Photos of Stuff posted to Michael Seeley's Flickr page.

Space Station and Milky Way

This was the beautiful scene Tuesday night as a group of us traveled to Bull Creek Wildlife Management Area. A lot is going on in this frame. The International Space Station is the streak to the right of the Milky Way. The bright smudge on the right of the Milky Way is Jupiter, and on the other side of the cloud, you can find Saturn. And then on the left side of the frame are two other little streaks. According to Heavens-Above.com, those are most likely the GEOS3 rocket (the higher of the two) and the Cosmos 2181 rocket. Shooting alongside were the all-very-talented John Kraus, Richard Angle, and Alex Schierholtz. Details: This is a composite of 2 frames. The ISS streak was first at 8:45:10pm and it was run for 185-seconds at ISO500 and f5.6. I don't think I needed that long, but I wasn't sure when the ISS had left my frame. And then one minute later, I captured the Milky Way frame with a 25-second exposure at ISO3200 and f2.8. I was shooting with a Canon 5D4 and a Rokinon 12mm fish-eye lens.

Clouds + full

Harvest Moon on Friday the 13th. (Pic taken September 13, 2019 from Orlando, Florida)

Sunset over Lake Washington

Thursday night #sunset in Melbourne, Florida. (: me)

Sunset over Lake Washington

After #HurricaneDorian the Space Coast has been treated to some amazing displays of color at #sunrise & #sunset. This was tonight (Thursday), a couple watching the sunset over Lake Washington in Melbourne, Florida. 📷: me

Post-Dorian Sunset

Less than 24-hours after Central Florida began to feel the effects of #HurricaneDorian, the Space Coast was treated to a spectacular #sunset, seen here over Lake Washington. #Dorian is still a menace; be safe Carolinas! (: me, 9/4/19)

Waiting for Dorian

Waiting for #HurricaneDorian this Labor Day afternoon in Satellite Beach, FL; It's windy and occasionally wet from passing squalls. (If you look closely, someone is making their feelings about the storm well-known.) (Pic: me; Sept 2, 2019)

Sunset over Lake Washington

Sunday night #sunset in Melbourne, Florida, the pre- #Dorian view. In 24-48 hours, this scene will likely look a bit different. Be safe, #Florida. (Pic: me)

Milky Way in Florida

Unexpectedly clear skies over Central Florida last night = a quick (and short) trip to see the Milky Way, my first Florida stargazing trip thus far this year. I say unexpectedly because a tropical disturbance was going to dump considerable amounts of rain on us (sorry, Carolinas, it's yours to deal with now). And, I would have spent more time there, but 10 minutes was all I could handle. Undeterred by clothing and bug spray (two kinds, even), the mosquitos were as voracious as ever. I brought props and would have preferred a different orientation with the road, but in the end, the bugs won. This shot was the second image I captured; the Milky Way was quite visible to the naked eye, even through the swarms of bugs. TL;DR: Florida weather changes, and Bactine. Just Bactine. Details: ISO2500, 25-seconds and f2.8 with a Canon 5D4 and a Rokinon 12mm fish-eye lens. Minimal post-processing in Lightroom.

GPSIII Delta IV Medium by United Launch Alliance

The final flight of the #DeltaIV Medium (aka "single-stick") rocket, 25-seconds off the pad. I was 12 miles south of the pad for this launch, and there were a couple of clouds between Cocoa Beach and the pad. This was the second cloud the rocket flew behind as it lept toward orbit. It was a beautiful launch of a rocket that has a 100% mission success rate. Well done, @ulalaunch (Pic: me / @wereportspace )

GPSIII DeltaIV Medium bu United Launch Alliance

Crowds turned out for the final flight of the #DeltaIV Medium rocket, seen here from Cocoa Beach. This beautiful launch sent the #GPSIIISV02 “Magellan” satellite to orbit. Congrats to Tory Bruno and the entire United Launch Alliance team! (Pic: me)

AEHF5 by United Launch Alliance on Film

In the latest edition (for me) of analog vs. digital, may I present the film-version of the United Launch Alliance AEHF5 AtlasV rocket launch. The rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 6:13 am, 35 minutes before sunrise. When the rocket was far enough downrange (to the East), the exhaust plume caught the light from the rising Sun, and it lit a bright white against the darkened sky. I ran both a DSLR and a film camera, the latter seen here. I tend to underexposure my nighttime film launch streaks, but this one ended up more blown out than I would have liked. I only ran the DSLR frame for 251-seconds and thought the film would be a bit more forgiving. The DSLR version is here, for comparison: flic.kr/p/2gSGSCX Details: This is an 18-minute exposure at f22, opened 10-minutes before the launch, and then run for 8 minutes during the launch. I was using Kodak Ektachrome 100 film in a Canon Elan7 with a Rokinon 14mm wide-angle. Processing and scan by The Darkroom.

AEHF5 by United Launch Alliance

"FRANKENSTEIN (def): Verb. To combine two things in a crude manner, in which the component parts are still visible."* This Frankensteined image is from one of my remote cameras I placed at LC-41 with a sound trigger to capture the Thursday morning United Launch Alliance #AEHF5 #AtlasV launch. And, this camera was pretty much doomed from the start. I brought the wrong enclosure for the ultra-wide shot I had planned. I didn't have a memory card in the camera. And, I'm reasonably sure I forgot to switch on the battery that supplies power to the dew heater. The whole concept of a wide-angle pad streak for a rocket with five solids is quite silly (the solids create such a display, the streak will be a mess. See below, the furry streak), so I really shouldn't have bothered with it in the first place. But, the dew heater was mission-critical, considering how much rain fell on the pad after we set our cameras. The camera fired, but in the end, it was water on (or probably behind) the ND filter that doomed this shot, creating a giant and brightly lit spot over the bottom of the streak. For this apocalyptic calamity of an image, I Frankensteined the last picture the camera captured after setting it (with storm clouds in the background) with the furry-streak the camera captured as the rocket lept from the pad. I did a quick layer blend in PhotoShop using the "Hard Light" mode. This image is the result. To my surprise, the water spot made for a palette, creating almost a spotlighted effect on the rocket. Enjoy. *Frankenstein definition source: www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=frankenstein

AEHF5 by United Launch Alliance

In total contrast to my serene view 27-miles away, this was the purposeful chaos at LC-41 during the 6:13am Thursday (August 8) launch of the #AEHF5 #AtlasV by United Launch Alliance. Triggered by the (considerable) sound of the rocket motors (5 solids and an RD-180), this camera set 12-ish hours before launch did its job just fine. To set the remotes, we dodged lightning (thank you, Heather and the ULA team). And then our gear endured rain and considerable moisture before this happened (more on that when and if I post my attempt at a pad streak). But, the real MVP here is Mary Ellen Jelen, who covered the launch from the Causeway on base and then waited to pick up my gear from the pad. MEJ made this shot possible, but there's another thing. Her presence at CCAFS facilitated my shooting from (very) near home so I could "cover" another launch that morning: Lauren's first day of pre-kindergarten. It was a magical morning. (Pic: me / We Report Space)

AEHF5 by United Launch Alliance

This is the United Launch Alliance AEHF-5 satellite launch. With a launch time of 6:13am (ET) and a sunrise of 6:48am, the downrange plume caught the rising sunlight perfectly. There's even a hint of crepuscular rays emanating from the horizon. This is a 251-second exposure captured from Palm Shores, Florida, looking across the Indian River Lagoon. The shadowy figure on the dock is a fisherman, net fishing, but he sure paused to watch the launch. Afterward, he asked me if the rocket exploded, and I assured him it did exactly what it was supposed to do.

Sunset over Lake Washington

It rained all through #sunset tonight on the Space Coast, but the Sun found a small tear in the clouds and for a few moments the scene was magical. I'm not sure who the guy is, but he was committed to getting a great shot. He stood outside in the rain the whole time I was there, while I was ducking in and out of my car. (: me in Melbourne, #Florida)

Sunset over Lake Washington

Sunday night #sunset seen from Lake Washington in Melbourne, Florida. (Alternate title: Picture in picture) (: me)

Sunset over Lake Washington

#Sunset over Lake Washington, while 2 helicopters from (I presume) the 920th Rescue Wing fly by in the background (behind the people on the dock). (Pic: me, July 30, 2019)

Sunset over the Indian River

Friday night #sunset, seen over the Indian River from Melbourne Beach and the Space Coast of Florida. (📷: me)

CRS18 by SpaceX

FURY (noun) Def: 2. violence or energy displayed in natural phenomena or in someone's (Elon?) actions. This is the 7/25 liftoff of the #SpaceX #CRS18 #Falcon9 rocket, seen from the pad. 9 Merlin engines, 7607 kN of thrust=FURY. Well done, SpaceX. I'm a bit vexed by the roiling cloud that is mostly obscuring the rocket. But, considering how little time we had to set cameras (15 minutes) and how long (30 hours) this camera sat outside in seemingly constant rain, I feel incredibly fortunate to have captured anything at all. And, big thanks to Bill Jelen for picking up the camera that took these photos. I couldn't be at the launch, and I couldn't make it to the Cape Friday morning for remote pickup. Bill covered it all (including sending me the files over the interweb for me to edit), and I remain thankful for his constant assistance. (Pic: me / We Report Space)

Apollo Monument

This was what drew me to Titusville and Space View Park, last night, July 16, 2019, the 50th anniversary of the #Apollo11 launch. Meet the Apollo monument. According to the American Space Museum & Space Walk of Fame website, "the monument groundbreaking was held on July 16, 1999, at precisely 9:32 a.m., exactly 30 years after 'Lift Off' of Apollo XI." So, this was where I decided I would capture the rise of the Full Moon, exactly 50 years (plus 11 hours) after "Lift Off" of Apollo XI. I arrived a few minutes before moonrise, but I failed to account for how dense the trees were in the background, which meant I needed to wait until the Moon was higher in the sky. This is 35 minutes after moonrise and 40 minutes after sunset, and the monument isn't lit, which meant the scene was quite dark. Solution: My rarely used speedlight. But, there were also powerlines and tree branches in the way, so really didn't like anything I was getting. After a 24-hour cooling off period (I was rather frustrated with the scene last night; the gazillion mosquitoes weren't helping my mood, either) I revisited the images and found this one. The monument isn't in focus (I had to shoot closer than I intended), and the Moon is partially obscured (by a tree and aforementioned monument), but here it is. Aside from the mosquitos, it was a pretty terrific being there, and I was able to hang around to catch the ISS flying overhead a few minutes later. TL;DR: #Apollo50!

500px Gallery: Photos of Stuff

Fishing at sunset

Superbowl Sunday Sunset

Fisherman at sunset

Lake Washington fisherman at #sunset in Melbourne, Florida, April 24, 2016.

Vernal Equinox Sunset - 2016

Welcome to Spring: a couple watches the cloudy but still pretty #‎equinox #‎sunset, looking due east over Lake Washington, Florida.

Sunrise in Florida

Losing an hour of sleep didn't stop people from enjoying the #sunrise in Satellite Beach, Florida on March 13, 2016.

Downtown LA from the Griffith Observatory

Photos taken on the evening of January 28, 2016 from the Griffith Observatory, high above downtown Los Angeles.

SES9 Falcon9 Launch by SpaceX

T+90 seconds into the flight of the Falcon9 rocket. The plume is lit by the sunset. The sunset was about 10 minutes prior to the launch.

SES9 Falcon9 Launch by SpaceX

153 second exposure of the Falcon9 rocket carrying the SES9 satellite, launched by SpaceX on March 4, 2016 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

SES9 Falcon9 Launch by SpaceX

Liftoff of the Falcon9 rocket

"What are you looking at?"

Photos of a very photogenic Blue-throated Macaw at the Brevard Zoo in Melbourne, Florida.

Beach sunrise

Sunset in Melbourne, Florida, September 13, 2015

Beautiful sunset in Melbourne, Florida seen from Nail Farms on September 13, 2015

Watercolor

Sunrise over the Indian River Lagoon, September 10, 2015. Seen from Melbourne, Florida.

Sunrise at the beach

#‎Sunrise, August 15, 2015, captured at 6:52am from Seagull Park in Satellite Beach, Florida. Confession: This is probably my first proper beachside sunrise since moving to Florida. I was a little wrapped up in the sunrise, and I was also trying to get away from this one fisherman in particular who seemed determined to be in my frame (although these birds in this shot were in fact kind enough to move out of the shot) so I didn't notice the small crowd that had gathered. When I turned around to leave, nearly 30 people had gathered at the deck and stairs to silently watch the sunrise.

Monday morning sunrise

This is the sun rising over Merritt Island seen from Melbourne, Florida Monday morning, August 10, 2015 at 6:53am