When house photographer Scott Schilke invited the Coastal Breeze News to shoot a rocket launch from the highest of the Stan Gober Memorial Bridge, I couldn’t agree any quicker.
Schilke got here to Marco Island with Deltona Corporation, builders of recent Marco, within the Eighties. And after a distinguished profession in property administration, Schilke has grow to be one of many prime rocket photographers on the planet. Schilke is understood by the house group as spacenewsfl.com. The web site is devoted to documenting America’s house exploration.
The Thursday, October 23 Falcon 9 launch was photographer Schilke’s rocket launch No. 285—however solely his second from atop the Goodland Bridge. It was my first launch.
The again of Schilke’s Lexus SUV is a photograph gallery on wheels. He chooses a tripod from what seems to be a dozen or so which might be neatly organized within the trunk. An app on his cellphone counts down the launch that’s simply over half an hour away.
“The launches are hard on the tripod legs,” Schilke explains as he struggles to make an adjustment. “A lot of dust.”
My first try at rocket pictures.
Schilke and his fellow house photographers need to set their cameras up forward of the launch, then clear the world. Oftentimes, his tools is broken or ruined. This launch was some 200 miles away at Cape Canaveral.
Schilke works rapidly however calmly as he locations cameras—together with mine—on tripods. The launch has an easterly trajectory. As the minutes tick down, Schilke reveals no indicators of panic. He’s used to countdowns.
“Countdowns are my life,” Schilke mentioned as he attaches a shutter launch cable to one of many cameras.
With greater than a minute to spare, Schilke is prepared for the ultimate countdown. The rocket launches proper on time at 9:30 PM. It doesn’t take lengthy for Schilke to exclaim, “There it is! Do you see it?” It took me some time, however I ultimately picked it up. I rapidly fired off pictures with my trusty 400 mm lens because the rocket streaks throughout the sky. It was fairly a thrill to witness a rocket launch in such a serene setting. Schilke motions his hand throughout the Marco skyline. “All of those condos can very easily watch rocket launches,” he mentioned.
Schilke rapidly gathers his tools and congratulates me on my first rocket launch. I have to say it was a tremendous expertise. And one I extremely advocate.