Sunday, March 20, 2011

Putrajaya Hot Air Balloons Fiesta 2011

Yesterday, I went to Putrajaya Hot Air Balloons Fiesta with my colleagues. This event has been held for 3 years at the same location. For those who don't know what this event is all about, you can visit to the event's official website at http://www.myballoonfiesta.com/.

The main purpose for me to go there is to shoot photos! But, unfortunately, it was a bad weather yesterday. It rain from the morning until evening. Even though the rain stopped in between, but the sky was dark and there is no sunlight. It is a pain for photographers because without efficient light, it is hard to capture nice photos.

The only thing I'm glad of is the rain stopped at the right time. When the hot air balloons are going to be flied off, the rain stopped. My colleague and I were able to go in to the area to shoot some photos. However, that area is guarded by security and only people with DSLR is able to get in. Yes, only DSLR!!! Can it consider as a privilege to the DSLR owners? Hahaha... For those without big cam, can still capture the photos from outside that area. You can also queue up to buy ticket for a ride in the hot air balloons or even helicopter. But the queue was very long and 1 of my colleauge which went earlier, queued for half an hour and the person in charge told them the tickets are SOLD OUT!!! Anyway, those balloons that you are allow to get in are tethered and they don't fly high.

We didn't manage to shoot all the participated hot air balloons because it took quite some time to prepare for the fly. Some featuring hot air balloons like star wars and doraemon were set up late. When they finally set them out, the sky turned dark and people who without flashgun like me, can only sigh... But I'm glad that we did wait until the rain stopped to shoot some photos. 1 of my colleague gave up and went back earlier.

Ok, here's some photos from the event:



For the complete set of photos, I've uploaded them to my photo sharing site here http://myd5000photos.shutterfly.com/