Sometimes, the decision is easy.
It was 4:53 a.m. Monday when photographer Malcolm Denemark sent me and the other editors an email on photo plans for the week. He was still awake after shooting an early morning SpaceX launch, and he noted they’d gotten some good liftoff photos.
But Denny, as we call him, also called attention to colleague Craig Bailey’s stunning Kennedy Space Center lightning picture: “We also have Craig’s amazing lightning shot (the reason launch was delayed) around the VAB. This photo needs to run across the front page! Also takes care of Photo of the Week.”
It sure did.
I asked Craig about the capture.
“Pretty simple really,” he told me. “I was at the blockhouse waiting out the weather for the Falcon 9 launch. As the storm started to pull away and the rain ceased there was a lot of cloud to cloud lightning (most observers call them ‘crawlers’ due to their behavior). I set up a camera with a lightning detector and watched from the building as it did its work.”
He said it was taken as a long exposure, about 1/10 of a second.
The result: a stunning photo that showcases nature’s power around Kennedy Space Center’s most iconic building.
Executive Editor Mara Bellaby can be reached at mbellaby@floridatoday.com.