…the 5th of November.
How could we forget? Went to sleep last night with the dulcet tones of a million bangers going off!
On Saturday I was down in Bristol working on a fireworks display with some really good friends of ours, Ben & PQ. I’ve known these guys for 20 years or so and you couldn’t meet two more talented and driven individuals. PQ commands huge respect as a producer at Crown Business Communications while Ben is now the partner in a really exciting fireworks company – Fuse Fireworks. And it was through this that I found myself in the middle of the Bristol Downs working on the Roundtable display – and, thanks to the weather, possibly the soggiest location I have worked on.
I was there firstly to help rig the display and then to capture some images for the guys website and brochures etc. The former task was relatively straightforward (I think I have a natural talent for belting things with a mallet – particularly when people with clipboards are guiding me with what to whack) but the latter, well that was a tad more er… entertaining.
The rain did come.
Now, usually, I’m pretty chilled about shooting in the rain but this was something else. Proper precipitation. In the limited light and with little else to go on, the usually infallible autofocus on our cameras was locking onto the raindrops rather than anything sensible. Actually, when I say raindrops, I am thinking more of large lumps of water hurtling heaven-sent down onto us. Switch to manual focus? Well, even that was tough as the water was getting onto the viewfinder making it nearly impossible to see clearly. I have a couple of shots where it looks like the type of star-filled sky you’d get from an overenthusiastic (and overly romantic) CGI special-effects unit. Think ET. But, believe me here, there was nothing starry or romantic about the sky. ‘Twas the light being refracted in the raindrops. Nice.
And we really didn’t want the usual ‘fireworks in the sky’ type of shot either – there are plenty of those already – so setting the camera on a tripod and forgetting it wasn’t an option. The brief from the guys was to get something a little different. So two of the crew (Harriet and Nick) stood through the display to see if we could get that little something extra. I have to say the guys were brilliant as it’s not everyone’s idea of a fun night out to be stood out in the lashing rain while someone tries to get a shot of the back of your head. One I owe them.
So did we get just a few shots to make it all worthwhile?
Yes, I think we did – not lots, admittedly, but just a couple that will stay in our portfolio and will almost certainly enter a competition or two. And the cameras will dry out eventually.
Cheers
P.
PS. If ever you’re looking for a fireworks company, these have to be the guys to go to. Amazing.
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