Excuse me if this has been discussed previously.

Sorting my photos today,I noticed on the vast majority of airplanes taxying or in flight,the beacon(anti-collision) light(s) do not appear,regardless of weather conditions.

Only on a handful do they appear.

I can only surmise it has something to do with the moment the light flashes and the shutter is open.

Can anyone shed some light (no pun intended) on this?Thanks.

It's just a matter of catching the blinking light when it's on.

Like this...one on, one off!

That's what I thought.

I just find it hard to believe that in the majority of photos,it does not appear.

Next chance I get,I will fire off a succession of consecutive shots in the hope of getting one with the lights on.

I wish I got this result more often:

The short burst of light from Xenon bulbs makes it unlikely that you'll catch it with your camera.

a month later

I tend to get it more as it is getting dark or if it is cloudy when I set the camera at a slower speed.