So another summer has slide in the door with it comes the summer solstice, fire flies and my birthday!  Conquered another year, 25 might have been the best one yet, hope the upward trend continues.  The photo above was taken while flying in a friends balloon shooting for a small magazine I do some work for, give me a reason to go fly in a balloon and I'll always say yes.  I've been lucky through who I have grown up with to have experienced ballooning culture from a young age.  There are few better feelings than the initial lift of a balloon basket off the ground, a gentle rise that will wipe every other thought that might have been in your head clear out.  Above the ground, bird level, "openness" if you will.  We go where the wind blows riding in silence aside from the occasional burn, serenity.  Having been in and around balloons for sometime now having to carry my camera around presents it's own challenges for as much as I still see the beauty in the entire event of ballooning I have to take a more observational look at flying when asked to shoot a piece for an article.  I remember the first time I was up close and walking around a balloon when I was younger, 10 years old maybe inside a balloon called the chateau, a mock of Malcolm Forbes' chateau in France, I recall how cravenness the inside of the massive shape, think I was hook from there on out.