I have for some time wanted to take a flight in a hot air balloon over Bath, and last year I finally got an opportunity to do so. It came about in a slightly unusual way.
As part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012, a balloon glow was organised on top of Little Solsbury (or Solsbury Hill as it's more famously known).
Living on the side of the hill, and being just a 20 minute hike to the top, this was something I wasn't prepared to miss.
As you can imagine, I fired off a whole load of pictures, but this is the one that helped me out.
(Canon 5D MkII, Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 24mm, f/4, 1/10)
Some Months later, the owner/operator of the 'Snow Business' balloon in the foreground spotted this image on Flickr and asked whether he could use it in the company magazine. I was only too happy to help. I requested no payment (I'd already sold a couple of large prints of it, so was happy to let this go), but was promised some time in the future, I'd get a free flight. These things mostly never work out, and this offer was soon forgotten.
One Saturday, almost a Year later, I got a call. True to his word, there was the offer. 'Fancy a flight tomorrow?'
Thankfully, it was a glorious evening for it. The wind direction wasn't perfect, in that we didn't head directly over the city, but it did take us close to my home and rather aptly, over Solsbury Hill.
This is my favourite shot, taken just after take-off. It shows the River Avon from a few hundred feet above Saltford, near Bath
(Canon 5D MkII, Canon EF17-40mm f/4L USM @ 40mm, f/5.6, 1/640)
Rather spell bound by the whole experience, one tends to forget the plight of the people chasing the balloon in their cars in order to pick you up at the end of it.
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