Unbelievable!!

This was my 4th year attending our annual shoot in St. Louis and it keeps getting bigger and better every year.  Not only do I get to hang out with my pyro friends but I also get to see some of the best fireworks shows in the country.

This year I worked on two shows at the event, both being starkly different. The first show I helped set up was designed by my good friend Scott.  He has the vision and product knowledge to put together some of the best choreographed 1.4 shows you will ever see.  At one time, I used to think that the best shows had the most product going up in the air and the louder the better.  Well, I still love titanium salutes but thanks to Scott, I know how to do a great show with minimal product and without the hard breaking shots and salutes.  I will post some quality video of his show shortly.

The second show I worked on was one put together by members of my KCAP group.  The idea was to shoot a show of dueling salutes, much like the dueling banjos scene from the movie, Deliverance.  Here is video of the result.  The first 1:20 is of a mass launch of a cake called Jet Propulsion.  We shot 35 cases of it at the same time as part of our group show finale.  At the 1:20 mark, the KCAP show begins.   http://vimeo.com/29593672

One of the themes this year was obviously LOUD as many of the shows featured mass launches of titanium salutes.  Jodi commented that she was going blind from all of the salute flash.  Then there were the gas bombs.  I'll post video of these when available but on a cool night, these things warmed everybody up and were crowd favorites.  As you can see by the photo, we weren't playing around!!  Click on the photo for a larger picture. 

I will post videos of some of the shows soon.  They will look great on video but there is nothing like experiencing them in person.  The crowds this year were huge and we may be getting close to maxing out the spectator area.  I'm already looking forward to next year.

On a final note for today, Jodi and I are proud to say that JD has been nominated to the 2012 Liberty North homecoming court this year.  Homecoming King voting will take place this week and he will get to represent the Senior class during all of the events during homecoming week.  This is turning out to be a very memorable year for him.