Event Report
20131228-20140101
The photos below are what we saw.
Kathleen
and I showed up the evening before Kai arrived and used the dark
night as an opportunity to take some star photos. The
photo above was shot with my new Olympus OM-D E-M1 camera.
30 seconds, f/2.8 at ISO 2000 and 24mm. The photo shows a
swath of the Milky Way with the Andromeda Galaxy at the top
center. I was lucky enough to also capture a small meteor
as well.
This
photo was shot with the same parameters just a few moments later
and captured 2 meteors and a plane. The plane's path can
be identified because of the blinking lights.
This
shot also captured 2 meteors. Andromeda is near the center
of the photo (the fuzzy ellipse).
The next
morning, Richard and Elizabeth were the first ones to
arrive. Elizabeth got a new Honda 125 bike for Christmas.
Because
of mechanical issues with the Raptor, we only brought the
Banshee. It has been a very, very reliable quad.
When Kai
arrived, they sent a crew over to Dan's place to bring over his
Razr side-by-side vehicles. They are fast and comfortable.
Kai's
son Parker had purchased some special ballistic panels that were
supposed to stop a .44 magnum round. Since none of us had
a .44, we used the biggest handgun round we had: a .45
ACP. We placed the edge of the panel in a sand hill and
shot one round of 230 grain factory hardball. To my
surprise, the panel not only stopped the bullet, but trapped it
within the front layers of fabric. There was a small bulge
on the back side of the panel.
After
inspecting and photographing the effect of the first shot on the
panel, we stuck it back into the sand hill and I shot it again
with the .45. The second shot several inches to the right
caused much more damage and deformation. But, it did also
trap the bullet and the hole did not go through.
Another
view of the damage due to the second .45 shot.
After
completing the inspection and photos, the panel was placed back
on the sand hill and shot with a .30-30 180 grain rifle
round. The rifle round tore the plate a new one, but did
not go through.
The panel was placed
back in the test position and was shot again with 5.56mm round
which easily penetrated the panel. Our ad hoc conclusion
was that the panels were more than acceptable for protection
from standard handgun bullets.
After
dinner and a few drinks, we got the bright idea of attaching
glow sticks to children and having them dance in the dark.
The shot above is 15 second exposure at f/5.6 and ISO 400.
Dillon
was the dance model and did a good job of shaking his booty for
the photo.
A
slightly different effect.
Multiple
kids hopping around.
Borrego
Springs is always pleasant as long as the weather is
cooperating. And cooperate it did, giving us warm days and
cold, clear nights both without wind.
Special
thanks to Dan Johnson for letting us use his Razr
vehicles. These totally rock.
Copyright Bill Caid 2013. All rights reserved.