So I'm in the back yard with my family on the weekend, enjoying nice weather and some drink. Naturally I've got my camera with me and I'm fooling around with different lenses, different settings, just generally learning and getting more comfortable with my gear.
All of a sudden we hear this screaming roar (that's the best I can describe the loudness of this sound). Just to give some context, we live near Lester B. Pearson International Airport and are frequently seeing airplanes overhead, but this sounded VERY different. I've lived near the airport for all but 8 of my years on this earth, so I've gotten pretty used to the sounds of various aircraft, including the concorde, the new A380, and several military aircraft, but this was louder.
I've got my K20D with the FA50 f1.4 around my neck. Before I could even figure out what the sound was, 3 F-18 fighter jets go screaming over our house. I've seen many military aircraft, but the Snowbirds are the only ones we've seen go over in formation, and they are relatively quiet jets. Well, immediately I knew the FA50 wasn't going to be enough length, but no time to do anything but raise the camera to my eye, hold the shutter button down and hope for the best. I didn't even know what it was set to, Av, Tv, M, ?????
Well, here's the ONLY shot I got. Not a great shot, but I learned something that day. I should always be prepared and always have a rough mental image of what my camera is set to.
We later found out that it was the start of the Indy in Toronto, and these must have been the starting flyover. Had I known they would be around, I would have at least had a longer lens attached to the camera near the start of the race.
Thanks for reading.