2012 Balloon Glow

The Balloon Glow associated with the Great Forest Park Balloon Race, a St. Louis tradition for 40 years, is one of my favorite events of the fall. It is worth the hassle of having to arrive early, the crowds, the expensive food, etc. All for beautifully illuminated balloons at dusk.

This year was glorious - partly cloud and crisp, and we were even treated to a beautiful sunset to boot. As always, it was fun and a challenge to photograph the glowing balloons and the crowd from my 5'2" height. I will always be challenged by my height and other people as obstacles.

Still, it never dampens my enthusiasm. This year, we chose to leave before the fireworks and they were done with the actual glow and I've got a new favorite parking place because my traffic pattern is completely opposite of everyone else's. It's definitely an event where you either go early or not at all, unless you like sitting in traffic.

Can't wait until next year!



























For the other 100 or so, see here.

Forest Park Balloon Glow

Every fall, there's a Balloon Race held in Forest Park. The night before the afternoon race, there's a glowfest held on the launch field. The balloonists inflate their balloons and then, on an air horn cue, light up their balloons with the propane flames that heat the air so that they might fly. However, on this night, they are tethered to the ground.

I've seen balloons glow before, but ever since I took up photography as a more serious hobby, I have been wanting to go. I've either been out of town, or forgotten or what-have-you, and my roommate has also always wanted to go. So we did.

It was amazing. There were TONS of balloons, and it was great watching them inflate and then, watching them glow as the sun went down. There were TONS of people there and it was worth getting there early to get a good parking spot, and picnic spot.

Here's just a select few of the 109 photos that were 'finalists' from countless ones that I had taken that night.



















Go see more at flickr here!

An Evening in Forest Park

Warning: Mom, there are birds in this post. Ducks and another bird that I don't know, but he/she is integral to the post. Sorry!

The other night, I was desperate for a good picture for the tail end of my 365 project. I was tired of random photos that I happened to take it home. It had also been extremely rainy lately. So with a clear evening at hand, I decided to go for a drive, and ended up in Forest Park. By the time I had made the decision to go there, I decided I really wanted a sunlight/sunset on water picture, so I ended up parking by several bodies of water that are cut-through by a jogging/biking trail.

I first saw some ducks, a family swimming across the calm pool of water, mirror-like in its stillness.





Then, I crossed the road (yes, to get to the other side), to see what kind of life there was in that body of water. I met this tall, white bird. I'm not sure what he is - but he was very tall, very skinny, and very white. As the night got darker, he seemed to get whiter.

But what was more amazing about him was watching him eat. He ate fish, unsurprisingly, but it was the manner in which he got his fish that was amazing. He'd stay very still, and then very slowly creep forward and then, super quick, lunge with his long neck and beak into the water and grab his prey. He almost seemed to tiptoe as he moved. It was amazing. And beautiful. But what was even more amazing was his incredible wingspan. Looking at the bird at rest, you'd have no idea that he had a huge wingspan. I stalked this bird on both sides of the road because I just was amazed at his behavior - and I wanted to get pictures of him in flight.









All this was broken up by this dog who decided, much to his owner's dismay, to take an unplanned dip:



And since so much time had passed, I stuck around for a lovely sunset picture:





All in all, it was an hour or so well spent. I saw the sunset, I saw ducks, I watched and learned about a big white bird. And I have the pictures to prove it.