Fast-shooting Fun from the USPSA National Championships

Last month the United States Practical Shooting Association Multi-gun national Championships were held here in Las Vegas (See down the page for the earlier post).. This month the various classes of the pistol nationals are being held here. I love it.
Since I avidly shot in competition for nearly 25 years, it is fun to see how the current crop of shooters is performing. I took a quick look at a course as it was being scored:  The only part of the target you should hit is the tan portion. Hitting any white or black part results in penalties!! The legal part of some of those targets looks awfully small!.

Here's a shooter tackling that course. A solid run, not taking many chances. Score maximum points, have a good time, don't incur any penalties.

There was also some fast but well-controlled shooting being done by the ladies. Make no mistake, they are fierce competitors and those who take the top places are superb shooters!!

What you have to do is analyze the course, make a plan on every move you must execute to win it--and then do precisely what you planned without you,  your gun or your ammo malfunctioning.  This particular competition has eighteen separate events (known as stages), and the winners must carry out their plans without errors consistently over four hot, dusty days!

Here, a shooter shows some fast execution!

 That course was intricate and intense, but short. This next  one is a more complex stage that has to be shot on the run, through windows and around corners, following a carefully-planned strategy: Note the shooter running to particular places so as to make the fewest number of starts and stops.

By the way, the ringing cell phone is mine, as some politician's fund-raiser pesters me on the weekend! The shooter has to carry out the course no matter what distractions arise.

Turning a lemon into lemonade...

Sometimes we take a trip where things don't, um, work out as planned. Such was my 37-hour foray from Las Vegas to California's Yosemite National Park--and back.
The weather was glorious, and driving into Yosemite Valley is richly scenic. Above, flowers carpet the floor of the valley, and the walls glisten in the Sun. The El Capitan formation is in the distance on the right.

The Merced River flows through the valley

This spectacular promontory is directly above the road from which the prior two images were taken. And yet, I had to drive 32 miles to gett from that road down there to the overlook up here.

This video is of the major peaks that surround Yosemite Valley. You can't see them from distance, but there are climbers standing atop Half Dome in this video.  More of a hike than I can handle, that!

Here is a still shot of that scene. There are two 500-foot waterfallsjust to the right of dead center in the image, but they are completely dwarfed by the peaks.

Of course, The waterfalls are among the attractions in Yosemite. Some are fed by rivers and flow all year 'round, Other large falls are essentially ice melt that disappears over the Summer. Since I was there in September, the falls were mostly slow, as in Bridal Veil Falls below, or dry.

So, even a short visit in the off season can provide stunning visuals. Yes, there are a lot of people, and I prefer parks with few. However, we photographers do what we can with what is offered. Yosemite offers some heady scenery!

Let's take a break from sharks and parks!...

 

Let's go SHOOTING! By a happy chance, the United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) is having its national championship match in Las Vegas this weekend. I shot in USPSA competitions for well over twenty years, and competing does become part of you. I was practically ready to grab a gun and join the squad I was watching.

A number of my old shooting buddies from San Francisco and Las Vegas are competing in this squad, so I came out to watch them and shoot a few videos.

This first event is a pistol-only stage. There are three windows, and in the video above, you see just what the shooter sees.  Three windows, eight shots per window

BY THE WAY, BE SURE TO CLICK THE FULL-SCREEN SYMBOL TO THE LOWER RIGHT OF THE IMAGE TO SEE EVERYTHING LARGER (BUT NOT SHARP)...

Mike Voight is an old friend who is now the President of the USPSA.  A steady and experienced gunner, he shows you how he attacks the pistol stage. Remember, when we are shooting this fast, we are always very near the point where the wheels come off our wagon. The trick is to avoid losing control. Make a plan and execute it.

                                                                 He said, confidently.

Now it's time for Mike's girlfriend Maggie, to shoot the course.  This is a woman one must not trifle with...

When it all comes together properly, you shoot a very smoooooth run, and turns out to be fast. If on the other hand you start by trying to go fast, you can be sure something disastrous will occur. There is no margin for error.

There are few more rewarding efforts than a perfectly excuted run in these competitions gives you. No wonder I had so much fun at it all those years!

Sometimes the wheels threaten to come off...

 

Even the best shooters, when operating at top speed, can have the smallest flaw undo a good run, This course begins with pistol targets, then has targets that must be taken with the shotgun. Here, the shooter had a fine pistol run, then switched to shotgun. After his first set of shells, he went to reload his shotgun from a tube on his belt full of fresh shotshells--and it momentarily jammed. 

By the way, when they shoot the far knockdown targets, two clay pigeons are tossed into the air. That's why you see them shooting upward.

 

Here's Maggie, getting an almost flawless run. Great execution, and a smooth transition from pistol to shotgun!

 

Chris Tilley, a young Australian, realizes partway through that he has missed a shot and has to go back and pick it up--quickly!!

 

Sorry--I stuck Chris' clip in twice. Sigh. This next run below is very solid. Well planned and well executed. That's the way it should go!

 

. Good time, too!

How about some sharks?...

I was putting some great white footage on my Facebook page and realized that the clips would make a change of pace from the many parks I've photographed lately. In these short sequences, my buddy Andrew Fox was shooting over my shoulder with his video camera.

That clip above is how we get those nice facial portraits of the sharks. Just open the door and offer them your body. Their ccuriosity will bring them clise, and your strobe lights them up. Easy.

Sometimes, offering them your body has unexpected results. Curly here, a curious shark, followed me practically right in through the cage door. That wouldn't be smart, because with no reverse gear, Curly would go berserk trying to escape. So, I helped her miss the opening.

The Glory of parks in Central Utah

I'm delighted to have the results of my latest travels now available for viewing on YouTube

My latest foray, in June of 2010, began in Escalante, Utah and proceeded to Boulder on Scenic Byway 12, then on to Torrey and Capitol Reef National Park.

The first video is "Escalante 1-Hell's Backbone and Lower Calf Creek Falls" http://www.youtube.com/divexprt#p/u/9/Cy3LXLX7Utg

The historic, and frankly amazing expedition of the 1879 Mormon wagon train is found in "Escalante 2-Thye Hole in the Rock Trail" http://www.youtube.com/divexprt#p/u/8/8y5Vl1cRpVY

The magnificently scenic drive from Escalante to Boulder and on to the Burr Trail is found in "Escalante 3-The Most Beautiful Drive in America" http://www.youtube.com/divexprt#p/u/7/d0UIVUx2L3c

From Boulder I drove to Torrey and entered the colorful, vast and challenging "Capitol Reef National Park in Utah" http://www.youtube.com/divexprt#p/u/6/tNmRKcSaSeI

Before I forget, please don't muss my May 2010 trip to Canyon de Chelly http://www.youtube.com/divexprt#p/u/12/xD1b25DHeLE and Sedona in Arizona http://www.youtube.com/divexprt#p/u/10/RACjuaD8rII

Think I'll go take a nap...

The history of spires in Kodachrome Basin

As I did my research on Kodachrome Basin, I wondered how these beautiful spires were created. It turns out that Kodachrome Basin was once deep underground in thousands of feet of sandstone laid down in an ancient ocean.

A volcanic hot spot beneath the site forced geysers of steam up through cracks and fissures, similar to those in Yellowstone.


When the hot spoot cooled or moved, the fissures filled with hard minerals. Then, over countless eons, the soft sandstone around them eroded away. We are left with modern works of Nature's patient art--a grand gift to the lowly photographer!


Look at the size of Chimney Rock! (above). Even the Grand Parade (below) has its own decorative spire.


Can you tell I'm enjoying myself going though thousands of images?...