A HOT AIR BALLOON TOUR IN CAPPADOCIA IS A TRULY UNIQUE PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPERIENCE
I’ll just call it as I see it: if you have never been on a Hot Air Balloon tour in Cappadocia at sunrise, you missed one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences you’ll ever make.
Forget drones, this is the real thing: from the smooth lift-off, to the near-silent flying in the valleys around hoodoos and Fairy Chimneys bathed in the pastel colours of sunrise, a Hot Air Balloon tour in Cappadocia is a really unforgettable experience for everyone. I believe this to be true in general and for everyone, even setting photography aside for a minute.
Since we are landscape photographers in particular, though, a Hot Air Balloon tour in Cappadocia will allow you to enjoy and photograph the spectacular landscapes of this part of Turkey, amazing at sunrise, from a truly unique point of view. As well, you’ll have the opportunity to view and photograph from the air other balloons, all flying against these incredible landscapes.
Both the Hot Air Balloon you are on and the balloons you want to photograph are constantly moving, changing their relative positions; since around sunrise the light rapidly changes, this offers great photographic opportunities and the possibility for really inspiring compositions. Of course, photographing from the air will bring some technical challenges to the table as well, making for an even more interesting overall photographic experience.
Hot Air Balloon flights have become really popular lately in the region, and there are now dozens of companies offering a Hot Air Balloon tour in Cappadocia. Of course, some of them are good, some not so good. What makes the difference between them is mainly the experience and ability of captain and crew, the basket size they offer, and their pre- and post-flight service.
The ability of captain and crew doesn’t only mean security up in the air. An expert captain will bring you down into the canyons, navigating in between, and close to, hoodoos and Fairy Chimneys thus offering you a unique and amazing show of Cappadocia’s beauty. A captain with average abilities, on the other hand, will fly higher, resulting in a much less interesting flight and overall experience. This is of course truer if you are a photographer looking for unique images.
A Hot Air Balloon’s basket can vary in size from 2, dedicated to honeymoons or special guests, to the customary 24 offered by most companies (the best companies fill a 24-people basket with just 20 people). Of course, the more crowded the basket, the less enjoyable and pleasant your experience will be, lessening your chances to take great photographs.
Pre- and post-flight service go from just hotel pick-up and drop-off, up to offering you breakfast before the flight and a celebration drink after landing, giving you free in-flight and post-flight photographs, certificates, etc.
Organising my CAPPADOCIA PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP, I made sure to choose the best Hot Air Balloon company available. More, I choose to rent a dedicated balloon for the Workshop, holding 6 people against a maximum of 3 participants, both to have more room inside the basket (fundamental for bags and equipment) and to allow us to fly without sharing our space and flying time with anyone else. This way, you’ll have the most enjoyable flight possible, making what is already a unique and amazing experience even better.
To complete your Hot Air Balloon tour in Cappadocia photographic experience, during the Workshop we’ll dedicate one of our sunrise sessions to go and shoot the before-flight operations, with the balloons still on the ground, and the balloons take-off. Photographing the lit balloons raising against the dark sky, with their colours and ever-changing shapes, is extremely inspiring as well as technically challenging.
During the Workshop, I will brief you before each Hot Air Balloon session (whether on the ground or in the air) on how to solve the challenges the session presents; of course, I will be available at all times to help you portraying Cappadocia’s beauty both from the ground and from the air.
If you’ll be visiting Cappadocia with us, you’ll enjoy one of the best Hot Air Balloon experience possible! However, even if you’ll go there alone or with another tour, please do not miss your chance to fly over Cappadocia in a Hot Air Balloon. Believe me, this will be an experience you’ll never forget.
Enough with words! Until you’ll experience the beauty of a Hot Air Balloon tour in Cappadocia in person, here is a little gallery of images both from the air and from the ground for you to enjoy (click on the images to enlarge):
Thank you for reading this post, I hope you enjoyed it! Why don’t you share it with your friends, or drop me a comment to let me know your thoughts about this?