Space Shuttle Launches - what about daytime?

NitroStitch

NitroStitch

Member
It's looking like we will be able to get "close" to the next shuttle launch on May 14, which is scheduled for around 2:30 pm. ; I know that shooting launches at night involves very unusual settings to compensate for the extremely bright launch blast. ;

I'm curious whether daytime launches will also require somewhat unusual settings, and if so, what those settings might be. ; Any help would be greatly appreciated! ; (And if you could send some good weather vibes our way, that would be good too!)
 
I suggest doing search on TMIP for references to the Space Shuttle. ; You can start with my Shuttle Photo Tips thread.

From personal experience (with film, not digital), I'd recommend taking a meter reading off the sky then underexposing by one stop. ; The SRB flames are much brighter than you'd think.

Good luck!
 
I'll be in about the same spot (on the causeway) for this daytime launch as I was for the last night launch. From what i've read about day launch photography, the key to photographing it is using full manual mode. If you can, set the camera to spot meter off the white shuttle before launch, and see what it says. Then go to manual mode and use those settings. Manual focus mode too.

There's talk that all of the causeway viewing areas for the last launch will be for VIPs only, so after this launch there's only one more chance to see it from there. Even on this one, the demand was huge. I missed out on the regular tickets, which were sold out in 5 minutes! So this time I'm going with a tour bus from Orlando.

Erich
 
Thanks Dennis and Erich! ; We missed out on regular tickets but are hoping to get on base to see the launch w/friends located out there. ; Don't know exactly where we'd be, but I'm excited to be that close. ;
 
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