FLORIDA TODAY’s senior photographer Malcolm Denemark was all set up to get a shot in the dark as United Launch Alliance sent its second-ever Vulcan rocket into space on Friday.
“It probably could’ve been one of the most incredible visuals, with that color, the jellyfish effect, that glow in the sky … an amazing perfect storm of effects,” Denemark said.
Instead, the planned 6:30 a.m. launch, from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, was delayed until 7:25 a.m.
So, Denemark wound up packing up his equipment and heading for another location, at Tulip Lane in Cocoa Beach. There, he shot this almost mystically colored shot of the rocket going up, into beautifully pinkish-gray-blue clouds, just minutes after sunrise.
This Photo of the Week didn’t disappoint: You just never know what you’re going to get, Denemark said.
“It was still an amazing thing to shoot,” he said. “Quite a few people out on the beach. Even a guy with a metal detector, his back to the launch, almost like he was oblivious to it.”
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Sun, rocket rise as space fans cheer at Cocoa Beach: Photo of the Week
