Show Season Begins
Entry posted by nater
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I started my season this weekend shooting a small show at a local race track. This was my first show with this company, so I had to be trained their methods. In addition to training me, they were also training a new lead shooter. There was not much to set up. 3 cubes of racks to handfire, racks for the finale, a few comets, and a number of cakes.
The weather seemed to be conspiring against us. It was spitting rain most of the day, but the sponsor had hope for the show. We wrapped all cakes in bags, matched them, dropped shells and covered everything with tarps. Then the weather turned from bad to worse. Just in time for the crowd to start gathering in the stands and the drivers getting a few warm up laps in, the sky opened up. With the rain, lightning, and reported funnel clouds in the area, we thought for sure we would be tearing down the show for someone else to shoot next week.
With the first break in the storms, they started to dry off the track and we sent up a couple 2.5" shells to warm up the crowd. One thing that always amazes me about fellow pyros, is we all stop whatever we're doing and watch when something is lit. Even if it is just a small Chinese color shell.
We had another round of rain, but it wasn't as bad. Eventually the track got the races started and the sponsor wanted the show shot during break between heats. The show went well, it is always a rush handfiring. This was only my second handfired show, trying to keep pace with the other shooters to avoid dead sky is a lot different than the club shoots where we all fire one at a time. There are advantages to e-firing, but handfiring is much more simple to set up and is more fun.
All-in-all it was a great day, I missed a club shoot for this show and I don't regret it. I realized a few things on the way home. I prefer using a torch than a fusee. There are also a couple of things I need to add to my pyro tool box, like knee pads and an angle finder. I like the crew I am with now, and I like how the company does their shows. I'm really looking forward to finishing my training with them and shooting more shows.
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