SpaceX Starlink Mission 5-12 Launch As Seen in Port Canaveral, Fla.

 

Fuji X-T4 with Fuji 10-24mm lens at 10mm, f/16 @ 4 minutes

 

 

Fuji X-T4 with Fuji 10-24mm lens at 10mm, f/16 @ 4 minutes

 

SpaceX Starlink Mission 5-11, liftoff at 3:10am, Monday June 12, 2023 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Launch Complex 40.

I was actually able to get out and set up my camera 45 minutes before scheduled liftoff (3:10am Eastern).

I went to a place I thought might make a decent foreground for a night rocket launch streak photo.

This was taken in the little park next to the Rodney Ketchum Boat Ramp in Port Canaveral, Florida.

This was, without a doubt, one of the easiest night rocket launch photos I have ever shot.  The shot is actually kind or bland, but I got there and parked, set up tripod and camera.  Set my camera settings (4 minutes at f/16) and took a couple of practice shots for overall placement checking.

The rocket went up the second its launch window began.  When the rocket was out of sight and the exposure done, I packed up and came home.

I was gone and back fast enough that my lovely bride woke up and said, "Oh No! Was it cancelled?"

This despite being a 45 minute drive each way to get to this location.

We've been here 27 years and rocket launches never gets old.

A long time exposure at night usually allows in enough light that the final image has a deep blue sky.  Not on this night.  It was an almost completely clear night, but I guess takeoff was in the absolute darkest part of the night and didn't get any blue in the sky. As a result of the muted color, I'm really liking the B&W version of this shot the better of the two.