Unrelated: What are your plans for the upcoming eclipse? Are you going to the totality path? Where are you headed?!
I’m excited to be headed back to Florida’s space coast this weekend to photograph the SpaceX’s 12th commercial resupply mission (CRS-12) to the International Space Station!
I would like to start going to launches much more regularly. Since June 2015 I have been to three, and I would like to ramp that up.
Getting credentialed to photograph these launches up close is especially difficult for freelancers like me. You need to be affiliated with a major news organization. (rightly so, being so close to these rockets is serious business)
I am lucky enough to have developed a relationship with Eric Berger (Senior Space Editor at Ars Technica) where I am able to be credentialed to photograph these launches and Eric is able to have some kick-ass photos for his stories.
In exchange for the pics, Eric will be sharing links to my Patreon page with in his articles to help me grow which will allow me to attend these launches more frequently!
Economically, the idea is to bite the cost bullet for a few of these launches to start out, begin a streak of attending them regularly so potential Patrons see the value in supporting me on a regular basis, and evaluate the success of the plan from there!
Throughout the process and after a couple launches, I’ll see how my plan is progressing and see if it is worth it to continue biting the cost bullet (less and less over time) or if it needs to continue as a one-off or “attend the more important launches” plan. (i.e. 3 launches since June 2015)
If you’d like to support me in my endeavor to photograph rocket launches more frequently, join my community over on Patreon!
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Featured photo: SpaceX CRS-9 mission launching from SLC-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (where SpaceX will soon return launching from next month (currently planned for SES-11), after last year’s anomaly during preparation for the Amos-6 commercial satellite launch)
Some of my favorite rocket photos to date:
SpaceX CRS-9 first stage returning to LZ-1
F9 first stage going vertical at SLC-40
SpaceX employees at the base of the Falcon 9 during remote camera setup at SLC-40
SpaceX CRS-7 lifts off from SLC-40 as ice crystals vibrate free from the side of the first stage
Black-and-white photo of Falcon 9 clearing the lightning arrestors at SLC-40
SpaceX Falcon 9 on the launch pad during remote camera setup early, the morning before launch.
Falcon 9 power, data, and fuel umbilicals disconnect from the vehicle as it lifts off from SLC-40
