Hot Air Balloon

I went to a hot air balloon "meet" this afternoon at Riseley on the Northamptonshire Bedfordshire border. It is the first time I have photographed one of these events.

The sky was grey and uninteresting for most of the afternoon - indeed it rained for a while, which put off some of the crews from launching. However, I reckon around 40 balloons flew in the end, and the sky partially cleared late in the evening, allowing me to capture this shot of a balloon against the setting sun.

This was one of the crazier balloons, where the pilot flew on his own in a seat hanging from the balloon, rather than the conventional basket. You can probably see his legs dangling (hit "L" to see the image large).

This looks almost as if the image of the balloon has been pasted on to a picture of the evening sky but, believe me, no Photoshop trickery was involved here: this is a genuine shot (well, some minor tonal adjustments to emphasise the sky)..