THRILLING IMAGES OF BEAUTIFUL LAUNCHES NOW

Today, we are featuring the work of one of the most talented passionate launch photographers in the world. Get ready for spectacular images of rocket launches. They are a thrill!

BEN COOPER

Ben Cooper has always had a passion for a Beautiful Launch. His interests in space flight, rockets, and photography, began when he was eight years old and watched a rocket launch with his father.

Cooper originally wanted to be a NASA engineer. He attended Embry-Riddle, an engineering school in Florida. While he was there, he had photographed every rocket launch that took place there.

He was so talented at launch photography, that he began photographing launches for large media outlets. And talent is especially important in this work: there is no second chance to capture those launch moments.

Cooper took a job in the NASA photography department and worked there until the shuttle program ended in 2011.

The shuttle’s last launch was Cooper’s favorite and his most bittersweet job.

Cooper still works as professional space program photographer, based in Florida near Cape Canaveral.

Setting up the cameras on the launch pad is the most challenging aspect of his work. They have to be programmed with precision and protected from the elements. His equipment is often destroyed by heat and debris released during the launch.

Cooper’s love of rocket launches comes through loud and clear in his exceptionally beautiful photographs.

You can see much more of Ben's work on his website LaunchPhotography.com.

Read more about Beautiful Launch, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including Wake up to Something Beautiful Now!, 10 New Species Launch New Understandings Now and Beautiful Fiddleheads Launch into a Beautiful Spring Supper.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Ben Cooper. Minotaur V Rocket Taking a Spacecraft to the Moon.
2. Image: by Ben Cooper. Falcon 9 Launches CRS-4 (SpX-4).
3. Image: by Ben Cooper. Falcon 9 Launches CRS-6 (SpX-6).
4. Image: by Ben Cooper. Atlas 5 Rocket Launches on the World's First Mission to Pluto, with the New Horizons Space Probe Atop.
5. Image: by Ben Cooper.
6. Image: by Ben Cooper. Discovery Departs Florida For Last Time.
7. Image: by Ben Cooper. Atlas 5 Launches MMS.
8. Image: by Ben Cooper.
9. Image: by Ben Cooper. Delta 4-Heavy launches NASA's Orion.
10. Image: by Ben Cooper.
11. Image: by Ben Cooper. STS-135: Space Shuttle Soars into History on its Final Mission!
12. Image: by Ben Cooper. Delta 4 launches GPS IIF-6.
13. Image: by Ben Cooper. Endeavour Flight Deck.