[caption id="attachment_77" align="alignnone" width="432" caption="Truck vs Plane"][/caption] I made the picture above at a recent air-show and posted it on my Flickr stream. I got a very nice complement from a gentleman that was also at the show - "Great example of what can happen when preparation meets opportunity. Fun shot !" As I read this, I thought to myself "preparation nothing - this was all luck!". But then I started to think about it, he was right - a year ago, this would have been all luck but that wasn't the case any longer.

I knew going into the show what the conditions were (where the sun and shadows would be) and I mentally made note of what exposure compensation might be needed as I transitioned from a sky shot to a ground shot. Heck, I was a little prepared! I also used the camera settings below which worked out pretty well:

Shutter Priority (around 1/750th for prop aircraft and 1/1500th or above for everything else)
I didn't want my depth of field to narrow so I set my minimum aperture at f/11 to ensure I maintained better DOF.
I sent my ISO on auto with the ability to max out at 3200
Finally, I did adjust my exposure compensation during shooting to match the conditions, anywhere from +.25 to +1.5

So yes, I was prepared this time around . . . . . and very lucky I was panning with the plane for this shot!

You can check out some of the other shots here.