Richard Stauber
February 2025 - Balloons Over the Valley of Kings
Original
Original 2
About the Image(s)
This submission is a composite and illustrates an interesting use of drone photography.
Locations: Valley of Kings in Luxor Egypt and our summer home in Branchville, NJ.
The Image: We traveled to Egypt last September- this country is not drone friendly, a fact I knew before leaving home (and the drone stayed home) - where I had an opportunity to ride in a hot air balloon. The image was shot with a DSLR (Sony A-7iii) at about 7 AM facing away from the rising sun.
During our trip, almost every day was cloudless, and in processing the image I wanted to have a more interesting sky. The drone shot was looking west at sunrise and was made specifically for this image as a sky replacement.
7 comments posted
I think the crop is a little tight especially the green balloon on the left.
Since you removed at least one of the balloons there's some other stuff that could have been pulled out as well. Especially along the road.
At the risk of getting crazy really cropping in and going vertical might have been interesting, see pix Posted: 02/05/2025 04:53:17
Since you removed at least one of the balloons there's some other stuff that could have been pulled out as well. Especially along the road.
At the risk of getting crazy really cropping in and going vertical might have been interesting, see pix Posted: 02/05/2025 04:53:17
Thanks Pete for giving me an alternative view of this scene. I agree the green balloon is too tight and I could have given it more room. Posted: 02/12/2025 19:45:29
Hi Richard, nice composite image, I think the two images work well together. I really like your image, it holds a lot of interest but Pete's vertical crop is also quite nice. Posted: 02/09/2025 22:04:50
Thank you Lou. I believe one reason the sky blends nicely with the image was that both images were shot from approx the same height. Posted: 02/12/2025 19:48:35
Seem like a fairy tale. The sky looks dark at horizion. I like the original better just me. This is on my list but have not made it to a balloon festival.
Nice work this is print type photo. Posted: 02/11/2025 17:50:16
Nice work this is print type photo. Posted: 02/11/2025 17:50:16
Thanks Alex, it is one that will be printed! Posted: 02/12/2025 19:50:13
I like the colors and contrast you have added to this image. The sky looks a little dark for the image, and as mentioned by Alex should perhaps be lighter closer to the horizon. I don't have much of a problem with the placement of the green balloon, although a little more space on that side would be good, but I think it is cropped too close to the structures in the lower right. I think leaving 3 balloons in the picture was a good choice. Posted: 02/23/2025 01:58:38