Photo of the Week

What better choice for our inaugural Photo of the Week feature than Craig Bailey’s shot of Monday’s spectacular early morning launch of a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket?

We asked Craig to tell us about the photograph and what it took to make it happen.

Here’s what he shared:

“It was taken via remote camera, one of many installed around the LC-41 launch complex prior to the launch. Remote camera angles allow us to provide views of the launch impossible (or too dangerous) to obtain in person.

“The first launch of Vulcan presented some unique challenges for setting remote cameras. Set up a camera too close, and your image gets covered by rocket exhaust before liftoff. Camera settings also had to be adjusted to compensate for not only the LNG-powered BE-4 engines built by Blue Origin, but also the bigger, more powerful GEM 63XL solid rocket boosters built by Northrup Grumman.

“Monday’s launch proved much more powerful than others from LC-41. Debris thrown from the new engines blew down and damaged several cameras set up around the pad including ours.

“But not before we got our photo.”

See more work by photojournalist Craig Bailey at floridatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: First launch of ULA’s Vulcan rocket is our inaugural Photo of the Week