I heard jets operating out of Naval Air Station Oceana - not very usual for a Sunday night - and decided to go check them out.
I had no idea what to expect from pictures of F/A-18 taking off and landing at night but there was only one way to find out. I set up my tripod at the place where I've taken most of my other NAS Oceana shots. I wanted to take a couple of test shots to gauge my focus but the first Hornet came in before I could. I adjusted my focus based on how crappy those two frames were and waited. I got pictures of two taking off that weren't good (disappointing considering how spectacular an afterburner takeoff is at night). When another Hornet came in to land I was ready.
The diagonal lights in the lower right corner are the Hornet's lights. The red and yellow horizontal lines at the bottom are from the taillights and running lights of a fairly tall truck that passed during my exposure.
Overall, not what I was looking for, but since it started raining shortly after this frame and I had to pack up, it will do...until next time.
