THE PURSUIT (2021) < Previous | Next >
A concept image that’s been 3 years in the making. That spear like structure in the sky is the SpaceX 2nd stage boosting aloft a payload of SpaceX’s next generation Starlink satellites to low earth orbit on the 9th of May, 2021. The orange glow to the far right of the image is actually the Falcon 9 first stage on its way back down to land on an ocean barge.
The boat in the foreground is the “Ocean Pursuit”. It ran aground near the Oregon Inlet at the Outerbanks early on in 2020. I was out in California at the time when I saw the news and by the time I made it back, the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown had been initiated and the Outerbank islands were closed to all visitors. By the time the restrictions were lifted, the milky way arch was too high in the sky to get this image. In 2021, I finally had this chance to make this image happen with the promise of clear skies on this night. About 24 hours before, I learned of the proposed SpaceX launch and was thrilled to see that it was a night launch happening at around the perfect time for this image to be made possible.
Making this image was challenging. The location was a 3 hour drive one way from my home and even though the skies were clear, offshore winds were whipping around with 40mph wind gusts blowing sand all around. On top of it, I would have exactly one attempt to make this image happen because once the rocket launched and came into view, it would progress very quickly through my frame. I also did not know the exact trajectory of the rocket and had to make a best guess assumption with an old school compass oriented in the direction of Cape Canaveral. I was also worried about being caught up in the moment (This was my very first time watching a night launch in person) and forgetting something basic like taking the lens cap off (which I had to put on to protect the lens from the flying sand).
About 10 minutes before the time of launch, I fired off the horizontal panorama of shots to capture the foreground and the milky way arch. Then I pivoted the camera back towards the direction I assumed the rocket would arrive from and waited with bated breath. I almost forgot that there would be a delay between the rocket launch and it coming into view - a minute into the launch window, when I didn’t see anything, pangs of disappointment started to wash over me and I started to wildly scan the skies. But right as I was about to give up, I saw the red glow of the Falcon 9 break above the horizon and start to climb. Mesmerized as I was, I fired off a shot just as the Falcon 9 separated and the 2nd stage’s Merlin Engine kicked in. I quickly swiveled the camera and fired off a 2nd shot with the boat in the center and what I hoped would be the 2nd stage in the frame.
Stitching the various frames especially the ones with the rockets in them was time consuming since I did not have a lot of time to setup once the rocket appeared and the alignment of the foreground in the two images was off. But after many hours of painstaking processing, the final result is beyond what I could have hoped for - a lot had to happen perfectly for this “pursuit” to end in success.
This image is dedicated to the memory of the vessel - “The Ocean Pursuit”. The National Park Service is working to remove the wreck from the shore and sadly there will be no more images of what I assume was once a plucky vessel.
Thank you for your support!
Technical Details: Captured using a Nikon D750 - 14/24 mm lens at f/2.8 with 15-20 second exposures. The panorama was made of 7 different images and 2 frames were overlayed with the first and second stages of the SpaceX launch vehicles in flight.
