The 2nd Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta this year was held over 4 days from 18th-21st March 2010. From 7.45am-8.15am, there was a balloon area opened to photographers. By the time I arrived at 8am, the area was already closed to photographers and many of the interesting hot air balloons had already taken off with hot air balloon pilots from countries as far as Japan, France, Switzerland, U.S and more. Here are some of the photos taken – a pity I missed some of the earlier action though.
firing up
experts ready to take off
floating hot air balloons viewed by spectators
visitors take a ride up
capturing the colourful skyline from above
hanging on tight whilst being rolled along in the sphere ride, one of the many entertaining activities
I think the hot air balloon event is a great opportunity for the photographers. Even you missed the earlier action, you still captured a lot of interesting and colorful shots! I like that LEVI’s~~~
I was there on Sat nite. Just for fireworks. I wasn’t really impressed with the hot air balloons coz the area was cordoned off and one can hardly shoot anything. I saw groups of photogs on friday evening but only those with special pass were allowed in. The rest of us just watched from the perimeter.
Your pictures reminds me on that day’s event
is there any event in Putrajaya in the month of July? *winks*
Putrajaya in the month of July 10th onwards there is the Flora Fest @ Putrajaya coming up.
eh, you were there also ah?
i havent post mine yet..kekeke`
micki: yes there are more photographers than balloons or anything else. the place is swamped with photographers everywhere! the Levi’s was one of the more interesting ones but the ones i took (including Levi’s) were tied to the ground. there were other more interesting ones of darth vader, citrus fruit etc. that flew up and off into the sky.
Mei Teng: i saw some photos from Sat nite – i was there Sat morning and had friends who went back at night too. i think the fireworks amongst the balloons looked quite spectacular!
uli: yea… and u managed to capture great photos of the lion, fruit, darth vader and all!
chyng: yup as jimmy mentioned, there is a floral parade from 10th-19th july just in time for ur visit – u can check out the site
http://www.tourism.gov.my/en/events/default.asp?state=putrajaya.
some photos taken from last year from someone’s album http://www.pbase.com/sharkawi/floral_parade. quite a colourful sight.
Jimmy: thanks for the info… will u be going? did u attend last year’s floral parade?
taufulou: haha and i thought i was very much delayed in putting them up.. time to put urs up too!
This is a very interesting Ballon Fiest, but the open time for photographers was a bit early…
and it was a bit short too, btw your photos are great!
Ha ha… The ice cream one is so cute!
How many flavours can you get on one cone? 1, 2, 3…8,9… Still counting!
Zorbing has come to Malaysia too?
Ha ha… I though that’s what the Kiwis do!
Re: Office juggler / 办公室杂技人 / Penjugel pejabat / 事務所のジャグラー
No, she’s not busking at all. Just showing off her juggling skill in front of the public.
I think there is another place that you can stand to take pics of the hot air balloon in the air. Very cool vantage point, but too bad I can’t share with you where it is because I don’t know myself.
But I’ve seen pics taken from there.
Oh wow! these are some really colorful shots. UWA would be perfect for this. But then again the challenge is avoiding photographers from getting in the picture. Great shots!
Rafael: i thought so toooo …too early… there is actually another 1/2 hour session in the evening but it often tends to rain and it’s probably even more crowded then.
London Caller: hah i din even think of it as an ice cream cone until u mentioned it..
oooh and rolling down in the sphere ball – so that’s what it’s called… zorbing! was one of the activities and i think something pretty new to malaysians to try out – they charged about RM50 if i recall correctly, just for less than a minute of ‘zorbing’…
Nicholas: r u referring to the millenium monument (the rocket shape looking monument). there’s a pretty good view from up there… i went there for my first time that day later in the morning… took a walk up along an open air corridor lined with the history of malaysia. but by then, there were hardly any balloons high in the air…
Photoblogger: wide angle would be useful especially at the 1/2 hour when the balloons are taking off…. guess we could aim at the sky to avoid photographers in the pics
Is that a butt rip on the Levis jeans??? LOL!
The photographer got himself a VIP balloon ride. OK, now I’m jealous! I’m looking forward to next year’s Putrajaya Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. Hoping to see more balloons.
wish to be there in 2012
mylo: u mean the yellow tag-like thing on the Levi’s.. hah.. i dun think so… ? at least it didn’t look so when i had a close up shot as well
fufu: u’ll be back to malaysia for a visit then?
I would love to go to the the one next year .. hopefully i wont miss it next year
May: if you do, remember to go early to allow time for parking etc etc.. before the specified session of the launch of the hot air balloons… that’s when u see the interesting balloons take off!
Wowww! your photos are excellent! I love it. May I know what camera and lens are u using ? I am not a prof. photographer but may be u can help me some basic info about photography ….i love it!
hi kay, am using a nikon d90 and was using 18-200mm lens for this post and most of the travel posts. feel free to ask me anything u’d like to know
nice there. 18-200 is damn good lens. no need to change with a good range