Erik Kuna - In the Photography Spotlight and a Throwback Too!

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by Skip Cohen

​With everything that's changed in our lives, the lines between great images, memories, and classic skill sets are all blurred. Technically it's Throwback Thursday, and the fun of the day is typically looking back at a moment in the past captured in a photograph. Well, I'm combining a little of everything this morning.

The image above is thanks to the outrageous passion of Erik Kuna.  

It's a 9-minute long exposure streak of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching across the sky and the booster turning back and landing on earth. It was taken from an abandon launchpad from the '60s at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, with a Lego Star Wars Millennium Falcon in the Foreground, since Elon Musk actually named the Falcon rocket after this iconic Sci-Fi Spacecraft. 

Erik captured it with his camera set up on a Platypod Max, but that's not where the story about the image ends.

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Erik Kuna, Scott Kelby and yours truly on "The Grid" March 11.

Here's where the "throwback" comes in...

For so many of us, the fun of a throwback image only requires turning back the clock a few weeks!

Erik shared the image on The Grid last month. I was a guest on that show and arrived much later than usual because I was stuck in traffic. (There's a throwback all its own - traffic!)

I remember joking that it might be our last time all seated together for awhile. Even then, we didn't really understand the full impact of the "social-Tsunami" headed our way.

The image of the three of us is actually my last photograph taken while being with other people outside my home/office. Right now, it seems like it was so long ago.

But there is a brighter side to all of this, or maybe it's better described as an enduring side. Social distancing makes it tough to spend direct time with friends now, but it doesn't stop the support available or the willingness of so many people, like Erick and Scott to help us through the challenges.

Start with all the support you'll find at KelbyOne, including ongoing articles and great online educational programs. Then, tune in The Grid and catch up on past episodes. Follow Scott Kelby's blog for more good solid content.

Last but certainly not least - check out Erik's website. It's jam-packed with incredible images. And while some of you will think they're a long way from your specialty of weddings, portraits, etc. they're right in line with the passion so many of you share for having a camera in your hands!  I love the way Erik describes his passion for space:

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Driven by a passion to create images that inspire, I work with artists and media focused on creating photos, animations, motion art and videos that communicate the story and capture the beauty, wonder and amazement of space exploration.

"The value of beauty and inspiration is very much underrated, no question." - Elon Musk

The greatest gift we can give humanity today is to look beyond our current generation to the future of space exploration. Democratizing space for everyone, the next frontier for all of us to explore.