Pro shoot this weekend

[Engineer Cat]

Big thanks to this forum and everyone here for encouraging me with the knowledge and confidence to take my backyard hobby to the next level. Since becoming a member here I went from fusing cakes in the backyard, hand lighting them, to making racks to shoot cans/balls and creating shows and firing them with E firing systems.

With the help of PyroJoeNEPA, I've also joined a pyro club and have made many contacts already. This weekend I got to help setup, load and hand fire a pro shoot with others from the club shooting 3, 4, 5 & 6 inch shells. The opener and finale were E fired. I've met people this weekend that have been in the business for decades and others that have grown from backyard hobbyists to having there own display companies. I had a great time and learned a lot.

Now I'm even more excited to further my pyrotechnic education and be able to do more in the industry. 54 is on deck for next year and PGI certification.

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[displayfireworks1]

You moving along nicely and helping others along the way with some of your post. Looking at those pictures, it looks like a great shoot site. I do not think I ever saw that technique to hold those racks together with that square piece of plywood. How it did it work out?

[Engineer Cat]

Pretty quick to put the racks together and break them down. The racks felt very secure once setup.

[jknepp1954]

Pretty quick to put the racks together and break them down. The racks felt very secure once setup.

Looking forward to meeting you soon at the next shoot event! Awesome!

[Salutecake]

I see you mentioned Joe and I see a Whitenight Label on one of the racks, so it looks like you were in good hands, cause I know they are all good people and professionals.

Congrats and continue!

[RalphieJ]

So the body of the show was hand fired? Nothing like an old-school shoot to get the adrenaline pumping. Like one old shooter once explained it: "It makes you pay attention." That is one beautiful site to shoot from. I hope you don't get spoiled.....LOL.

[Engineer Cat]

Looking forward to meeting you soon at the next shoot event! Awesome!

We Met! You however were just getting ready to head down to your reunion when you stopped by the store and PyroJoeNEPA and I were outside about to head over to the shoot site, so I wont hold it against you, :) Looking forward to seeing you next week. I been talking with Rose about next weekend. She's awesome!

I see you mentioned Joe and I see a Whitenight Label on one of the racks, so it looks like you were in good hands, cause I know they are all good people and professionals.

Congrats and continue!

Yes they are all knowledgeable and great people.I've enjoyed the short time I've spent with them all and look forward to more good times in the future. You know these guys are pretty active so usually there's something to do once a month if I can schedule to be there.

So the body of the show was hand fired? Nothing like an old-school shoot to get the adrenaline pumping. Like one old shooter once explained it: "It makes you pay attention." That is one beautiful site to shoot from. I hope you don't get spoiled.....LOL.

Yep only the opener and finale was fired with E match. Everything else was torched. . It was my first time being a shooter on a pro shoot. !5 mins is a lot longer when on the ground hand firing than it seems because you are paying attention so closely to what's happening around you.
I had 16 6inch shells to fire in 15 mins so basically shot one per minute. But if the other shooters didn't have something skyward I would just light one to fill the void. At one point I jumped over to the 5in shells cause the guy shooting those was a first timer too and was a little slow responding. Good guy thought and did a good job also.

What's funny was my sister drove down to check out the town festivities and recorded some of the fireworks and there were some dark sky sections that surprised me cause i felt like there was none from my position.

[Engineer Cat]

Here's the video my sister recorded. It has some faults but it's better than nothing. ;)


https://youtu.be/qGCuZSBTRPU

[Mattp]

congrats on getting your feet wet!!! looks like a great show and shoot site.... the heart pounding thump of a 6" shell going off while inside the shoot radius.. is one of the the coolest, scariest, and best feelings all at the same time!!!