Due to not being able to attend the prior ZGS Events nightshoot at Wattisham with their Phantom XT914, it was great to be able to travel to Suffolk to shoot the Station Heritage Museums assets with wm._.2photography and KP Photography. Alongside the Phantom, there was Meteor WD686, Hunter XG194 as well as a Scout under restoration.

The weather didn't look promising to start with, with the grey clouds overtop and light rain starting to appear. It wasn't long, however, until the adverse conditions passed and it turned into a lovely evening. Around the Meteor and Hunter was a maintenance platform which we could move around to get overhead shots.

It was nice to see the Phantom placed in front of the hangar which gave the shots a lovely 'in-situ' atmosphere.

The ZGS team appreciated that the event ran from 1500-2100h leaving a long period without opportunity to get food, and as such provided food and hot drinks - a really nice touch which gave the event a 'premium' feel. Another thoughtful decision by the ZGS team was that all of the proceeds would go to Wattisham Station Heritage Museum.

As the sun began to set, a beautiful amber glow came from the clouds behind the F-4 making some incredible shots.

After the opportunity passed to get shots of the Phantom in front of the hangar, the team asked if we were done photographing the Phantom before it went inside the hangar for the next stage of the event, or whether we would like a few more minutes. This was really appreciated as it took any time pressure off those photographing and allowed me to get a some more shots which I wouldn't have had the opportunity to get having spent a lot of time inside the museum photographing the Scout and grabbing a bite to eat.

The team took some time to prepare things for what was about to happen next, and in the meantime, we were given some tips on shutter speed. This, again, was really appreciated as we didn't know what was to come and otherwise would have kept mine on 30 seconds.

A brief lighting failure left the orange hangar lights to glow over the airframe, really giving the impression of time gone by.

The team did another round of hangar doors opening, and afterwards giving us the opportunity to have some control over the event - be that lights moved around, more or less of the smoke etc. I had a play around with aperture here, notice the same shot at different apertures, the one on the right shot at f/22 for the 'starburst' light effect on either wing.

Overall, this event was really nicely thought out and run, not only providing the opportunity for amazing photos, but also having an brilliant experience while doing so - good job ZGS Events!