Feb 8-08 Shuttle Launch
Yesterday I was at the golf course at 6:45 AM in the morning to meet with an old fellow who wanted to play our match play game at 7am. Let me start by saying that this way to early for me, particularly at this time of the year, it is DARK outside. I arrived and there must have been a dozen older fellows sitting on the porch waiting for the first speck of light so that they could tee off. Shortly after 7am they were on the tee and hitting into a slowly lightening sky. I for one could not even read the score card in this light. Away they went and started to look for the golf balls they had just hit. By the time that the first few groups had hit off there was enough light for me to play, away we went and played the first hole in very low light.
The fellow I played was a real old gentleman, 84 years young! He was as sharp as a whip, kept the score and never made a mistake, he was a real pleasure to play with. I had to give him 16 strokes, he was not long but became deadly once around the green. I did win my match but it was not the run away that I had expected, what it did turn out to be was fun.
Yesterday was also Shuttle launch day. The weather was heavy overcast clouds with only a 30% chance of a 2:45 pm launch. I headed down to Ponce Inlet to be out on the jetti in case the launch took place. My guess was that it would not happen, this is the launch that has been on hold since last November. Sure enough at 2:45pm and a few seconds the bright orange flames of the shuttle appeared on the horizon and very , very quickly disappeared into the clouds. The shuttle popped out of the clouds for fractions of seconds from time to time. As hard as I tried I did not manage to get any pictures that turned out to be of any use. This is my second attempt to get some pictures of a launch. My conclusion is that you can not be close enough to get good pictures, leave this to the pros so stand back watch, relax and enjoy the next launch if you are fortunate to be in the area.
Todays picture thanks to the local newspaper.
The fellow I played was a real old gentleman, 84 years young! He was as sharp as a whip, kept the score and never made a mistake, he was a real pleasure to play with. I had to give him 16 strokes, he was not long but became deadly once around the green. I did win my match but it was not the run away that I had expected, what it did turn out to be was fun.
Yesterday was also Shuttle launch day. The weather was heavy overcast clouds with only a 30% chance of a 2:45 pm launch. I headed down to Ponce Inlet to be out on the jetti in case the launch took place. My guess was that it would not happen, this is the launch that has been on hold since last November. Sure enough at 2:45pm and a few seconds the bright orange flames of the shuttle appeared on the horizon and very , very quickly disappeared into the clouds. The shuttle popped out of the clouds for fractions of seconds from time to time. As hard as I tried I did not manage to get any pictures that turned out to be of any use. This is my second attempt to get some pictures of a launch. My conclusion is that you can not be close enough to get good pictures, leave this to the pros so stand back watch, relax and enjoy the next launch if you are fortunate to be in the area.
Todays picture thanks to the local newspaper.
No comments:
Post a Comment