Conowingo Dam

Yesterday I made my first trip of the year to Conowingo. I timed my arrival to be about 6:15AM, thinking that was overkill and I would arrive WAY early. I got one of the final few parking spots. I dressed with four layers and a cap and gloves to keep warm. I should have brought a balaclava. OK, even after this many trips I was underprepared.

Last year was a bust because of high water levels. I've been watching the water discharge reports and the water level is way down. So I went to my favorite spot at the water's edge. I like this spot because it's less crowded, provides unobstructed views of the water and fishing action, and it's a great low perspective on eagles as they catch fish. I was there only an hour or so before the alarms sounded and the water started rising, inundating my spot. I had to retreat up onto the rocks. This left my tripod unusable because, even though I could set it up, there was no room to move behind it to follow action. I spent the rest of the day shooting handheld. Which meant my hands got cold, even with gloves on. About 10:30, the wind picked way up, raising a chop on the water and making me even more cold. Choppy water means less fishing. I went home.

Overall, I'm not happy with my results. Here are a few photos from the day.

Lens Coat is Popular

Along the Fence

Low Pass

Staring at Me

Contrast against the Rocks on the Island

Lessons from the day:

• Take more warm clothing. I can always take it off if I'm hot but I'll shiver (like yesterday) if it's colder than expected.
• Check exposure settings more frequently. I had a timer set to remind me very 20-30 minutes, but I failed to think about ISO when I checked, so I wound up blowing the best shots out.

Rocket Launch

This past weekend my wife and I went to Chincoteague to watch a rocket launch.

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, aka MARS, has a couple of launches per year, usually to the International Space Station. These are unmanned resupply missions. We've gone twice before to watch a launch. The first time was perfect: it was a night launch and we had beautiful weather. We arrived in town and were directed to the school parking lot. There, we caught a bus to the circle in town near the causeway that leads to Assateague Island. We, along with hundreds of other people, watched the launch that took place miles away. We had a great view over the coastal swamp and open water. The second trip was a bust. We stayed overnight, set up in frigid cold to watch, and the launch was scrubbed seconds before the target time.

This time the launch went on schedule. We got there a couple of hours early, parked on the causeway, and waited. It was chilly and sunny and clear. It was really cool to see the launch. The delay in hearing it was just as I remembered from the first launch that I witnessed. The pad is several miles away from the viewing area; it took time for the sound to reach us. The rocket was nearly out of sight before we heard the launch.

I'm disappointed with the pictures. It was hazy at ground level so sharp pictures were impossible. Even after it climbed I had a hard time getting sharp photos; it was just too far away. But I'll post them anyway.

Here's a shot just after liftoff, with the steam from the water that cools the pad creating a cloud on the left.

Just After Liftoff

 High in the sky, here you can see the two plumes from the two rocket motors. I darkened this one in post-processing to show the flames.

Plume

 The exhaust left a cloud that hung in the air for a little while.

Smoky Trail

Nearly out of sight, it looked like an airplane with a contrail.

Approaching Main Engine Cutoff

So I learned a few things. First, the advice I found on shooting this event said to underexpose a couple of stops because the rocket motors put out a lot of light. That turned out to be the correct advice. I also read that manual mode, f8, ISO 200, 1/1000 are good exposure settings. That also turned out right. I set up on a tripod with a gimbal head. Worked great. What will I do differently, if I ever do this again?

• Focus on infinity, tape the focus ring, forget about trying to focus. It's all happening at infinity. Forget the focus button, which I kept pushing out of habit.
• Have a second camera with a 70-200 lens ready to shoot the smoky trail. My 500mm lens was too much for that and I could only get part of it at a time.