Beach Show in September - Setup Questions

[georgiapyro]

So now that the 4th is over, I'm looking forward to doing my first 1.4/1.3 shoot on the beach in Florida this September. As I have been thinking about setup, I have found myself wondering about the best way to do it. I've never set up a large show on the beach before (only done a board or two in years past), so I was concerned about the best way to do it without setting up directly on the sand. Because of distance requirements, I will be very close to the water's edge shooting at a slight angle towards the water. I have thought about building some 4ft x 4ft plywood boards with a 2in x 4in board underneath, giving the angle. The consumer cakes will be put on these boards, along with a few 1.3 cakes. Do you think this is good enough to keep them dry from the damp sand? Also, I will have about 70 2.5" and 3" shells. Should I put anything under the racks to keep them from getting wet? Being so close to the water is just a little nerve racking for me. I understand this may be a newbie question, but I want to make sure everything is done right and the show goes without a problem.

Would appreciate any feedback. Thanks.

[DTMpyro]

If you're ematching the cakes you could put each cake in a trash bag and set them on the beach. Tape the bag closed around the ematch wire and then set the cake in the sand to the desired angle then stake it and tape it in place. Then you have no worries for rain, waves or ground moisture. When its show time just shoot through the bags. Or if your're hand lighting do what you said with an angled platform. With your mortar racks you should be fine putting them directly on the beach. If you take into account the thickness of the mortar plug and the rack bottom (hopefully!) being built of 2 by material your shell's lift cup's are 4 plus inches off the sand. So unless a big wave comes, I don't see the moisture in the sand affecting your shells. Hope this helps.

[PyroJoeNEPA]

Don't forget to take into account the time for the tide!

[georgiapyro]

Thanks for the help guys! I feel a little better about set up now. I had thought about whether or not I wanted to use the stacking method or just build the platform. Any pros or cons for either way? Not sure which way would work better for the 1.4 cakes. Most of the show is from WFBoom. I have about 20 cases of product to use, so I want to make sure I do things the best way possible...