Hot air balloons are almost never seen here in Malaysia. So when we heard that there was going to be a hot air balloon fiesta at Putrajaya we jumped at the chance to witness the "lighter-than-air" flying machines in action. Lighter-than-air because they rely on buoyancy to stay afloat instead of engine power.

Our initial plan was to be the first 50 to arrive that morning to be eligible to ride on the balloons for RM10. But then it turned out there were already tons of people at 7am and balloon rides today (Sunday) were only for the orphans. So I wasn't too disappointed since it's for a good cause. And the morning light was so perfect. The only time when I had such lovely lighting was when I'm at home with my flashes.

A balloon before being inflated. This portion of the balloon is called the envelope.

The balloons are transported to the site with their envelope neatly folded up. To begin inflating the balloon, they unfold the envelope and blow cold air into it using a gas-powered blower. This will blow cold air into the balloon and slowly inflate the envelope.

The inside of a balloon being inflated.

I asked permission from one of the crew if I could take a quick look inside the balloon while it was being inflated because I didn't want to get cooked when they fire the burners. She said yes and the above is what you'll see when you're inside the envelope when it is being inflated. Air will be blowing from behind you. This is the peacock-shaped balloon by the way.

Firing up the burners to heat up the air inside the balloon. You can seriously feel the heat when you're standing near it.

Once the envelope has inflated satisfactory by the gas-powered blowers (usually takes around 15-20 minutes depending on the size of the balloon), the burners are fired up to heat the cold air inside the balloon. At this stage, the balloon envelope is still resting on the ground so the burners are fired at an angle into the balloon as seen from the photo above.

Burners firing to maintain the heat in the envelope.

The heated air inside the envelope will slowly cause it to rise. Soon the balloon will be in the vertical position and the balloon is now ready for take off.

The balloons here have already been successfully inflated and are just waiting for clearance to take off.

Flying a balloon requires a CPL (commercial pilot license). They have simple onboard instruments to tell them things like altitude, vertical speed, balloon air temperature, ambient air temperature and maybe a GPS for guidance.

This two-seater balloon is getting ready to take off. The burners are adjusted constantly to maintain the balloon's buoyancy.

Taking off is simple. The marshals will give the all clear and the burners will be fired up and the balloon will rise up and move in whichever direction the wind is blowing. Actually the thought of flying something without any form of control (except going up and down) is scary to me since I'm a control freak.

Hot air balloons going up.

This is the peacock-shaped balloon that was being inflated just now.

A clown shaped balloon. It's :) on one side and :( on the other.

The balloons left pretty quickly.

Soon all the balloons were in the air and by 8:45am we left for breakfast and went on to shoot the rest of Putrajaya. This was indeed a very interesting event (as expected) and hopefully there will be more to come. Always good to have something new to learn and experience.

Next: Putrajaya Shoot.