>In film school........I fell in LOVE/LUST with the work of Arthur d'Arsen(sic).......The long time exposures/perfect focus/and always one trail of light that 'illuminated' the subject in some unique way......."If I could put time in a bottle...." Dad worked at the 'Cape'........I have well over a hundred different launch photos.......(in 27 yrs) but the night ones are oh-so special.......In my first photos I would try to get so close to them that the intensity of the launch was lost in the overpowering BRIGHT images.........Until I stepped back from the site and viewed the launch in TIME and DISTANCE......did I find some 'poetry' in the image............... OK ......off the drugs now and back to your question.......I KNEW that the launch was going to trace the path in the sky......but I had never shot from this location before........The bridge just kissed the edge of the lake by about 75' and from just the right spot on the curve and hump of the bridge I could see Downtown Orlando in the distance.........Most of the recent launches were headed for the International Space Station.....which requires the Shuttle to turn toward the North (photo Left) and this view would put the curve right over the lit cityskyline.......... DUH, I did not check WHERE it was headed..... A night launch and time was all the info I had........This launch was headed to HUBBLE .........Equatorial orbit..........The Shuttle heads up and East over the Atlantic toward Africa............. I arrived at my pre-selected site with 3-minutes to spare...........checked my camera regular "100" speed film and F/16 on 'B'/cable release.....(thin lines for big enlargements)..........I had the van's radio on TV station and heard the countdown.........open camera lens...........And POW......the sky lights up at the Far right edge/off the edge of my film.........I quickly closed the shutter moved about 10 feet to my right and instantly composed the tree in the frame........I did notice the 'bird' but/just part of the picture.....straighten the horizon/advance the film and start the exposure again............(I still thought it would curve to the left)......... Now I just stand there and watch and in amazement the light stays in frame and the beautiful reflection starts to form.......usually near the 90 second mark just after the peak of the curve I stop the exposure......this guy just stayed in frame............because the light is moving only the smallest speck of the moving light is visible at any one moment ........in the beginning as it lights up the sky the reflection is big and bold......later the only image is the faintest weak star(NO ONE EVER CASUALLY NOTICES THESE LAUNCHES AT THIS POINT)........ yet it's still recording in the lake and sky........50' to the eagle.....50 miles to the site of the launch........2500 miles to the end of the exposure.....all in the same frame! AND TALK ABOUT PERSPECTIVE AND IMAGE COMPRESSION..........viewed from end on that circular orbit sure has a "funny" shape........ But total SERINDIPITY that the image would be as dramatic as this..........Remember I started the camera and then watched what happened before my eyes/film..........But I knew I had something special............I even got to do a little "jig" You said: "...... in Lucy Lippard's book 'Overlay'. The artist, > Charles Ross, used a large lens to burn marks into pieces of paper and wood, making repeated exposures over periods of months." Oh God.....I hope I'm not that anal.........Ive always marveled at the dedication to make those year-long figue-8 sun/moon photos....? I never saw your ROSS work before......COOL! OK>>>>>>>>>here's one from Physics class: Attach a light to the pedal of a bicycle....and another to the rim of one tire..........Now pedal the bike and make a time exposure........No 'freewheeling allowed'...........change gears and shoot another frame.........what do they look like? I love that one! Waveform/length/amplitude/gear ratios! Wow way too long..........Later doug __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo! http://sbc.yahoo.com
