Picture: Sub-launched Trident Missile soars into the evening sky above California; November 2015
For those of us who live on the west coast, and thanks to the wide-spread media coverage, many folks have now heard of or saw the crazy light that appeared in the evening sky over California last weekend. It turns out it wasn’t a UFO or meteor, nor a plane or Underdog; it was a submarine-launched, $37-million dollar Trident Missile hurtling skyward from its firing point off the San Diego coast. Many of you have probably already seen the incredible shot(s) taken by several photographers who’d been shooting a timelapse over the Golden Gate Bridge. (I mean seriously, talk about a “Wow!” photo.)
For myself, I feel incredibly lucky as well to have this capture which, although nowhere near as dramatic as the one that features the Golden Gate Bridge, is still mine, and despite any flaws, is an incredibly unique photo to have captured.
On the Big Picture scheme of things, the paths we choose to take in life may lead us to unintended places or consequences. So it goes with the little things, and especially photography. On this particular evening, I’d been teaching a photo workshop in Point Reyes. Our last stop for the day was to shoot the evening light over Drakes Bay and the Historic Lifeboat Station near Chimney Rock. After helping the students with their questions and exposures, they headed back down the hill as the shroud of darkness slowly enveloped us, while myself and a facilitator lingered behind to snap a few quick frames for ourselves. Both being outdoor enthusiasts, we headed down just a few minutes behind the others, but opted for walking in the dark using our peripheral vision instead of flashlights. I was carrying my camera and tripod over my shoulder, all the while thinking if I were to trip and fall in the darkness, I’d be putting the survival of my camera gear at great risk.
At one point we passed a water tank, at which time I figured I should turn on my flashlight so as to not miss the spur trail that led back to the Lifeboat Station instead of continuing straight ahead to the trailhead. We kept walking until I was certain we had missed the turnoff for the spur trail in the darkness. We turned and started to retrace our steps back the way we came. That’s when we saw this strange light in the sky that just didn’t look normal. I guessed right away it was a rocket, though I figured it must have come from Vandenberg AFB near Lompoc on the Central California coast. Since I luckily had my camera on my tripod and already set up to take a long evening exposure, I quickly set the camera down and managed to get this one frame before the rocket flamed out of sight. It’s odd to think that like in Life, if I hadn’t turned around to find my way home, I totally would have missed seeing the light. — And this is the message I always speak of in my classes; Keep looking around you. Don’t get lost in the subject, look at what the light is doing, and focus on that.
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Image ID#: 151106_BA2-0498
Gary Crabbe is an award-winning commercial and editorial outdoor travel photographer and author based out of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. He has seven published books on California to his credit, including “Photographing California; v1-North”, which won the prestigious 2013 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Gold Medal award as Best Regional title. His client and publication credits include the National Geographic Society, the New York Times, Forbes Magazine, TIME, The North Face, Subaru, L.L. Bean, Victoria’s Secret, Sunset Magazine, The Nature Conservancy, and many more. Gary is also a photography instructor and consultant, offering both public and private photo workshops. He also works occasionally a professional freelance Photo Editor.
Great story, Gary and a good example of how a negative turned into a positive….a good thing to keep in mind whenever one is out photographing and having to deal with factors outside of one’s control.
Very cool shot, Gary, Golden Gate or no! It’s eerie and oddly beautiful.
Great shot – delighted for you!
But isn’t it interesting how accompanying words can change a picture and how they influence what we see (a whole lot of people didn’t buy the official story).
Always enjoying your posts!
I hear there were a lot of rumors about this launch. They worked hard to make it seem routine. That you captured it the way you did is surprising. I don’t mean to get too far out here and I suppose for the sake of sanity you can’t read too much into it, but if you think about how coincidental your sighting was, from a certain perspective your photograph itself is a mysterious event. Regardless, for now, you can just chalk it up to being an amazing experience and image, one that you aren’t likely to ever see again. Let’s hope for all our sakes that is all it turns out to be.
“On the Big Picture scheme of things, the paths we choose to take in life may lead us to unintended places or consequences…” I am so happy for you that by chance, you were able to capture this unique image while taking the road less traveled. 🙂
One needs to be very careful about walking around in the dark. Too easy to fall off a cliff. 😉