[agsy]

Here's the part of the vehicle I'm most familiar with. This is the one that will fly in July.

Wow, huge...probably full of fuel. It's fascinating to think about the space station and the people who spent months and months on it away from Earth.

....get an even better tripod too!

That I'll definitely need, since mine can barely hold my K-x with the kit .

This is a scan of a print from small format film taken in the early 90s. Credit for the shot goes to Tony, the guy I was there with. He gave me a print. What's interesting I was using a 300mm lens with a 2X converter and was expecting a great shot. But he didn't use such a long lens ended up with one 10 times better.

That is a nice shot. I love the sun's reflection on the trail.

I stumbled upon this website, it's pretty informative. It's estimated that one million people will flock the place.
Thanks for all the advices guys, I hope I'll have some worthy photos to share .

[Kerrowdown]

Advice needed on Shuttle Launch photography

Stand well back, kinda gets a bit hot.

[agsy]

Stand well back, kinda gets a bit hot.

Yes, I hear you . Just close enough to fry some marshmallows .

[HGMonaro]

we missed the recent launch by a couple of days. We weren't going to be near Florida when it was initially scheduled to launch but after several delays it was right in our window... only for it to get delayed again We did get to see it (well the underneath!) on the launch pad from the tour.



It was almost a case of déjà vu (and I would have loved for my kids to get to see it) as in 1996 my wife and I were flying from NY to Orlando on our way home from England when we heard the shuttle was due to take off that afternoon. We landed, jumped in our hire car and high tailed it towards Kennedy Space Center. We noticed a lot of cars pulled over so we decided it was time to stop. Got out and waited a few minutes before it blasted off. Was a cloudy day so it soon disappeared out of sight but the noise was terrific!

[Rocketvapor]

and I take it you were impressed?

[agsy]

We weren't going to be near Florida when it was initially scheduled to launch but after several delays it was right in our window... only for it to get delayed again

That's exactly what I'm afraid of too. My wife requested some days off and I happen to have that weekend off, it would be perfect timing...however, they can delay it any time.

I live in Avon Park, about 2 hours away from the Cape but on a clear day, you can hear the roar of the rockets . It's awesome! The landing "boom" also gets strong enough to wake someone up wondering what exploded .

[BillM]

Probably want something other than a Polaroid Pronto as 'main squeeze'
Pentax makes some nice things BTW
Before Shuttle left atmosphere,1976.
Gave 4 out of 8 to young man in foreground,without his help
wind would of blown 6 away.

Attached Images

 

[HGMonaro]

and I take it you were impressed?

Yes!

Another thing that excites us 'out of towners' is military jets hurtling around the skys. Don't see many where I live (maybe a fly by over the F1 GP type of thing unless you go to the yearly airshow which I haven't been to) but we saw quite a few in various parts on our trip. Saw several F16's and F18's land while we were taxing at Honolulu airport. That was different.

[agsy]

Well, I made it to the final shuttle launch, the Atlantis . Although I wish I had the opportunity to witness the launch from the Causeway, I could not justify the price that people asked for those tickets. Right before the event I found a good deal for two Visitor Center tickets (for the wifey and I) . We even dined with an astronaut, Mr. Sam Durrance. It was a great experience. We left the house at 2:15 in the morning to get to the KSC Visitor Center at the scheduled time printed on out vehicle placard. The weather was mostly cloudy and musty but the cloud cover helped to keep back the heat of the Florida sun. We did a bunch of walking around, it was interesting. About an hour before the launch we settled down to wait for the exciting event. Fortunately the weather cooperated and the countdown begun! From the Visitor Center the launch pad is not visible because of the trees around the area so no-one really knew where the shuttle will appear. It was funny. Once the shuttle emerged from behind the trees, it was amazing! I tried to take a couple of photos which I'm attaching here. I set up Manual mode but in the last minute I must have changed something by mistake because they all came out overexposed, I had to do some major PP.
Thank you for all your advice, I hope to see other member's photos also. I did come across a couple of Pentaxians, even people with film cameras .

[Venturi]

Bravo!