The summer solstice was a few days ago but it never FEELS like summer in until the hot air balloons take flight at the New Garden Airport in Toughkenamon during the Chester County Balloon Festival.

We’re lucky that Exton photographer Liam Lieberman was on site.

His photos capture the dramatic contrasts necessary to hot air balloon travel: enormous balloons dwarf gondolas and people; flames spread into a cloth envelope; the decorative geometric patterns that give hot air balloon a thin veneer of rationality—we could go on, and on….

But we’d rather let the pictures speak for themselves.

You can find Liam Lieberman on Facebook and Instagram.