Viper (F16) into the Smoke

When I go to an airshow, or spend a long weekend at any event, the goal is to come home with one to five really good shots.  The shot that blends artistry and technical elements into the final product that I am really happy with.  There are shots that have the artistry, the so called eye, that I get good feedback on.  To be sure, that's good.  And the good technical shots are the ones I feel good about.

Then there is the very small percentage that punches both elements.  

Technically, this shot is awesome.  I didn't screw it up.  The subject came together, the light was right and the amateur on the small side of the lens didn't act like a rookie.  

To me, this shot was built on the mistakes of the last five years of aviation photography.

One of the acts at the Joint Base Charleston Air Expo was the F-16 Viper Demo Team.  The Viper Demo is one aircraft in the air.  But behind the scenes is always a team.  Backup aircraft, backup pilot.  Support personnel.  With one in the air, there are plenty of hands keeping it aloft.  The Viper Demo Team is the same aircraft as the Thunderbirds - but only one.  Cool paint job.  Great show.

In Charleston, as well as other locations, some shows add a bit of Pyro.  Staged boom-booms.  If you're not looking, you might think it was a compressor stall.  In some cases, maybe just touching Mach 1.

In this case, the pyro boom-boom did its thing.  The winds of the day did not disperse the pyro cloud quickly.

Enter the Viper.

Viper into the Smoke

NIKON D500 Ver.1.30/Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E ED VR

450 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/6.3, ISO 100

EV +2, Shutter Priority, Size FX

This is so cool to me.  The sun on the aircraft with the darkness in the background.  And a little blue sky.  When this is on the monitor, you can see right into the cockpit.  There was some sun reflection that had to be removed from the canopy.  This shot didn't require much editing.

Sometimes, it just works.