Last launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavor

[Dave S.]

Two trips to Florida within two weeks for three people: over $1000
Rental 500mm prime lens: Too much $
Hotels and rental cars: again, way too much $

Standing next to your daughter as she is awed beyond words at watching a live space shuttle launch: PRICELESS!

[Ned Harris]

Dave: Sounds like it was worth every penny. Glad you were able to do it.

[Jay Beckman]

WTG Dave!

[Joe Copalman]

Hellyeah.  So glad you were able to make it.  And you got some pretty good shots in spite of the ridiculous distance.

[BillOz]

Oh Yeah, that's an awesome experience.  One that will not be available but once more.

Even without photos it would have been a great experience.

Congrats.

[Matt Ottosen]

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!  Something I've always wanted to see in person, but it looks like I'll never have the chance.  Ashlie and I actually thought about flying out this past Sunday morning.

[jslugman]

I bet the sound was equally awesome.

[Dave S.]

Senor James,

Not only was it an awesome experience to watch, but we also heard it and felt it.  One anecdotal point about the sound; we didn't hear a thing until after it had disappeared into the clouds.  That's how long it took for the sound of ignition, and subsequent launch, to travel the ~ 6 miles to our viewing location.  But once that sound arrived, holy cow, was it awesome too.  It's just amazing what ~ 7.5 million pounds of thrust sounds like and feels like!

Have I mentioned how bright the exhaust was from the two Solid Rocket Boosters?  Think 'surface of the sun' kind of bright.  So glad I had selected Manual mode (had to, I was too close for missiles - super cheesy Top Gun reference ), otherwise the brightness would have totally screwed up any attempt at an 'in camera' metering.

By the way, there is one more launch remaining, tentatively scheduled for July 8th - if anyone is interested in battling about 999,999 other people intent on watching it also.

- Dave

[Dave S.]

I had taken a second body, and using a remote trigger, tried to take a complete set of the launch sequence from before engine start until Endeavor was out of frame.  All of this executed perfectly, except for some bad timing info the I received from a fellow bystander/photographer.  She gave me my 30 second warning about 15 seconds too early.  The result is that I missed the last portions of Endeavor's launch, right before she disappeared into the cloud layer.

BUT, I still ended up with this launch sequence, which I am more than pleased with.  Any feedback about the horizon in each shot?  When I stitched them together, the alignment between each shot is off just enough to cause me a little twang of displeasure.