Gallery: The Nerve-Wracking Process of Shooting the Very Last Space Shuttle Launch

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    Dan Winters
    01

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    Shooting a shuttle requires Winters to work backwards. He mapped each shot out in storyboard form.
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    Dan Winters
    02

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    The diagrams help him visualize what he'd like to capture in the frame.
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    Dan Winters
    03

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    Winters mapped out the location of each of the 11 cameras he used to document each launches, as well as the corresponding focal lengths he wanted to use for each.
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    Dan Winters
    04

    shot4

    Shooting the shuttle head-on is one thing. It's more difficult to capture the shots as the shuttle flies out of the frame.
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    Dan Winters
    05

    shot1dia

    Winters mounted five cameras close to the launch pad to capture the firey liftoff.
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    Dan Winters
    06

    shot1

    The corresponding tight shot.
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    Dan Winters
    07

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    Others were farther away on the mounds
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    Dan Winters
    08

    shot2

    Which resulted in looser, full-shuttle images.
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    Dan Winters
    09

    covershot

    Sometimes the best shot has very little to do with the main subject. The cover shot for Winters' book doesn't even show the shuttle.
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