Above shot is 5 secs after Ignition (SpaceX closeup camera shot)
A Study in Rocket Photography and Seeing (sky conditions)
At 10 seconds we can see the smoke is still only on launchpad, it has not gone past the pad yet. So we know that the camera that took the photos above (at 5 and 9 seconds) was just a few hundred feet away from the rocket - actually ON THE LAUNCHPAD!
Keep in mind the camera that took the closeup SpaceX photo was so close it was on the launchpad! I was shooting with cameras and telescopes from 4 1/2 miles away from the rocket, at a spot called Playa Linda Beach. This is the closest NASA will let you get to the launch pad.
 photo by Robert Duvall (1100mm lens) |
SpaceX Launchpad camera shot |
The seeing (clarity of skies) was not good (soft, as we say), the conditions were that it was near noon (thus we had ground heat currents), it was windy and gusty, and we had heavy moisture in air. Long jet trails in sky showed me it would not good by good for photography due to humidity levels.
Additionally, there were high thin Cirrus clouds in the air above, which blur the photos. I must drive 3 hours from my home in Palm Beach in order to reach the Space Center to photograph launches. Making things more difficult, I must arrive 4 hours before the actual launch time in order to procure the best location from which to photograph. But launches are always amazing to watch, and the rocket roar is always thrilling, even if I cannot always capture perfect photos.
