Probably one of the best shots I've ever taken.

This is SpaceX's new Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket a few seconds into its first flight, and holy smokes was it an amazing experience being 3 miles away from 1,200,000lbs of thrust, thundering the air and shaking the ground, that white-hot exhaust plume licking away at the perfect blue California sky.

Spaceflight's future is going to be great.

CASSIOPE Launch
September 29th, 2013
Vandenberg AFB
First Falcon 9 v1.1 Flight

Shot on a Canon T2i with a Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3