YarpRouge - not a bad drop, I guess!
Yes, location is certainly one thing, but there is no way the 'point, squirt, keep the button pressed and trust to the motor drive and the fully auto programme' brigade can compose or achieve that sort of clarity and quality! That was just banter, mon brave - nice piccies!
One decent lens, some skill with manual focusing (auto is way too slow) and (at 35mm anyway) keep the shutter speed less than the focal length in speed priority mode with a tweak to the aperture was all I ever did. As well as having a lot of luck! But I preferred air-to-air rather than ground (or stepladder!)-to-air. Which reminds me - those bug gers from Airfix pinched my 'Armoured Charmer' Gulf War air-to-air shot for the Tornado GR1 plastic kit box and I never saw a pig's blister for it! They must have sold a few by now!!