Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Moser.
Hi Brandon, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m a freelance photographer in Orlando, Florida photographing rocket launches. I started my photography journey around seven years ago while living in Gainesville, Virginia. At first, my dad taught me the basics of photography with his Nikon camera, then I decided to purchase my first DSLR, a Nikon D3400. From there on out, I mostly learned more about photography by trial and error and Youtube videos. In 2017, after graduating high school, I moved to Charleston, South Carolina and started my photography business after being mentored by Mike Mulligan, who is a great wedding photographer in Charleston. Mike taught me what I know today regarding wedding and portrait photography.
My adventure of photographing rocket launches began in May of 2020. It was early into the COVID-19 pandemic and when I heard that SpaceX, a private rocket launching company, was about to make history by launching two U.S. astronauts (Bob Behnken & Doug Hurley) to the International Space Station for the first time since the Shuttle Program ended nearly ten years earlier. I knew I had to drive six hours to Titusville, Florida to document this historic launch since I was pursuing a career of photojournalism at the time.
On May 30th, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched the two astronauts inside the Crew Dragon capsule, and I was in Titusville, FL snapping photos along with 150,000 other spectators. I was hooked. I traveled back down to Florida seven months later to attend my second launch (SpaceX CRS-21) at Playalinda Beach. After that launch, I knew I had to move to Florida to continue doing this on a more regular basis.
In March of 2021, after securing a job in Florida, I relocated to Orlando to photograph launches on the side, which has led to me getting media credentials for the news organization The Talk of Titusville. Media credentials grants me close access to launches where I am then able to set up a remote camera close to the base of the launchpad to capture unique, close-up images of launches, which I then sell as prints online.
To date, I have photographed 15 (including 3 astronaut crew) launches, with the 16th coming up this Saturday, October 16th. I’m looking forward to documenting future launches and improving my photographic skills, and learning new techniques from other talented photographers in the Space Coast area! You can find my work on Facebook at Brandon Moser Photography or on Instagram at BrandonMoser_Photography.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The hardest part of my journey so far would have to be March through mid-May of this year where I found myself unemployed for two months just after relocating from South Carolina to Florida. Though, I was able to improve my launch photography quickly during those two months since SpaceX seemed to be launching Starlink internet satellites every two weeks it seemed.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a freelance photojournalist covering SpaceX rocket launches. I also photograph portraits and landscapes on the side, and I run an Etsy shop on the side where I sell prints of my landscape and rocket launch photography!
I’m most proud of the fact that I took the initiative to pack up everything during a global pandemic and relocate to Orlando, Florida to do what I love most, which is photographing and documenting rocket launches. I’ve lived in Florida now for seven months, and this journey has taught me a lot of lessons and I’ve met many great photographers along the way. I’m looking forward to what the future holds for me!
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
What I like the most about Orlando would have to be all the wonderful people I’ve met so far. Not only photographers (though, there are plenty of those!), but all types of small business owners and entrepreneurs who have also taken risks similar to mine, some even riskier! I’m an avid supporter of small businesses and I’ve come to learn that Orlando (along with the Space Coast) has plenty of them. After seven months of living here, I’m still discovering new small, family-owned businesses every few days, and I love that.
If I’m being completely honest, I’m not a fan of the drivers in/around Orlando. They’ve caused my car insurance rate to skyrocket haha!
Contact Info:
- Email: brandonjmphoto@gmail.com
- Website: brandonmoserphotography.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/brandonmoser_photography/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/Brandonmoserphotography
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/brandonjmphoto
- Other: www.etsy.com/shop/brandonmoserphoto
Image Credits:
Brandon Moser
