Amish Lifestyle Photography Hot Air Balloon Motorcycling Adventure
Here is yet another photographic image that includes two of my favorite subjects and experiences when I tour The Amish Country near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I made a number of trips to this area on my BMW F800GT sport touring motorcycle in 2021. As a travel and adventure photographer and writer, the Amish lifestyle soon became a favorite subject of mine. Their lifestyle, after all, is one of the biggest reasons travelers and vacationers from all over the country visit this wonderful region. Their unique and quaint way of life is so different from what one witnesses anywhere else. Their use of traditional horse drawn buggies for daily transportation being one of the things visitors notice (and photograph) most often. A second reason I visited this area was to visit with a dear friend who happens to be an FAA licensed hot air balloon pilot. He is also an internationally recognized professional photographer who has spent 4 decades documenting the people and lifestyle in the Amish communities. When visiting with my buddy I had the opportunity, on more than one occasion, to be part of the crew for his balloon flights…the team that follows, from the ground, the flight of the balloon; and is responsible for the safe landing, disassembly and return of the aircraft (and its passengers) to the launch field from which it lifted off from earlier. This serendipitous moment occurred during one such "chase". As my friend was flying the balloon over the Amish countryside, an Amish buggy was spotted riding by. I was equipped with my Nikon mirrorless camera fitted with a Nikkor zoom lens and was able to capture this image of the buggy going by with the balloon flying above them. The photo was captured from a considerable distance away. Both the buggy and the balloon were positioned against the open sky so I chose to create a silhouette image of dark black subjects against a white sky. The original digital image was captured in color and processed in the "digital darkroom" (my Apple MacBook Pro computer) using Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop software. During many trips by motorcycle to the Amish and Mennonite Pennsylvania Dutch region of Pennsylvania over the past few years I have created many photographic images of the Amish people and their unique lifestyle. Many of those pictures appear here on this web site and I maintain an extensive library of stock photographs available in addition to those that are displayed here. This particular balloon flight was conducted by the talented and professional staff of The US Hot Air Balloon Team, based in the Amish community of Bird-In-Hand, PA. Many of the photographs I take during my adventure motorcycle travels around the United States and Canada ultimately get sold or leased as stock photographs to professionals in the tourism and hospitality industries. If you are looking for a specific image for your next travel and hospitality industry creative project please take a look around my web site for any photograph that might fill your needs. In the absence of the perfect photo, give me a call. I may have just what you are looking for in my extensive body of professional photographic work. If not, I’m always looking for any reason to climb on my BMW motorcycle and travel to any great destination in the US or Canada on assignment.