Delicious first taste of Wyoming pyro

It was a real pleasure to finally get to meet up with Kurt and Marty in Gillette, Wyoming on Sunday. After we got settled into our home away from home for the next six days (aka the Best Western) , we had an interesting midwest-Mex dinner (they had several hilarious items on the menu including Idaho Nachos made with potatoes) and then scooted on over to the Cam-Plex (the conference venue) to see our first fireworks display of the convention.

It was, of course, fabulous. One thing I quickly realized, however, was that I needed to study up on fireworks photography. Fireworks aren't necessarily hard to photograph in and of themselves, but you sure need to have the right settings and a tripod (which I do) to make really nice images. I'll be all ready for action in time for the next big public display on Wednesday night. In the meantime, these few pitiful photos will have to give you the flavor.

This type of firework is called a comet, and it's my current favorite. There are about 20 of them going off in the picture above if it helps you understand the concept. A comet goes up much like a rocket, but leaves a huge trail of spark that disentigrate into a gorgeous arc of glittering particles as the last of the fuel is spent.

Above you can see some comets that have a beautiful orange/bronze component.

Wahoooooooo! Displays at fireworks conventions are always about excess! Yea! I loved the way this red glittering willow came all the way to the ground.

Alright - that's enough pictures of my grandkids for now. I have to go shower and get ready! Kurt, Marty and I are headed off to see Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse and Devil's Tower today. Lots of rocks on the agenda!