Disjointed lightning

Some parts of Central Florida received a nonstop barrage of lightning and rain Sunday as a cold front swept over the state. Here in my neck of the Space Coast, though, it came after I went to bed. It didn't quite jolt me out of a slumber, but I made myself walk onto the front deck with a tripod to try a few exposures. The above shot shows a close strike. The interesting part of this photo is that the bolt's midsection is missing. It could be traveling through a dense cloud (it also was raining hard at the time) and, therefore, shrouded from view. But, really, it appears as though it's simply not there.

Earlier in the night, some wind-torn clouds moved over the Pineda Causeway. The conditions were gusty and a little drizzly but free of electricity.

Not all launches are beautiful

Some rockets that lift off from the Space Coast emit a long, thick trail of smoke that can be colorfully lit by the late-day sun or blown around into interpretive shapes after the spacecraft reaches orbits. Others, such as this Atlas V rocket Thursday, are just plain lame. The launch was at 7:52 p.m., one minute after sunset, but the rocket flew in the 501 configuration for the first time. In the 501 setup, a bulbous upper portion of the rocket housed the experimental Air Force X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, which looks like a little space shuttle. But the Atlas V that carried the vehicle into space, where it likely will stay for months, lacked solid rocket boosters and their signature contrails. This made for something that look essentially like a torch being hurled through the air. Photos from my fellow photographers: here.

Making the launch even uglier was my location near some industrial storage containers at Port Canaveral.

A spectator films the rocket with her iPhone on the deck of Fish Lips, a restaurant at Port Canaveral.

The Atlas V without boosters leaves only a brief trail after it climbs into the higher, colder atmosphere. But that's it.

The rocket nears a crescent moon.

I liked this spider effect as the rocket faded into the distance.


The only cool part was when the payload faring dropped off the rocket and glimmered in the sunlight. This is tightly cropped from a photo shot at 200mm. I didn't have my big 500mm handy, unfortunately.

The moon and Venus setting at twilight

The moon was 5 percent lit by the sun Friday evening, but the remainder of its disc was illuminated by the sun's reflection off Earth. This is my favorite look for the moon. Amid assignments at work -- including this fun one -- I snapped a post-sunset shot of the moon and Venus, seen between the gap in these pine trees behind FLORIDA TODAY.

Blowing up cars

Since the newspaper I work for doesn't use my photos, I thought I'd share these from an assignment I worked Wednesday. The FBI is leading training in explosives and other weapons of mass destruction this week at a salvage lot in Cocoa full of Cash for Clunkers vehicles. Above, shards of glass fly as FBI agents blow up a Pontiac so their trainees can process the scene. This photo gallery includes others from staff photographer Christina Stuart.

This was a Saturn.

The roof of a Cadillac goes flying.

This car caught on fire, and firefighters extinguished it within minutes.

What's left of the Saturn.

Sheriff's investigators sift through evidence, trying to find out what explosive was used.

This piece of plastic was determined to be junk, not evidence.

Discovery's penultimate flight, along with its destination

Space shuttle Discovery blasted off early Monday, around 6:21 a.m., 48 minutes before sunrise. The weather was clear and still, and the orbiter's booming engines seemed louder than normal. I got to Space View Park in Titusville a little late, less than an hour before the launch, because I was working a day shift Monday. Instead of getting the usual prime viewing real estate along the river, I rudely pushed through the masses for the above view with people crowding a small pier. It's neat to see all the camera LCD screens. People care about this stuff. This exposure was 6 minutes, 19 seconds long.

About 20 minutes before the launch, Discovery's destination, the International Space Station, glinted in sunlight as it streaked across the sky, crossing in front of a crescent moon and flying over the lights from launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center. If you look at the horizon through the break in people's heads in the right corner of this image, you can see the Vehicle Assembly Building. This exposure was 63 seconds long.


Here's what an old point-and-shoot camera did while my DSLR was tied up with the time lapse. Pretty lousy.

The crowd thinned out a bit well after the launch, but Titusville was choked with thousands of people eager to see shuttle Discovery's second-to-last flight. It was the busiest launch-viewing event I've seen.

Unfortunately, people aren't allowed on this pier during the launch. There are too many spots where people can accidentally go swimming.

The contrails always produce interesting shapes and colors in the upper atmosphere.

It was one beautiful launch. Thanks, NASA.