[DigitalCoyote]

Originally Posted by jdepould

Is it early morning? I shot a balloon thing a few months ago, and it wasn't really anything out of the norm. I shot everything hand-held, don't think my ISO ever went over 800.

Balloons - a set on Flickr
They're a mix of afternoon and morning shots, but you get the idea.

Very early morning in to midday. I plan to arrive no later than 5 AM so I can get shots of them setting up the balloons before the glow session. Last year, it was fairly dark until around 6:30 AM. I am concerned because my fireworks pictures from July 4th didn't come out well and I figured it was because of my inexperience shooting in anything other than bright daylight.

Thank you for the link to your photos: I hadn't thought of framing the shots that way. The third, fourth, and eighth shots are my favorites. In your opinion:

• Are texture and color contrast more important than playing with perspective in pictures
  like this?
  
  
• Is there a point where a scene can be too "busy"? I don't know if having multiple balloons in the air at once against the mountainous landscape of this region would overwhelm a viewer or if a lack of a singular focus would make it less interesting

.
Thanks so far.

--DC