This is an image of the first SpaceX Falcon 9 Booster landing at Vandenberg Space Force Base on 10/07/2018. This was titled SAOCOM 1A Mission, the Falcon 9 carried an observation satellite for Argentina into orbit. SpaceX had not landed a booster on the West Coast previously, so there was a bit of excitement around this event. The Sun had set at 6:37 pm and the Launch was at 7:21 pm, there is still the faint orange glow from the Sun on the horizon. Approximately 9 minutes later the free-falling booster re-ignited it's engines to slow its decent and to stick its landing near where it had just lifted off. A very exciting evening and event to capture. I was using Nikon's D500 with a 10-24mm AF-S DX lens. Settings were 10mm (effective 15mm), 31.1 secs., f/10, ISO 100.
Photographing a launch is always challenging for me, I've done my share and still I find myself making mistakes with the settings or other operational aspects. The lighting can range from full mid-day summer sun to the black of 1 am night, throw in a moon or hazy skies or moving clouds and it just isn't quite as simple as always using the same settings. Don't forget the rocket engines are putting out a lot of light! Other challenges that you can experience are heat distortion, cold weather affecting you and equipment. Those are the things that can happen with just getting a 'normal' images of the rocket, now complicate it even more with a long exposure 'streak shot'. This night things went right, I'm glad for that!

Edited with Capture One 23, basic slider adjustments Exposure and High Dynamic Range, Levels, Clarity and Structure +7 ea, Dehaze +5, slight Vignette and crop.

Now shoot with a Nikon Z6ii and Z8, sometimes D850 and the older D500.