Boomsday 2009

Matt and I took our usual perch in Downtown Knoxville last week for the annual Boomsday fireworks show. We're not big fans of fighting the crowds down by the river, so we usually choose a place with a good view for pictures without all the extra hassle. Our location also allows us to have a great view of our cute little city:



The obligatory self portrait:


Taking pictures of fireworks is fun, but tricky! The Boomsday show is especially challenging to shoot because it is such a large show, and that means tons and tons of smoke. Here are some of our favorites:

Storms and Rainbows

I took these photos last week when I spied some impressive storm clouds off of our deck.




About half an hour later, the clouds broke up and left us with a double rainbow (the second bow is very faint)

American Idol Tour - Charlotte, NC - Part 2

If you've had enough of the performance shots, there's a few other shots at the end of this post to see. :-)

Moving right along.. next out of the gate was Matt Giraud




A fun crowd shot


And another


Next was a group performance by #10 - #5. The stage lighting was pretty wonky during this set and this was the only decent shot.. Matt & Scott on dueling pianos


Back to the solo performances, #4 - Allison Iraheta. She's only 16 and she sounds like she's 40 and has been smoking for 20 years. Crazy talented.


A little blurry, but I still like it




#3 - Danny Gokey




I love the clapping hands in this one


Come close and I'll let you in on a little secret. Ready? This next contestant is the only reason I cared about coming to this concert. As soon as Danny left the stage and the lights were lowered, the screaming in the arena reached a deafening level before his name was even announced.

Yep, you don't even have to have watched the show this year to have heard his name.. it's Adam Lambert, the most talented contestant I've ever seen on American Idol (at least that's my opinion!)

Starting out with a super fun Bulb shot showing the number of simultaneous flashes that were going off when he came on stage. All Matt's idea. (A tip: if you're at a concert with a camera, turn the dang flash off! All you're doing is lighting up the back of the head of the person in front of you!)
















He brought out Allison for a repeat of their "Slow Ride" duet from the show. Yes, that's a bra he's holding, and it wasn't the last one that was flung on stage during his performance. I guess these ladies didn't get the memo that he's not interested in anyone who would need one of those. ;-)


Wind up..


And off it goes








And this is our "Hay look, we got a picture with Adam!" shot


Never heard him sing? Then listen to this, this, and this. Enjoy.

The winner, Kris Allen, was the last to perform solo. I really like Kris, but his set kinda fell flat after Adam's high energy performance.






A final group number ended the show.




Then it was back to the hotel where, of course, more silly shots were taken.


We love our doggy. A lot.


O hai. I r cute. I can has biskit?


Grateful for pet friendly hotels, we try to respect the room and leave it looking as if no animal has been there. Dex had to make that as hard as possible by falling in love with this dark purple chaise. Thank goodness we remembered the lint roller.


Yeah, YOU try looking into that face and tell him to move.