SpaceX Falcon 9 Launch & Land July 18, 2016

I had the fortunate opportunity to watch and photograph the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch the other night. We were taking a long weekend, and it happened to coincide with the launch. I don't do much digital anymore, but thought you guys may be interested in this.

This was a single exposure, shot with film (Kodak Ektar 100ASA 120), on my Mamiya M645 1000S. It was a bulb exposure, and I tripped the shutter at T -00:03, and kept it open for about 9 minutes. I used the lens cap to pause the exposure once the rocket started to dim after launch, and then removed the lens cap about 6 minutes later, and caught the ignition and landing of the second phase.

The only editing (photoshop) was some dust removal, otherwise, this is the untouched capture. I forgot my cable release, so I used masking tape to hold the shutter button down during the exposure. You can see on the landing where I bumped either the tripod or the camera, but otherwise, I'm pleased.

The streak at the top is the first stage coming back down after the initial launch.

Very very cool shot
Well done

Very nice indeed, thanks for sharing.

Neat!