Hot Air Balloon Race

• Prize
  Gold in Events/Sport, 1st Place winner in Events
• Photographer
  Cain Shimizu
• Technical Info
  33mm, 1/640seconds, F5.6. Iso125
• Photo Date
  03 May 2019

This is a hot air balloon race taken in Nagano, Japan. It takes place on a sunny day in the early morning when there is little wind. The appearance of the balloons taking off all at once is a wonderful sight. However, the athletes participating in this race are fighting fiercely, unlike the calm appearance.

I was born in 1970 in Osaka, Japan. I became interested in cameras when I was in high school. At that time, the goal was to shoot the Blue Impulse, an acrobatic flight team. After that, I didn't shoot for a while, but when I was 30 I started shooting again. At that time, I was mainly shooting landscapes in color. However, around 2018, I started taking monochrome photographs in earnest. I was convinced that taking a work in black and white would more accurately represent the scenery I felt. Since then, I have been shooting mainly Japanese landscapes , streets and airplane.