Hey, internet people, long time no post. It has almost been a whole year since I had last made a blog post. With Balloon Fiesta around the corner, again, I am feeling motivated to step up my photo sharing game. I should also step up my photo game in general because I have not done much this year. I’ll probably just do a photo dump for the pictures I’ve made earlier this year.

This past weekend, Alamogordo hosted the 2023 White Sands Balloon Invitational. I participated on the Saturday and Sunday of the event. Unlike previous years, the event took place in White Sands National Park on Saturday rather than Sunday. This is the main appeal of the event, but it comes with many challenges for flying.

Because of the fragile ecosystem, the weapons range, and the difficultly of maneuvering about gypsum (the sand in this park is gypsum), the weather conditions have to be PERFECT for flying. The weather was not conducive to flying this year. Two balloons had five-minute flights and that was it. Others simply stood up to put a show for the spectators. There was also standing water in the lot, thanks to the much needed but poorly timed rainstorms, so space was limited and not all balloons were setup.

Later Saturday night there was supposed to be a balloon glow in Alamogordo’s balloon park but the weather was no good. So, no pictures of that.

Sunday morning was a mass ascension in that same balloon park. The event organizers were hesitant to let the balloons fly but they gave the go ahead and it was a successful event. The weather conditions some were worried about didn’t happen. Overall, it was a good weekend of ballooning though I will admit being exhausted at the end of it.

Okay, gear talk time. I do not like my Hasselblad 45P on the X1Dii. I missed so many opportunities because the autofocus is so dang poor. I’m about ready to sell this lens. However, the X2D might solve my problems. Maybe. At least in the video reviews I watched of the X2D, the 45P seems far better behaved when paired with that body. But that body costs a lot of money. Hmm…

Anyway, the next event on my calendar is the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. I hope any of your readers can enjoy Fiesta too. It’s worth seeing at least once.

Check out my photos below!