Sts-117

Alan Moore · June 11, 2007

Here's some crops from pictures I took of the STS-117 launch on June 8th. I was about 12 miles from the launchpad. They are taken with both the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM and the EF 17-55 f/2.8 USM on a Canon 30D. I used the 1.4x teleconverter on the 70-200. Viewing the launch was a childhood dream come true for me.

Atlantis clears the tower. 280mm 1/1000 sec @ f/7.1 at ISO-200

Atlantis during the roll manoeuver. 280mm 1/800 sec @ f/7.1 at ISO-200

The solid rocket booster separation. Atlantis is about 58 miles away and 39 miles altitude. 280mm 1/500 sec @ f/5.6 at ISO-200

The smoke trail lingering in the sky after launch. Taken with the 17-55mm lens 17mm 1/400 sec @ f/10 at ISO-200.

Finally, the smoke trail about an hour after launch painting a surreal picture in the sky. 17mm 1/15 sec @ f/2.8 at ISO-800

Skippy · June 11, 2007

Alan Moore wrote:

Here's some crops from pictures I took of the STS-117 launch on June 8th. I was about 12 miles from the launchpad. They are taken with both the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM and the EF 17-55 f/2.8 USM on a Canon 30D. I used the 1.4x teleconverter on the 70-200. Viewing the launch was a childhood dream come true for me.
Atlantis clears the tower. 280mm 1/1000 sec @ f/7.1 at ISO-200
Atlantis during the roll manoeuver. 280mm 1/800 sec @ f/7.1 at ISO-200
The solid rocket booster separation. Atlantis is about 58 miles away and 39 miles altitude. 280mm 1/500 sec @ f/5.6 at ISO-200
The smoke trail lingering in the sky after launch. Taken with the 17-55mm lens 17mm 1/400 sec @ f/10 at ISO-200.
Finally, the smoke trail about an hour after launch painting a surreal picture in the sky. 17mm 1/15 sec @ f/2.8 at ISO-800

Hi Alan, the smoke trails are great

The bird flying in the first two shots doesn't seem too worried about the launch

Man that has to be an awesome sight to see with your own two eyes

Thanks for sharing ya lucky buggar!

..... Skippy
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DJ-S1 · June 11, 2007

OK, I'm jealous! That's a dream of mine, to see a shuttle Launch in person. Great shots!

Alan Moore · June 11, 2007

Thanks for the feedback. I feel really privileged to have seen it; I had my fingers crossed all day hoping it would not be canceled

Alan

JESTER · June 11, 2007

Nice shots Alan. Looks like you had a nice advantage point. Where were you located? They are all great and I really like what the upper winds do to the smoke trails after the shots.

Alan Moore · June 12, 2007

I was just off the 1 near highway 50 sitting at a boat quay in direct line of sight of the launch pad. I was very surprised how long the smoke lingered after the launch, but the effect was really cool.