Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Pyrophotomania

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A resident hoses down the side of his house in the Chelsea Park subdivision, where burning embers from a wildfire in a nearby bird sanctuary threatened to ignite the home.


Last Tuesday, the day of my return from the first of three consecutive long weekends, I was called to work by an editor who said Rockledge was ablaze. Actually, it was a simple wildfire near a subdivision in the city, a subdivision where a friend of mine happens to live. So there was an added concern. When I got there, though, I discovered that the flames were far from her home but very near about 20 along a few streets in the community. I covered it for the newspaper through words and photographs, more of which can be viewed here.


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A teenager carries her most prized possessions - a surfboard and a skateboard - from her home after she was ordered to evacuate.

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A county firefighter assessed the blaze from atop a special truck used in brush fires.

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The firefighters had considerably more hosepower.

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The fire and the homes were separated by a small canal, providing a natural barrier against the blaze. Still, residents used their garden hoses to douse small flames on the other side.

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A woman, her daughter and some other local children gather closely while they look at flames shooting above their homes.

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A father comforts his frightened 8-year-old.

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All of these neighbors were quite concerned, but the firefighters stopped the flames.

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Finally, when the wildfire was contained, everyone could take a break.

Monday, June 21, 2010

SpaceX's Falcon 9 and the disaster that didn't happen

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For the maiden voyage of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, I sat for four hours on a lens case, waiting for the thing to blast off. My makeshift chair was provided by James Murati, a contract photographer for United Launch Alliance, which could be considered a competitor for SpaceX in the commercial launch business. SpaceX is a leading candidate to provide cargo launch services to the International Space Station and possibly manned flights someday. This launch on June 4 was a demonstration - or test - flight for the rocket itself, and it had a high probability of failure. That's why James and I waited for four hours in the hot sun until the crew at SpaceX managed to shake off a technical glitch and finally push the button.

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I set up my tripod and camera on the sandy shore of the Banana River - as opposed to the bank - along a stretch of Port Canaveral, the closest public viewing site for liftoffs from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. My low angle put the horizon - the launch pad - out of site. The optical illusion that my angle created made it appear as though the rocket was emerging from the river.

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During the entire flight, I trained my 150-500mm Sigma zoom lens on the rocket until it disappeared from view. That's because James and I both knew it could blow up. We also knew that would have made for an interesting shot.

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The rocket engines light up some clouds.

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The Falcon 9 is fueled by kerosene - not solid rocket fuel - so there is little smoke trail involved when it launches, much like is the case with Delta IV and Atlas V rockets without solid rocket boosters. This makes for a dull launch.

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But some condensation did occur in the upper atmosphere, creating a bit of a contrail. Still, the highly probable disaster didn't materialize. And I suppose that's a good thing for the future of spaceflight.

Friday, June 18, 2010

An impressive storm and the ensuing rainbow

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Click for full panorama. | These shots are from a few weeks ago - Saturday, June 5 - when Brevard County was hit by a few strong thunderstorms. Since then, there hasn't been too much activity. I'm hoping that changes. Without lightning, Florida is a bore. The above is a panorama stitched together from 11 photos of a storm as it blew over the Pineda Causeway just north of Melbourne.

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A boat motored under the causeway as I pulled to the roadside.

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Heavy rain falls near downtown Melbourne. I was fortunate to avoid most of the rain on the northern end of the thunderstorm.

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Most of these shots look westward toward the mainland.

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The view down the Indian River toward Melbourne.

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Lightning was striking near the bright portions of these photos. The bolts were shrouded by rain, though, and they didn't show up.

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This is the solitary shot I took from the causeway that looks eastward at Merritt Island as the storm reaches the horizon.

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A rolling cloud feature.

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This three-image stitch shows the rat tail.

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A little lightning. As the storm passed, I huddled under the boardwalk over a sand dune to the beach at Patrick Air Force Base, which is at the end of the Pineda Causeway.

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Later in the day, conditions were perfect for a rainbow: sun low in the sky, dark background from the distant storm. Sure enough, one formed over the Atlantic.

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The thing I like about rainbows is that the lighting is often just perfect for photos: The sun is always directly behind you, providing sufficient light for the foreground and the background.

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Lightning was striking inside the storm behind the rainbow. But I wasn't fortunate enough to catch both weather phenomena in one shot.

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Brown pelicans enjoy an oil-free Atlantic Ocean.

Friday, June 4, 2010

The clouds are back in town

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On Thursday, Brevard County experienced its first real rip-roaring thunderstorm of the summer. I was stepping out of the shower when I heard about a severe thunderstorm warning for the region. I quickly dressed and left for work early so I could stop and shoot if I saw anything worthwhile. Just 2 miles from my apartment, on Parkway Drive in Melbourne, I saw a shelf cloud coming out of the southwest.

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It was an impressive formation, but a very fast-moving one. The cloud was far into the distance when I first spotted it, but within five minutes, it was above me.

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Last year's storm season got off to a similar start, with a well-defined shelf cloud. I missed its approach, however, and only shot its wind-torn, aquamarine underside, like you see above. For last year's version, go here.

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On the leading edge of shelf clouds, these "scuds" often form. They're low-hanging, wispy clouds often association with a storm front. This one was deceptive because it had a slender, funnel-like shape. Its lateral motion was rapid, but I couldn't see real rotation, so I knew it was just a scud. Here's a bigger example from last year.