Guidance for Once in a long while opportunity

[nsfbr]

This evening Orbital Sciences will launch its Antares launch vehicle in order to deliver Orb-3, the fourth of its Cygnus spacecraft to deliver

cargo to the ISS. This will be the first ever night time launch of Antares. What makes this a great thing for me is that owing to the launch

site, the DelMarVa peninsula, and my location, Northern VA, combined with a stretch of perfect weather, the launch should be visible and

I'm planning on viewing it from down by the tidal basin in DC.

 

The 10 minute launch window opens at 6:22. Sunset will be at 6:12, so the launch will be during civil dusk - a not completely dark sky,

but nothing directly illuminated on the ground.

 

So...I will have my D800, my tripod, 70-200 VRII, and TCE1.4 II (though I'm not sure I want to use it.)

 

My thoughts are to shoot at f/4 - f/5.6, since I'm planning on being across the tidal basin from the Jefferson memorial, I was going to

prefocus there, which should be a bit further than the hyperfocal distance away (I think, I'll check first using Google Maps.)

 

I do love the high ISO performance of my camera, but I am thinking to use ISO 100, in order to get the widest possible dynamic range.

 

I would truly love to shoot Manual, but don't want to completely screw it up. One thought I had, since we will be able to also watch the

launch on a ipad until it gets high enough (about 90 seconds into flight is when we will be able to see it) is to take a few exposures right

after launch in manual and pick the exposure for the environment I like (dark but showing the memorial, etc., against the fairly dark sky)

and then just be ready to frame the image and shoot away.

 

 

So the point of this is to solicit guidance from the combined knowledge base here. Does that make sense? I am a bit fearful of switching

to manual focus as I have, on occasion done that and then either tweaked focus or adjusted zoom. But assuming I'm focused at 2000' to

start at, I would hope that everything of interest would stay focused no matter the zoom - is that flawed thinking?

 

 

Anyhow, I'll check on this thread when I can today. Thanks all for any thoughts at all.

 

(By the way, the plan is to be at the MLK memorial or the FDR. If you are close, you should be too!)

[User_4754088]

<p>Joel, sounds fun. As far as manual focus or auto focus, I don't have a D800 but I believe it should have an AF-ON button on the back. In the camera menus set the camera auto focus to that back button only. Then when you press the shutter button, AF is not activated. Use the back button to focus the camera to where you want it before the launch. Then only use the front shutter button when you are capturing the launch. That way if the camera gets out of focus, you can quickly hit the AF-ON button to snap it back in, and pressing the shutter will have no effect on auto focusing. Hope I explained that clear enough.</p>

<p>Best,<br>

-Tim</p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>As for focus, my gut would be to go with manual focus and just rack it all the way out to infinity and leave it there. Only problem is that some lenses will focus past infinity so you would want to double check that first. If you can be in manual with the option to turn AF on instantly as Tim says that might be the safest bet. If you have time, I would experiment this afternoon/evening shooting some of the takeoffs and landings at National. If you're getting the planes in focus at infinity, the rocket should be fine.<br /><br />On exposure, I'm not sure what to recommend. If you're getting a good exposure for the scene without the rocket, that should be a good start. what I don't know is how bright the rocket will be -- is it going to be a dim spot in the sky or glaring bright? My guess is more toward dim.<br /><br />Finally is the launch still on? I thought I saw something on TV this morning about it being scrubbed. But maybe they had tried last night and tonight is the re-do?<br /><br />Would love to be there but 6-6:30 usually finds me in a traffic jam somewhere along the BW Parkway or I-95 headed toward Ellicott City. :)</p>

[nsfbr]

Tim - thanks, that is exactly what I should do. I never do that as I it is not how I learned a long time ago. Perfect.

 

Craig - the rocket is very, very bright. The central part of the plume will be blown out completely unless I make the rest of

the image pure black. My goal is to just reduce the blown out portion to the core of the plume, which is why I want to

shoot at low ISO (maybe 200, but not higher). The launch last night was scrubbed because of a sailboat having gotten

into the restricted zone down range. But the vehicle and everything else was perfect and ready to go. And it sounds to

me like you should avoid traffic and watch the launch.

[Robin Smith]

<p>My guess it will be small in the picture - the end result may be disappointingly so. The plume will be very bright but the rest of it will not be. I reckon at 100 ISO all you will see is the plume. I would use 800+ ISO and wide open at 1/500th or 1/1000th. Expose for the surroundings and maybe reduce exposure by -2-3 EVs. You will blow out the plume a great deal - probably won't matter, as it will look even more impressive. You could always try a slow shutter speed and wider lens to show the launch track should you want another approach.</p>

[Andrew Garrard]

<p>Hi Joel. Just one warning: the 70-200 VR 2 is varifocal, not a parfocal zoom - if you focus the lens and then change the focal length by zooming, you will likely not still be in focus. I've never tried this at the focus distances that you're talking about, so it might be an exception, but it's certainly true of that lens over shorter ranges. So I'd only go manual focus (at least if you're planning not to adjust things after an initial focus) unless you're planning to stick to one focal length.<br />

<br />

I'd go with the AF-On button suggestion, though. I might make sure of the focus of the actual launch with live view (during the later stages of countdown), but use normal phase-detect focus once you're going to allow you to zoom. (Don't use live view during the actual launch - the D800's weird delay while it writes to the card will mean you miss things.)<br />

<br />

Oh, and ISO 100 is probably a good idea. As you suggest, I'd underexpose somewhat, because I would expect the rocket jets to be a lot brighter than the "correct" exposure for the rest of the image, and I imagine you'll want to recover some of the detail in the clouds around the launch pad. The D800 is extremely good on dynamic range - it's effectively ISO-less, in that shooting at ISO 800 is very similar to shooting ISO 100 and then boosting the result by three stops in post - but I strongly suspect you'll be wanting to reduce the dynamic range of the resulting images for final consumption, so shooting at ISO 100 lets you keep the highlights. I'd probably try adjusting exposure a bit either way (probably in aperture priority with auto-ISO off and using exposure compensation) just in case, though.<br />

<br />

Good luck. I envy you - I've not been in the position you'll be in, and I'm still disappointed that I never got to see a shuttle launch.</p>

[bob_flood1]

<p>Joel, hope I'm not too late on this. I can't help with the focus and exposure issues, but I want to advise you on the possibility of a unique photo opportunity that can present itself in a nighttime launch.</p>

<p>When a multi-stage rocket launches, it will go through a couple of stage separations during the ascent, and if things line up right, you can get a truly impressive event, but only for a second or two. When the first stage engine shuts down, several small charges will fire to separate the spent first stage from the remaining rocket and payload. If you are lucky, the first stage will move directly astern. When the second stage rocket fires, its exhaust plume can strike the spent first stage, and if the angles are right, the exhaust plume will be spread into an enormous orange umbrella of fire covering a significant section of the sky. However, that exhaust also immediately starts pushing the first stage away, so the phenomenon destroys itself. If the umbrella of fire happens, it will last only a second, maybe two. So pay attention to when the stage shuts down and be ready to shoot. I saw one of these from the weather tower at MacDill AFB in Tampa when the USAF launched a satellite from Kennedy Space Center, 90 miles away, and the umbrella was the size of 50 moons put together. Saw another one caused by a launch at Vandenberg on the California coast, and I saw it from Las Vegas! I'm sure that one was a separation of the second stage from the third, so stick with that rocket and hope the stars and the rocket parts align. Good luck.</p>

[nsfbr]

Bob - Antares MECO is L+235. 2nd stage ignition is L+281, so 46 seconds later. I'm not sure, but I don't think that would

allow for this to happen. I will definitely err on the side of trying to capture it.

 

The only other launch I've seen in person was at Vandenburg. In that one, the very first spacecraft I ever worked on, the

COBE, went up on a Delta. As a reward for the work I'd done, I got to ride the moveable part of the gantry back from the

vehicle from the very top - ostensibly to make sure nothing was hung up. Great treat for a young engineer. I got to watch

the vehicle go (what seemed to be) overhead after dashing outside where we were monitoring the spacecraft via hardline.

Once the screens stopped updating my job was done. We got outside just in time to see it rise above the hills that were

between where we were and the pad.

 

Andrew - yes I know the lens is varifocal. I'm hoping it won't impact what I'm doing, although the af-on only focusing

should do the job. I was mainly concerned with putting the lens on manual focus and I'm not going to do that.

[bob_flood1]

<p>The 46 second interval may not be too much. When the stages separate, the explosive charges used must be small to save weight and must fire symmetrically to avoid altering the rocket trajectory. That should result in the first stage continuing on the same path as the rocket, but at a very slightly reduced speed. It could be near enough when the second stage fires. Here's hoping for the best!</p>

[Two23]

<p>My choice:</p>

<p>ISO 800, f2.8, TC-14, AF on, use the center focus point only. Be prepared to adjust exposure on the fly using either exp. comp. or shoot in M with your thumb on the shutter dial. You might even need ISO 1600--take some test shots right before launch. Shutter speed will be the priority, I think. Otherwise, it will blur.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

[Richard Williams]

<p>Just heard the news - a terrible shame, but apparently nobody hurt. Was anything visible from DC, or did it not get high enough?</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>I had my drone up at 150' feet over a MD suburb NW of DC, and the rocket never got high enough to be seen. Really heartbreaking - a good friend is a senior engineer at Orbital. I'm sure he's feeling a lot of pain right now. Ugh.</p>

[nsfbr]

Well that sucked. Work is not going to be a very happy place tomorrow or for a while. Unfortunately, once I know more, I

won't be able to share anything unless and until it becomes public, and since much of what becomes public is about half

wrong, I probably won't discuss those things either.

 

I will share one thing though. After Antares blew up, one of my four year old boys said, "The rocket isn't supposed to do

that, right?" Right.

 

There is no feeling that compares to a launch failure. It is hard to describe. I'm on the spacecraft side, so it is primarily

one of being helpless while also being filled with both rage and sorrow. I imagine the rocket guys hurt just as bad if not

worse.

 

Got some halfway decent pictures of the Jefferson though.

[User_4754088]

<p>Wow Joel, sorry about that. Just saw the footage.</p>

<p>Us lay folks think that rocket science is a done deal, accidents like this show it's a lot more complicated than it seems.</p>

<p>Good luck tomorrow.</p>

[Andrew Garrard]

<p>Belatedly, I also wanted to offer my sympathies, and best wishes for getting through this. Horrible news.</p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>A number of our neighbors and friends are in the business so to speak, so very sorry to see what happened. Very thankful, though, that no one was hurt.</p>

[evilsivan]

Sorry to hear about the bad launch. Me and my wife and kids spotted the ISS twice last weekend. It was so cool...

[mag_miksch]

<p>Bad luck for the rocket guys, but good luck for a photographer, so did you make use of the once in a long while opportunity?</p>

[nsfbr]

Mag - you have to understand, the launch site is a hundred miles or so away from DC and the vehicle barely cleared the

tower at its highest. So, no, there was nothing to shoot, other than The Jefferson just after sunset which is pretty much

stock photo territory for someone who has lived here for 30 years or so.