There are times where you seek out an image (pre-visualization) and then there are times where the image seeks you. During my trip this past year to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, I was very interested in the night glow sessions.
The night glow is where the balloons fire their engines, not to take off (they all are tethered), to the light up the balloon and hence, make them glow. When you have several hundred balloons doing this all at the same time, it is a stunning scene.
Upon wondering around the balloon grounds, I was looking for interesting shots of balloon crews getting ready for the evening glow. This may have included filling the balloon with air, firing of the engine, etc. Unfortunately, my search seemed to be in vain as I kept getting distracted by an amazing sunset to west of the balloon grounds.
It was at this point that I decided to try to combine the fire from the balloons with the glow of the setting sun. This attempt was to show the harmony between the natural and man made sources of light. With the sun set acting to backlight the balloons and the people I decided to try out some different ideas. The image you see before you was the first of these test shots.
‘Fury as the Sun Sets’ is a prime example of a shot I was not seeking out, but one that found me. Sometimes you need to step back from the pre-visualized image and look around. You never know what you will capture when you do!
This image is available for purchase here.