THIS is the photograph that might never have been taken if a gust of wind had not made off with a young woman's expensive camera

THIS is the photograph that might never have been taken if a gust of wind had not made off with a young woman's expensive camera.

This panoramic view of Carrigaline in Cork was taken after a gust of wind tugged 23 balloons and the camera they were helping to elevate out of the hands of a shocked Janet Newenham.

Janet had rigged her €300 GoPro camera to 23 balloons as she tried to take aerial photographs of her family home in Carrigaline.

But a sudden gust caught her by surprise and the next thing she knew she was watching in horror as her camera and the balloons literally sailed off into the sunset.

Janet gave chase in her car before the balloons disappeared out of sight, heading in the direction of the Atlantic, and she was forced to return home.

However, a desperate plea on local radio was heard by several people, who reported the balloons' progress towards the south west, before good news arrived from Innishannon, nearly 20km away, that the camera had hit the ground still in working condition.

Janet had set the camera to take a picture every few seconds, and was rewarded with more than 900 shots of Cork from the air.

"I didn't think I'd ever see the camera again," said Janet. "We all jumped and screamed, trying to grab the end of the line and watched as my amazing camera glided quickly up into the clear blue sky."

The "clear blue sky" proved to be a blessing, however, as Janet discovered some fantastic images of her locality captured from high above.

Irish Independent