Atlantis Liftoff

kgarrett11

I'm not sure if this is the right forum but wanted to share with someone. I took these pictures this morning in Titusville, FL. I started down on Wednesday and got about half way there before I found out that the launch was scrubbed. I went down yesterday and waited for two hours before it was scrubbed and then drove the 2 1/2 hours today and it finally went up. I used my D200 with my 80-400mm lens on a tripod. I was about 6 miles from the pad. I had my camera set on Aperature priority at f8 but made a mistake and set the exposure comp at -.3 and that caused my pictures to come out dark so I had to do some Post Processing. I hope that you enjoy them and let me know what you think. The whole set can be found at kgarrett.smugmug.com




This one has been cropped.




I tried to crop this on but there is too much grain when I do.

digismile

How lucky you were to see this! It must have been great!

I was married in Orlando last year and the Shuttle was scheduled to launch 2 days after we were to come back (sorry dear, we can't come home just yet).

We extended our stay, but to make a long story short, the launch ended up being delayed several weeks ...

So my question is, what did it sound like from 6 miles away?

kgarrett11

digismile wrote:

How lucky you were to see this! It must have been great!

I was married in Orlando last year and the Shuttle was scheduled to launch 2 days after we were to come back (sorry dear, we can't come home just yet).

We extended our stay, but to make a long story short, the launch ended up being delayed several weeks ...

So my question is, what did it sound like from 6 miles away?

You could hear the rumble coming at you. It just kept getting louder and louder. At 6 miles it wasn't like the feeling you get at a fireworks display but the rumble was awsome.

Browndog

I would really like to be there for a launch some day. They are all nice but I like #4 best.

DJ-S1

Nice stuff! You did a great job for being so far away. The shuttle roll kind of hid it behind the tank from your vantage point, but you can still make it out in the 2nd to last shot. The last one is cool becasue you can see the clouds the 2 boosters made as it compressed moisture out of the air, kind of like a jet makes during a tight turn on a humid day.

I'm dying to see a launch!

kgarrett11

The next one is in December. I would like to try again and use what I learned from this one to get some better pictures.
Thanks everyone for your comments.

dbaker1221

i always love seeing shots of the takeoffs. That had to be awesome to see.
great shots

ChrisJ

Awesome... I was lucky enough to see the last night launch, but still want to get there for a day launch before it's retired. Great shots!

I was actually disappointed in the sound when I was there. It had been hyped to me by so many people. But it just didn't carry, probably because it was a night launch and was cold (for Florida).

DJ-S1

I bet there will be more night launches coming up. They will most likely remove the daylight launch requirement after this flight, and they have an agressive schedule to maintain so night launches will be needed.

kgarrett11

DJ-S1 wrote:

I bet there will be more night launches coming up. They will most likely remove the daylight launch requirement after this flight, and they have an agressive schedule to maintain so night launches will be needed.

If they didn't launch on Saturday they had already planned an attempt on the 28th or 29th and it would have been a night launch. So I would bet that you are right. They will have some night launchs in the future.

BPCooper

kgarrett11 wrote:

If they didn't launch on Saturday they had already planned an attempt on the 28th or 29th and it would have been a night launch. So I would bet that you are right. They will have some night launchs in the future.

Very nice shots from Titusville. I'm new to the site, joining after seeing a question on shooting the shuttle posed the other day. And I took a quick look to see if anyone had shared any of the recent one.

I always like to see others' shots. Good job!

P.S. you were 11.5 miles from the pad from your location. Next time you look at the shuttle, think...or compare...the fact that the shuttle is as tall as an 18 story building :-) It's a lot bigger than people think.

-Ben

http://www.LaunchPhotography.com

Dee

Wow!


I really like this one! I'm so glad you were able to catch the launch!

JenGrace

You know I have lived in central Florida for about 20 years and never seen a launch from the observation area (only from Orlando)? I've been to the KSC, been to the Space Coast countless times (I absolutely love Canaveral National Seashore), even seen the shuttle sitting on the pad. But no launch up close. What's wrong with me?

Anyways, I enjoyed your shots. You did a good job lightening them up.