Félix Nadar took many self-portraits, alone or with Ernestine, in a balloon basket. This scene was composed in the Boulevard des Capucines studio. The fake basket is hanging from the ceiling, the sky is a painted backdrop. The photographer's outfit - a suit and top hat - are obviously not what woud be worn for an actual balloon flight. The point here is not versimilitude, but propaganda in defense of Nadar's promotion of heavier-than-air flight. This picture seems to come straight out of a Jules Verne novel, and is a far cry from the restraint he generally displayed in his portraiture.