Photos courtesy of Kevin Hecht. Click any image for an unedited "super-size" version.

July 4, 2006 - 8:30 AM The Official Crew of the 11th Annual Fireworks Show in Napa Valley, sponsored by the Louis M. Martini Winery, Sutter Home Winery, Prager Winery and Port Works, and the E. & J. Gallo Winery. This was our finest show ever, produced by the finest crew in the industry! Bravo!

July 1-2, 2006 Bryan and Phil labeling shells a few days before the show. We place the shells physically on the warehouse floor in the sequence they will appear in the show. Each of the shells is labeled with a firing cue number that corresponds to a specific electrical circuit during the show. This year we had 1,146 shells "bursting in air"!

July 4, 2006 - 2:25 PM Bonnie doing some afternoon fusing and squibbing. We had a significant number of "adjustments" during show setup on the 4th, but the entire crew rallied forward with a true "whatever it takes" attitude. Well done crew!

July 4, 2006 - 12:45 PM Each year we do a music and choreography preview as a little (and I mean little) entertainment during the catered crew lunch. With the assistance of Phil holding the cue sheet, Bonnie and I are acting out the 6" Gold Waterfall shells during the Nat King Cole segment. This year's BBQ lunch was another perfect "10" thanks to Brian Heryford and his hard working team.

July 4, 2006 - 9:05 PM A rare shot of the command center at dusk during one of our show rehearsals. There's a lot of high tech on the table and there's some good ol' low tech too, such as our custom aluminum foil lamp shade and field-tested paperweight. ;-) This year's show had a number of very complicated segments that demanded peak performance from the firing team... from all accounts we delivered the goods! :-)

July 4, 2006 - 9:54 PM A shot of three 6" Gold Flitter Crossette shells during the Andrea Bocelli segment. The crew has learned over the years that when it comes to crossettes, if one is good, five at a time are better! This year we filled the sky with fifteen gold crossettes, all breaking simultaneously. Spectacular.

July 4, 2006 - 9:57 PM The humble beginnings of our longest and most spectacular grand finale to date. To help with perspective, our very first Louis M. Martini Winery show in 1996 had a total of 390 shells in the entire program. This year's grand finale alone weighed in at a full 481 shells.