I took a week vacation this year so I could shoot the fireworks at a few different locations…I decided that the first night of the Fair St Louis would be a better time to drive down, find a parking spot, and walk over to the fairgrounds to shoot. Chris Barber decided to go with me and we were going to meet another friend there, but were unable to find him or contact him even, once we arrived there Thursday evening. We did get there early enough to walk around a bit and see some of the prettier areas of the park, like Grand Basin where St Louis Fire Department had erected a huge US Flag over the north end of the Basin, stretched out between two ladder trucks. There were also two huge cranes situated on either side of the Basin, with cables stretched out across it at varying angles…found out later that they were there for a water show that took place on Saturday performed by a St Louis native. After walking around for what seemed like forever, we headed up to the top of Art Hill and set in for the last music show, Band Perry, who were just about to perform for the next ninety minutes, to be followed by the fireworks.

I set up my camera next to a young man who was shooting for KMOV Channel Four News and talked to him a bit before he headed down to the stage area to get some close ups of the singers. Chris headed off to the food vendors to see if he could locate some supper, and while he was gone, I chatted with a firefighter from the Warsaw, Illinois area…Chris came back in twenty minutes, frustrated because the credit card devices were down and he didn`t bring any cash with him. From the folks walking by behind us grumbling, he apparently wasn`t the only one ticked off by it. We settled in for the concert and then soon after 10 pm, the fireworks began, over the top of Grand Basin, launched from the golf course area behind the Basin this year…