SpaceX Long Exposure Shoot @ Jetty Park Beach

This was quite an amazing & humbling experience to capture for SpaceX. I had never been that close to a re-entry landing before and was stunned at  the booster landing so close to this spot.

An overall two day excursion for one photo seems like quite a lot, but I love this. With more frequent launches happening in Florida, I feel a part of something exciting. I won’t blink an eye at waking up at 4:30 am to drive two hours to the beach for one photo anymore and that’s a great feeling.

First day, I was setup and ready to shoot at Jetty Park Beach. With 5 minutes until lift-off, I glanced to my left and noticed a Roybal Carribean leaving port and rolling out to sea. Heading right in front on my frame… Lo and behold, a huge party of drunken idiots screaming Jimmy Buffet is the only thing I could see at my shots captured for the scheduled time. Come to find out that was not an authorized departure and the launch was actually scrubbed because of it, and investigation continues.

Tried to shoot around the beach and just felt defeated from the losing an entire day. Tried to use that energy to prepare and started to plan more from the rescheduled shot the following day. It was just light enough to be a bit too bright for a longer exposure. (I normally setup at 1 -2 minutes for the streak effect). Was able to work out the need for a filter (Thanks Colonial Photo & Hobby).

Realizing with the 24 hour delay I was to be able to rearrange my position and setup to capture this rocket launch long exposure properly. I’m super damn proud of this shot, and realizing that sometimes blessings come in Margaritaville surprises.