If you’ve ever tried to take pictures of rockets blasting off at a launch, you’ve noticed that the small rockets actually take off faster than the big ones. You have to be quick on the shutter to catch the Estes models just lifting off while the bigger birds are more forgiving. And although you can get close to the small rockets for a tighter framing you have to stay back from the bigger motors and hope your lens will zoom in enough. All of this challenges the photographer to get that perfect image right off the pad, but cameras with high shutter speeds and fast frame exposures help. Here are some pictures capturing ascents made at 1/5000 sec and 5 frames/sec of 18mm motor models.