Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The week of our family reunion brought us to Albuquerque and the main purpose for our 3200 mile (5150 km) road trip. This was our second reunion trip to New Mexico. In 2002, our first family reunion in Albuquerque featured a balloon ride, so it was fitting that another balloon ride should be on the agenda. And so it came to pass on Thursday morning. We arose well before sunrise and a subset of our family carpooled the 20 or so minute drive to our appointment with a large hot air balloon. Six of the Steiners found ourselves climbing into the basket along with a pilot and another family. Nearby another balloon was also readying for flight. Soon we were airborne over the city of Albuquerque. The relatively light winds carried us in varying directions depending upon the altitude the pilot chose. At one point, we flew over the Rio Grande River and he descended to within a few feet of the surface. He commented that he’s been known to touch the water, but never when the wind and the water are flowing in opposite directions as they were this morning.

Off in the distance, we could see several other balloons in the air. One of them was captured in this image on the left, just above the horizon, that spot is not dirt on the lens, it’s another balloon. In the center of the image, you can see the shadow of our balloon as it travelled across the countryside. Of course, I didn’t leave my Nikon D500 camera at home. I have a collection of images that as of now still need to be processed. In an upcoming Travel Tuesday post, I will share a gallery of images captured that beautiful June morning.

About the photo: Captured with my Samsung S7, I treated it to an HDR process to enhance the colors. The low sun and long shadows brought a warmth to the image that I wanted to be sure remains for the viewer. The rule for Cellpic Sunday is simple, the image must be captured on a mobile device. On some browsers and devices, if you click on the image, you will get an enlarged view.

John Steiner