7-24-17

I had the great opportunity to be invited as a member of the media to attend a special viewing of the U.S. Air Force Sentry Eagle 17 exercise at Kingsley Field, Klamath Falls, Oregon.  This was the day before the public was invited and we were given exclusive access right next to the flight line and also in between the taxiway and runway.

This event is held every other year and has a multitude of fighter aircraft from the Air Force, Navy and Air National Guard.  This photo was taken of a Navy F-18 demonstration team conducting a practice run for the next day’s performance for the public show.  They had completed two of these practice runs, one in the morning when I was next to the flight line and the second was in the afternoon.  For this photo, our escorts had driven us to a location very near the runway.

Trying to remember the routine from the morning, I remembered they did a low altitude pass directly down the runway at high speed.  Hoping they would do the same pass, I slowed my shutter speed a little hoping to show a blur of the background as the jet passed by me.  When I saw it coming, I took several quick shutter releases, hoping they would turn out.  After everything was over and I returned home, I reviewed the approx 1,000 photos I had taken during the day.  I came to the low pass photos and only this one frame turned out with the jet all in focus and I really liked it!  No, I don’t know how fast the jet was going, let’s just say VERY FAST!