I'm fortunate to live about 35 miles south of Cape Canaveral in Florida so we get to witness a lot of rocket launches. The idea of going out to try to catch one of those have been on my mind ever since relocating to this area but it wasn't until a couple of days before writing this post, that I finally decided to go out and try it for the very first time.
Space X has been having quite a busy year and they happened to have the Starling Group 4-17|Falcon 9, Block 5 mission on schedule for May 6, 2022-05:42 EDT, so I decided to give it a shot. I prepared all my gear the night prior and picked a local beach to attempt to photograph the mission. Early next morning I headed to the beach and upon arrival there were quite a few people there to witness the event. I found a lifeguard chair on the beach and immediately used it as part of the composition. Since it was quite dark, I had no choice but to hope that the rocket trajectory will pass over it to make it as if I had planned the shot that way. I assure you, I did not.
As a bonus this rocket launch amazed me by creating what is known as a “space jellyfish." For the space jelly’s flight to be visible, a launch must take place near the time of sunrise, or during the twilight hours as the sun’s rays enter the upper atmosphere at a horizontal angle. The sunlight interacts with ice particles left behind the rocket's contrail and create a bluish-illuminating effect over the clouds referred to as "noctilucent clouds."
I hope that you like the outcome as much as I do. Let me know what you think!