|
Our next display with Skyscenes Pyrotechnics
was a wedding at the Parkhill
Hotel in Oulton, Suffolk. This was a brilliant
setting because the the hotel is set in lovely spacious
grounds and the weather was very kind to us too. It
always brings a tear to my eye to see couples tie
the knot, and to celebrate it in such grand surroundings
with the warming sun and the prospect of some decent
pyro to end the evening.
 Parkhill
Hotel as seen from just above the firing area, looking
out through the garden towards the main building.
Our first task was to park the car.
We were greeted on arrival with two signs pointing
in opposite directions depending on what wedding party
you were with. Reassuring obviously if you are a guest
but having decided we were with neither (because I
did not know the name of Skyscenes' client) I took
a brave guess which by a complete fluke took us past
Steve and Gerry hard at work down a grassy incline.
- Members
can click on any thumbnail to view a bigger picture
-
 |
 |
Steve ropes off the firing area for safety.
This was another great venue because Steve had
all the space he needed with wasteland for the
fallout zone. And Mini owners don't panic, they
made sure all the cars in this shot were
moved before the display started.
|
|
Steve gets the shell racks ready
to a backdrop of green.
|
 |
|
 |
|
Steve tests Gerry's reactions by throwing a
roll of tape at him. We did not record any movement
on Gerry's part, but he was still defrosting
I expect after having been cryogenically frozen
at St. Peter's
Brewery.
|
|
Here, I distract Steve to pose
for a shot while PeteB loads all the pyro in
my boot, heheh...
|
|
|
 |
|
This is a good view of the firing area showing
Gerry working on a rapid fire sequence of fireworks.
Next to him is a candle rack and in the background
Steve finishes work on the main shell rack.
|
Because of the large amount of "Ground
Zero" material gathered in the previous displays
we decided not to use a remote camcorder for this
one, but to concentrate on still images which are
shown below. We explored for a while and found a great
spot right over on the other side of the marquee.
I would be utilising the digital stills camera and
PeteB was opting for 35mm with his SLR. I would also
operate the camcorder, although this was just a "point
it in the rough direction" job you can download
some highlights from this below, including the finale
gold willow barrage.
This
is one of my favourite shots of the season showing
pretty coloured crossettes filling the sky above the
wedding marquee.
 |
|
Let's get the party started with some aerial
shells. This is a mix of green and silver.
|
|
This shot is from the same sequence
as shown full sized above but here the crossettes
are all green. I think it looks stunning.
|
|
|
 |
|
More crossettes but this time fired vertically
so the long exposure effect is lots of coloured
lines from a central point. The wedding marquee
(bottom left) is dwarfed.
|
|
A nice view through some crossettes
to aerial shells exploding above. Here we see
blue and green aerial effects above green and
red crossettes
|
|
|
 |
|
This shot was taken just at the last gasp of
the crossettes - hence their short trails. Down
below, the next sequence starts which is a set
of candle fans producing green stars and sound
effects.
|
|
The angles on this look nice
from our position. The green candle fans go
left and right but the main action is two gold
willow cakes that are angled to converge in
the middle.
|
|
|
 |
|
The brilliant "daffodil" cake that
we saw at St. Peter's. That is my own name for
it because I think the green trails resemble
stalks and the hanging yellow are the flowers.
|
|
More crossettes in three colours,
purple, red and green. Stunning. Over the top
of these, a deep blue shell explodes.
|
|
|
 |
|
A vibrant mix of colours here with red stars,
purple breaks and green strobe which is shown
by the interrupted green trails as they flash
on and off.
|
|
Spinning silver comets explode
to green and red shell bursts
|
|
|
 |
|
The same effect again but zoomed out to show
the higher aerial action from blue and purple
shells.
|
|
Towards the end just before the
cascading gold finale (which you can see on
the video clip below) you can see a brilliant
purple shell.
|
|
|
Wedding
guests (bottom right) enjoy vivid coloured effects,
here a sequence of purple and red.
From the same sequence of fireworks,
here are some great images by Pete B using 35mm conventional
format:
The display was a great end to what
(from the sounds of merriment from the marquee!) was
a very successful celebration and party by both the
clients and the venue. A long walk back to the firing
site and we found the crew unpacking and tidying up
- you would not believe the amount of litter that
needs to be cleared up after a fireworks display.
We said our good-byes and looked forward to the next
display at Felixstowe.
Use your "BACK" button or
click here to return
to the UKFR home page.
©2004
UK Firework Review. All rights reserved
|
