I took some pictures of the Discovery launch this evening from my back yard. Our view started at about 15 seconds after launch; we lost sight of her at about 900 miles downrange. This was one of the best that we have ever seen - it rivaled the Independence Day launch a couple of years ago. All of these were taken hand held, with my D80, Nikkor 18-200mm 3.5-4.6 VR lens, all set to auto (I wanted to make sure I got these!) On to the pictures! Here is the contrail about 5 minutes after launch: These were kind of test shots to see how this lens/camera combination would handle that distance...I'd say it did pretty good!
Better than my view for sure! I was all ready to snap it again, but clouds set in just north of me, which takes out my view. I saw the very very end of it just as the boosters were falling off, as 3 tiny dots - not worth trying to photograph. Yours looks considerably closer too! Nice work.
Great shots, I was wondering if any of the folks down that way were able to get some nice shots and I see that you were. Thanks for posting.
Not bad for just a 200mm lens. Love the VR lenses. Seen the shuttle launch twice. Both times from WDW. Nice work!
Thanks everyone for your replies. A bit more information...I live in Middleburg, FL, just south and west of Jacksonville. According to Google Earth, that is approximately 130 miles north/northwest of the Cape. I was able to see Discovery from about 15 seconds after lift-off. I know we have people on this group that live closer, but it's pretty cool to be able to see many launches in person, even from far away!
My parents were staying in Sarasota (1/2 hour south of Tampa) and they saw the launch as well (from the other side of the state!). ; Amazing.
