Here is a video of the launch.  I was about 3 miles away and the video starts right about when the Main Engines ignite.  You can hear the shutter of my 50D as the video starts.  It’s about 10 or so seconds before you hear the engines due to the distance.  The zooming is pretty bad as I was just staring at the shuttle go up and trying to remember to keep pressing the shutter remote.  Plus from where I was set up, there wasn’t much to see after the first 45 seconds.  I was pretty much in-plane with the trajectory, so with the sun not coming up yet, the plume pretty much blocked the view. Here’s the link to view it in 1080P.

Here are a few photos from the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on April 5th, 2010 06:21:22 EDT.  I was beside the Launch Control Center at Kennedy Space Center (~3.1 miles from the launch pad 39A).  I decided to bracket my shots +/- 1 stop, but it turns out I really didn’t need to.  I shot in RAW at 1/125, F8 and ISO 400. The first two photos are right after the SRB ignites.  The next 5 are of the shuttle clearing the launch pad.  After standing in awe for a minute, I changed out the lens to the wide angle, 10-22.  I ended up just taking a few shots hand held rather than wasting another half minute or so trying to unmount the 100-400L and setting everything up for a long exposure (in hindsight, I probably should have).  So the final photo is a shot of the shuttle heading almost directly away from where I was standing towards the International Space Station.  Also, thanks to Brad from Photo Rental Source for the 100-400L lens and the 1.4X extender.STS131-1 STS131-2 STS131-3 STS131-4 STS131-5 STS131-6 STS131-7 STS131-8