SpaceX Starlink Group 8-2 - Cayucos California

Image of the May 9, 2024, launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base approximately 59 miles away, as a "seagull flies", from Cayucos, California, with it's pier in the foreground.
We had arrived around sunset to setup and get the shot but the launch was pushed back several times. So instead of a "blue hour" launch we waited around and got the blackness of night. The "fun" challenge though was the tide, it was coming in and coming in fast. The 25-30 yards or meters of beach I had when I first set up was only 1 when I started the shot. The exposure is just under 2.5 minutes, I had one hand at the ready to catch a falling tripod and camera if the burm the near leg was on washed out!