PHOTOGRAPH INFO

This photo was taken Sunday at a hot air balloon festival that I attend every year. It's always a great opportunity to observe people and enjoy the sight of all those balloons -- over 100 of them altogether! I have four shots I'll post over the next few days.

I read an article in Newsweek the other day that I really enjoyed -- a graphic designer critiqued the campaign bumper stickers of the 2008 presidential candidates. The colors in this photo reminded me a little of the Edwards sticker, haha!

My six-year old son took a really funny photograph at the balloon festival with his point&shoot camera -- I didn't even pose for it! It cracked me up. (Mr. Peanut was an extraordinarily tall hot air balloon.)

Post-processing (for my shot, ha): Taken with the Canon EOS 5D and the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens at 200mm, ISO 400, f/2.8, shutter 1/320s. Curves adjustment and color balancing.

Thank you for visiting Durham Township!

--Kathleen

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Superb composition. I like the sense of scale that the wall of blue and white gives compared to the young man. The color of his shirt works very well with the red at the bottom left of the balloon. Well done.

Good sharpness and a very good motif. To enhance the dimensions of the balloon even further, you should try making the photo a lot taller with balloon or sky. That would shrink the person and show what a huge task he has ahead of him with this. Good colours and you've created a good contrast in the person's red sweater against the blue balloon, and in the bright colour of the stars against the person's shorts. Nice thinking and a good capture.

Lovely shot - I scrolled down slowly so I could guess what it was!
Also, Mr. Peanut posing like Mom is a great capture as well... you are grooming him, no?

I enjoy all of your photography but this is a real standout photo. Don't ask me why but my gut reaction was this is one of my favorites...right up there with last summers hummingbird photo - darn you're good!

I was sorry that I had to miss the festival this year. Too much on my plate last weekend. I remember how much fun it was last year.

This photo documents the event beautifully. I remember that balloon from last year. The scale is evident in this shot.

I was in Manasquan on Sunday and it poured for a number of hours there and on the ride home. I hope you were spared the deluge at the festival.

Looks like your son is doing quite well honing his talents. Cute photo!

What a great shot this is. The mix of color and graphic elements on such an organic shape... fantastic.

Nice capture of detail in this image--it must have been overcast because of the lovely saturation of color.
But I have to confess I enjoy the Mr. Peanut photo more only because I like seeing the world through the eyes of a six year old..

You can't go wrong with the ol' red, white and blue, especially when it is so vivid. Now from the peanut gallery..... Your son must be trying to butter you up with his Mr. Peanut shot, glad you sandwiched it in with your other shots. A large leagume likeness that leaves little lacking.

"Mom's elbow" hahaha.

The texture that is created from him pulling on the balloon is great, creates perfect leading lines...

Shootin' elbows is peanuts....no, wait a minute...shooting MR. Peanuts is just elbow work....."Hey Jackson, you and Rudy help me put these stars away, the sun'll be up in a few minutes and we need to put the night in the bag.

Thanks for shootin" stars, It was only a matter of time.....and space....and thank your son for sharing peanuts, a truly remarkable image!

Stunning shot Kathleen. I especially like how the green grass grounds the image.

The capturing of this moment in time is truly significant and represents the precarious balance of the future of our country.Here are the deep blues and perfect whites of our nation being held by a young man. He represents the youth of this country. The question is will the blue and white be joined by the red and proudly proclaim the strength, fortitude and determination of this land or will the colors continue to recede and collapse at his feet, a sad testimonial to the greatness that once was America.

The uncertain balance of the air inside the balloon is symbolic of the rhetoric of our representatives in Washington. So much hot and cold air! Empty spaces and empty promises is all that we hear and all that we gain from government today.

More and more members of the "Great Generation" are leaving us daily; the last "noble cause" is a distant memory! Now, it is the "Me Generation" that has taken control. Who will lead this country now? Certainly not these professional politicians that pass laws for us that don't apply to them. Safety and security forever is theirs, while disappointment and disillusionment awaits the common people. We have willingly given over control to a gigantic beauracracy that has spent 60 years convincing us that we need more government intervention!

We don't need them to legislate our lives; leave us alone to operate on our own! Stop helping us by taking away our freedoms to choose! They are supposed to take care of the roads and maintain an army and that's it! Don't feed us and under educate us and tax us and politically correct us and tell us what we should spend our money on. Let us decide what we need and let us succeed or fail on our own merits.

We must take this country back for our children for they will ultimately determine if we again rise or continue to fall. Let us not forget the principles of hard work, self reliance and dedication to country that made us great. Stand up and be proud to raise these colors high and don't be ashamed to be an American!

I hereby nominate Willow's Op-Ed along with "American Flag Hot Air Balloon" for auto-republication 30 days prior to national elections and on future Independence Days ....Kathleen shoots wonders.... Willow pens'em...maybe it's the water in Pennsylvania....somebody send me a bottle...might help the art in Idaho....might help my lawn....

Inflated thanks to K&W (Almost root beer--which goes with peanuts....and Jakey's a Planter...Oops...)

Perfect that he's wearing a red shirt too. Great shot.

beautiful picture. The blue is so royal.

brilliant capture ... ! perfect red, white and blue

the 5D's full frame works wonders, doesn't it?
tons of explosive color here

A spectacular photo. I love the colors and gentle lighting.