Erie Town Fair Balloon Fest

May 20th, 2006

Vista Ridge Golf Course

 

 

Having found out about the Erie Town Fair Balloon Fest from a neighbor at a dinner party the night before, we roused ourselves out of bed at 5:00am in the morning and headed over to the nearby neighborhood of Vista Ridge to watch 60 odd balloons take to the skies. It is a very enjoyable way to spend a morning as one does not often get up close and personal with the sights and sounds that accompany the setup and launching of hot air balloons.

 

So without further fanfare, here is a collection of photographs that I took during the event. All of the images were shot with either the 28-105mm USM f3.5-4.5 or the 18-55mm f3.5-4.5 zoom lenses at ISO 100. As you might imagine, the place was teaming with photographers and there were dozens of Canon digital EOS bodies. The most popular lens was the very good 17-40mm L f/4, but I did see a couple of very conspicuous 70-200mm f2.8 monstrosities as well.