Beechcraft Super King Air 200 (N204JS)

Because I was standing only 35 or so feet away, I actually gave a few seconds of thought to snapping this shot with my Speedlite 430 flash but I just as quickly rejected the idea for two reasons. 1) I could not see if the occupants were looking toward me or not and if they were (esp the pilot) I did not think they would appreciate a sudden very bright flash of light in their eyes (my Speedlite can, if set to 100% and when used in conjunction with the flash hood, be extremely bright), and 2) I did not want the flash to reflect back and dimish the detail of the scene. So I took the shots using just ambient light with settings adjusted to compensate for the darkness and the pics came out fine.

Very nice night shot, Gary! Great job also on considering and deciding not to use the flash on this shot. I look forward to seeing more epic night snaps from you in the future!

Great photo. Even without considering the adverse effects on the flight crew, unless used carefully, flash could well take away the reality of this shot. Fill flash can of course be worthwhile in night shots when used with other artificial lighting and/or with with available natural light. Plenty of fine examples show that but I think flash may have detracted from this photo - something we'll not know now but I for one think this pic is better without it.