Night operations off the carrier deck are an incredible thing to watch. The colorful ballet of the day gives way to a series of bright reflections, muted surroundings, and sudden bursts of hot light. Flashes aren't allowed from Vulture's Row (don't want to confuse the pilots...landing safely on a pitching and yawing deck in the dark is hard enough) so these pictures were taken with a long exposure time as I kept the camera as still as possible. Clearly, ships are rarely still or level.
In the first picture, you can see the exhaust trail of a departing F/A-18 from catapult #2. The blast door is up and all the little bright dots are reflections from the float coats and cranials of the deck personnel.
This is a shot straight down catapult #1 as another F/A-18 is thrown off the deck at nearly 200mph. Still quite shaky, but you can make out several images of the plane and its trail as it head up toward the full moon.
In the first picture, you can see the exhaust trail of a departing F/A-18 from catapult #2. The blast door is up and all the little bright dots are reflections from the float coats and cranials of the deck personnel.
This is a shot straight down catapult #1 as another F/A-18 is thrown off the deck at nearly 200mph. Still quite shaky, but you can make out several images of the plane and its trail as it head up toward the full moon.
