Always Worth It
I feel like I'm always chasing light into the darkness...
Perhaps that’s because I am, and its totally worth it! The burning fumes of rocket launches, starlight from lightyears away, whatever glowing illuminations that seem to pierce through the velvety darkness that draw me out of bed in the middle of the night- and I absolutely love it (though not more than my husband, I just need to make that clear).
These kind of nights make me feel as if I’m on a mini adventure. Its exhilarating, I can’t explain it really. I have in my mind a plan. I scour Google Earth and Maps very thoroughly beforehand to plan positioning, looking for just the right foreground. I use Stellarium to see where the Moon and stars will be in relation to what target I’m aiming for at that particular time, and timing is everything.
I was at the movies recently with my hubby and in the previews, one of the script writers was talking about the enigmatic feeling of seeing their work come to fruition on the big screen, how thrilling it was to see the physical manifestation of what they had once held only in their mind. I leaned over to Justin and whispered “I know that feeling! That’s exactly how I get when I plan out my shoots and see the final image in the back of the camera screen!!”. I loved that the screenwriter said so eloquently what I felt every night I went out shooting.
And that I have a husband that not only supports me in this, but encourages me in so many ways, I can’t express just how thankful I am for that. More recently, one of the little ways he showed his support… he got me a travel coffee maker. Ok, I know what you’re thinking. Travel coffee makers are easy to find… Well, not really. Battery powered ones that can make instant single serve cups? Nope. And the ones that are out there are expensive. He set me up with this very compact Makita unit that is able to brew at least six delicious steaming cups of strong black coffee to keep me warm and awake through my long nights of shooting. I keep it in this very stylish aurora-themed travel case, complete with two batteries and a stock pile of individually sealed packets of dark roast coffee. You can see the video of it at the very bottom of the post. For now, back to the business of my target for this particular evening… The launch.
For this target, I planned it out using my favorite app, FlightClub.io and Google Earth. The July 8 launch was Starlink Group 10-28 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station SLC-40 on Falcon 9 rocket at 4:21 am with 28 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit for the Starlink constellation. The arc you see below is the result of a 5-minute long exposure with my Fuji and the image below that was shot at the same time on my other Fuji, and is an effective 900mm focal length on a crop sensor with my telephoto lens.
Below is the (sped up) video of my life saving travel coffee maker, the little Makita. Of course, I added the glow in the dark stars to the cup.