to jump, and it differs from jumping from an airplane in that there is almost no ground speed so the jumper experiences a sensation of falling, which is absent when jumping from a plane. (Same with BASE jumping). He said they've actually had experienced ski divers go up, but then decline to jump out, saying that the lack of noise and wind, etc. so unnerved them they couldn't jump.
Also, Corlan, the way the pilot controls direction is by moving up and down. The winds are seldom constant in one direction, and move in different directions at different levels above the ground. Before we started, he released a small helium-filled balloon, and watched how it reacted to the wind. It actually started out moving to the south, but then when it got higher, shifted and moved quickly north. He explained that he's learned over 30 years of flying balloons to make the changes required to allow him to go generally where he wants. Not an exact science, but pretty impressive.
One last thing. I often experience some vertigo on a bridge or on a high cliff. I've had issues with that in the Grand Canyon, and in Canyonlands, for instance. Ironically, I really never had that feeling at all in the balloon. It was very smooth, felt very safe and comfortable. It is very calm in the balloon. Since you are moving at the same speed as the wind, you feel no wind yourself.