My #tuesdayvibes posts have been retired and while I search for a new theme for Thursdays during 2025, it’s going to be (and may end up as) Anything Can Happen Day, which may have just been what Thursdays were on the Mickey Mouse Club where I stole the idea!
Today’s Post by Joe Farace
If you’re embarking around the world in a hot-air balloon, don’t forget the toilet paper.—Richard Branson
On January 9, National Balloon Ascension Day commemorates the first balloon flight in the United States that occurred in 1793. The French aeronaut, Jean Pierre Blanchard, took flight over Philadelphia’s Walnut Street Prison above a large crowd that included George Washington, who witnessed the launch of the balloon. Blanchard ascended in a hydrogen gas balloon that was a popular type of balloon at the time.
International Balloon Museum
The Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum is dedicated to the history, science, and art of all types of ballooning and lighter-than-air flight. It’s located in Albuquerque, New Mexico and is situated just outside the grounds used for the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, the world’s largest annual balloon fiesta.
The museum is named for Ben Abruzzo and Maxie Anderson, two Albuquerque natives who established several ballooning firsts, such as crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Opened on October 1, 2005, it’s owned by the city of Albuquerque and is a collaborative project of the Anderson-Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation and the City of Albuquerque’s Cultural Services Division. The museum is a 59,000-square-foot facility with classrooms, conference rooms, and many exhibits on the history of ballooning.
How I Made this photograph: When my wife worked at her previous company. part of her sales territory included New Mexico and she often drove there and when she drove I would accompany her. Albuquerque was always one of my favorite cities and I really love New Mexico. The above image was made at the Anderson-Abruzzo International Balloon Museum and it was one of the places that Mary would drop me off while she went off to call on clients.
The camera used was an Olympus Pen E-P3, that I acquired in 2011 and still use today. The Olympus Pen E-P3 offers ten Art Filters: Pop Art, Soft Focus, Pale & Light Color, Light Tone, Grainy Film, Pin Hole, Diorama and Cross Process filters that were carried over from the E-P2 and adds Gentle Sepia and the Dramatic Tone filter that was used to make this image. The E-P3 also lets you bracket any and all of the filters. which is what I did here so you can look at the results, keep the ones you like and trash any you don’t. Although I tend to keep all of them, just in case I change my mind. The lens used was the Olympus M.14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 II R kit lens shot at 25mm. Exposure was 1/200 sec at f/9 and ISO 1600, which was surprisingly not that noisy. The image was shot as a JPEG file, since the camera will only apply its Art Filters to JPEG’s not RAW files.
The Anderson-Abruzzo International Balloon Museum
- 9201 Balloon Museum Dr. NE
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87113 - Regular Hours: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., Tuesday – Sunday
- Closed: Mondays, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and City holidays that fall on Mondays.
You can picking up a copy of the book I co-wrote with my friend Barry Stave called Better Available Light Digital Photography. It’s available for $21.50 with used at prices starting around twelve bucks from Amazon, as I write this. The Kindle price varies.