The Great Park Orange Balloon Ride

To celebrate our anniversary, Daniel and I wanted to do something other than just go out to eat. We decided to go to the Great Park in Irvine to ride the GIANT ORANGE BALLOON!!! I drive by the balloon every day on the 405 and have been wanting to visit it because it reminds me of the book James and the Giant Peach.

The balloon is 72 feet in diameter and filled with 5,500 cubic feet of helium. The ride is free for now and open to the public on a first come first serve basis.

You can go to the park, get a ticket, sign a waiver and head over to the balloon ride. From Orange County Airport, take the 405 South, exit Sand Canyon and make a left. Head east on Sand Canyon and just after you drive under the 5 freeway, make a right on Marina Way and follow the signs to the Great Park.

There are tents under which to wait near the ride and a pilot will collect your ticket. It was already 84 degrees when we got there today so the tents were a nice relief from the heat. They let 8 people on per trip today. The trips last about 10-15 minutes and depend on wind conditions. We went around 10 a.m. which, according to the website, is during the best times for wind conditions.

The balloon is tethered to the ground by a cable that is controlled by a winch.

The pilot said that we rose about 500 feet in the air to see a 360 degree view of Irvine.

When the wind picked up, the cable holding the balloon to the ground was pulled to an angle. The wind had picked up so much that the group after us had to wait awhile. The balloon was still on the ground when we exited the park.

Where's north? There's north.

Earth from above Orange County.

negotiating - nikon 50mm f/1.4G auto focus

I have always loved to take photos. Recently, my best friend had a baby and I used her camera and protrait lens to take photos of her baby and I fell in love love love with the portrait lens. She has a Canon digital SLR and bought the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens for around $80. It is a great little lens for getting the bokeh effect that makes babies and kids look so cute. Here's a sample photo of the Canon lens (not full resolution).


I have a Nikon D40X and unfortunately, a lens as affordable as the Canon lens was not available, so took a look at the handful of Nikon friendly portrait lenses out there.

1. Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF - not enough bokeh for me, but affordable about $135

2. Nikon 50mm f/1.4D - manual focus only for Nikon D40X, can autofocus for higher end Nikons about $339

3. Nikon 50mm f/1.4G - autofocus for Nikon D40X, but about $130 more than the 1.4D. Hmmm... am I willing to give up autofocus for $130?

4. Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM - I read great reviews about this lens, but it's 1.1lbs! (vs 9.9 ounce Nikon f/1.4G and 8 ounce f/1.4D) The online price was about the same as the Nikon f/1.4G

5. Nikon 50mm f/1.2 Nikkor AI-S Manual Focus - way out of my price range at $614

I decided that the Nikon 50mm f/1.4D was what I was looking for and in my price range. The only disadvantage was that it does not autofocus with my Nikon D40X. I wanted the lens asap because my other friend just had a baby and I had to get those early shots before she started growing so I called all of the local camera and electronics stores to ask if they had the lens in stock. I also wanted to avoid the 1% increase in sales tax here in California. Unfortunately, they all said that they would have to special order it for me. One store said that they had the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G lens in stock. I decided to go to the store to take a look. This lens is the newer version of the f/1.4D lens.

I tried the lens at the store and the autofocus feature was super nice. I also tried an f/1.4D lens that was on hold for for someone... also super nice. The store was offering the 1.4G lens at $499 online. The 1.4D was $339. Both lenses had the nice blurry background effect that I like and both were about the same weight (photographing babies takes a lot of patience... meaning a lot of time holding the camera).

I decided to see what the store could offer me in the form of a discount on the 1.4G. I did my research on prices of the f/1.4 lenses before I went to the store and had the lowest prices available online in mind. I had already decided that if I would be willing to pay $450 all in for the f/1.4G lens and if I couldn't get the f/1.4G, I would be happy ordering the f/1.4D lens without the autofocus for $300.

At first, the salesman threw out $439 for the f/1.4G and kept emphasizing that this price was $60 off the online price. This WAS cheaper than the lowest online price I found of $485 new, $469 used and $455 on ebay, but it was still over $110 more than the cheapest f/1.4D lens I found online. I always get really flushed when I negotiate, but I do it because I am always more satisfied with whatever I end up getting when I know that I have at least tried to negotiate. FYI - offering to pay cash did not make a difference probably because the store is a local chain. At this point, I reminded myself that it was the end of the month and if these guys work on commission, he might be willing to go even lower. The $439 also didn't get me below the $450 all in that I had already decided that I was willing to pay for the f/1.4G.

I held out a little longer and the salesman went to the computer and punched a few numbers and came up with $419 plus tax. On the outside I thanked him and said ok, I can do $419 (with tax, it came out to $452.50). On the inside, I was so excited!!! I basically paid $90 more for the autofocus feature and to get it right away, no shipping, no extra California sales tax and pretty close to what I decided I would pay.

I have tried out the lens and it is just wonderful. My friend's new little spork baby looks so sweet in the photos.