Space Shuttle Night Launch

[Mike Tracy]

Post serves two purposes. I just calibrated my secondary monitor for the first time and I wanted to see how the blacks,whites and everything in between looked on the web. Secondly they were supposed to launch tonight but it was scrubbed so no new ones to offer up. So this is my humble acknowledgment to the space program.

From March 08.

[Dave Phillips]

Mike, this just has awesome detail.......highlights and shadows where I would expect them
Glad you got the calibration worked out....looks good!

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Mike This is one awesome image !!! Big Congrats !!! ..... night flights are special !!!!

[Kerry Perkins]

Mike, you have incredible detail and the tonal range is excellent. I'm used to seeing this level of detail from a medium format camera, but not a DSLR. Great job! I have huge respect for the astronauts and the people who put them in space!!

[Harold Davis]

mike, that is awesome!! cant make up my mind if i wanna go today. btw, i thought starbucks sold coffee, not calibrators!!?

[Ramon M. Casares]

Simply stunning!! Loved it! Great detail, comp, colors, and perfect timing! FYI in my monitor everything looks great.

[John Chardine]

Mike- A blast! Fantastic capture. I know we're not in an image critique forum but I would really like to know the techs for the image and how you setup the exposure.

Way back in March 1984 I saw the 3rd shuttle mission take off, and the first to be on time. There was a carnival atmosphere along the sides of the roads leading to the cape with many people camping to see the lift-off next morning. We had our birding scopes there and knew where the shuttle was. By next morning it was hazy and hard to make out. I remember I helped out French TV cameras to find their target. It was a very memorable experience.

[Dan Brown]

Great capture Mike! Could you post some EXIF? I am very curious as to exposure for this. Love it!

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Some fabulous detail here Mike. I love that smoke billowing out. Hats off to these brave men and women pioneers! :)

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Pretty cool capture, I like the cloud, details and exposure control. How far away were you?

[Gus Cobos]

Mike,
This is superb...love the colors and the details...well done...:cool:

[Mike Tracy]

MKIII, EF500 @1.4x, 1/640, f/6.3, ISO 200, manual focus, Gitzo, Wimberly. Wireless remote for the first series as she was leaving the pad then I switched to auto focus and physically mashed the shutter for down range shots. I had all the settings dialed in before launch. If you try to meter during you will end up with less then optimal images. The trailing plume is like metering the sun.

Axel, I was setup approximately 5 miles from the pad next to the bleachers where the astronauts families sat :).

Thanks folks for kind words.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Incredible shot Mike. Must be quite the noise on take-off too.

[Mark Fuge]

Awesome. We've been fortunate to view 3 or 4 launches down here and there is nothing like it. However, we were over by the cruise terminal, not as close as you. I have some images, but wish I could be up close and personal while the shuttle is still flying. But the sound is still loud there and the vision is awesome!!! :cool: :cool:

Tried to shoot it from our front porch yesterday, but as you note, it was scrubbed. Will be back out there tomorrow! Not like your close ups, but a rememberance of our front yard view! I saw one a few years ago from the front yard, but didn't have a good camera handy at the time. Shot with my wifes P&S and got a dot of the rocket. Hopefully, I can see the shuttle next time, though I know it will not be the greatest image.

If you get an extra ticket sometime ... ;) :D