Hot air balloons have a pretty long-standing history with romance. They are quite the favourite proposal spot for a creative groom, they have recently been spotted at a destination wedding or two for the bride and grooms entry (no jokes), but perhaps the best use of a glorious hot air balloon is a pre wedding shoot like this one. Set against the sunrise , with a vibrant blue and yellow hot air balloon in the backdrop, this shoot really does want to make us fly away into the sky. Special mention to the cutesie props, and the flower wreath in the girl’s hair that add to the adorable factor and to the man behind the lens- Vardaan Malhotra from Dilliwale Weddings.
From the photographer: “I always wanted to shoot on a Hot-air balloon and I found Guncha and Amit as a perfect couple for it. They are a fun couple with great chemistry and I visualized their amazing adventure on a hot air balloon. When I shared my idea, they were very excited and all set to fly! The key now was to find the right location. I traveled to Jaipur for the recce, to understand how Hot Air Balloons work and to find some really good camera angles to capture the balloon creatively. Since the take-off generally happens at 4 am, lighting I figured was an issue. And as soon as the balloon went up, it flew away thanks to the strong winds. And I chased it on car through the narrow muddy streets of Kukas (Jaipur). It wasn’t easy at all- my car got many dents but who cares about such minor irritants– I learnt so much and experienced so much excitement that day.
After this I came back to Delhi and quickly approached Neelam Mam (Frontier Bazar) to sponsor this project with her amazing bridal gowns because I was determined to have everything perfect for this shoot. I went to Chandni Singh for Make-up, Gargee designers for the Groom’s outfits and Props by Apart Creations.
After a week it was time for the real shoot up in the air. I am usually a little nervous before every shoot, but today I was more nervous. Some of my concerns – what if the wind took the balloon in the wrong direction where I would not be able to chase it on road. Moreover during the Recce, I was told that the launch site as well as the land site can differ depending on the direction of the wind. Land site could be a village where locals come near the balloon and it becomes difficult to take shots or it could be some other open space. But fortunately, it all went as planned and in the end I got some amazing shots”
