Photo exhibit showcases young photographers

The work of seven talented Pine Creek High School students is showcased Saturday, June 2, in the Life section of The Gazette and online at http://www.gazette.com/interactives/pinecreek.
The students worked on the "Community" project with digital photography teacher Tiffanie Davis and myself last school year. A photo exhibit opens Saturday at the Pikes Peak Library District's Briargate branch, 9475 Briar Village Point, Suite 100, with a reception from 2 to 4 p.m. The show runs through July 31. Check it out. The picture above was taken by Nicole Pederson, who did her project on the retirement community.
Gazette designer Andy Rohrback created the main page for the online presentation. That alone is worth checking out. Thank you Andy.

Air Force Academy Graduation

Air Force graduation always makes some really nice photos. The excitement of newly commissioned officers, the pagentry and the Thunderbirds. Gazette photographer Christian Murdock captured this image. Check out more photos from Murdock and other Gazette photographers Mark Reis, Bryan Oller and Mike Terry at http://www.gazette.com/interactives/USAFAgrad.

Summer

Our job is spent most if not all the time reporting on news, events and people. On a rare occasion we are allowed to let loose and interpret an idea. Mark Reis was given the opportunity to illustrate summer. I thought his work was a really nice change of pace as I edited it on my computer.



For more check out Sunday's Life section.

A view from the catwalk

This year I decided to produce an audio/slideshow from all five District 11 high school graduations at the World Arena. Three schools graduated on Tuesday and two on Wednesday. At first I thought a behind-the-scenes look at the activities between the graduations would be interesting, but after talking to people at the arena and the schools I realized it was a pretty smooth process. So I decided to cover the actual graduations. But I wanted a way to show the sense of how each graduation is unique, but similar to the others at the same time. I decided to mount a remote camera in the catwalk of the World Arena and shoot the procession at the beginning of each ceremony. I shot from the floor and triggered the remote camera every five seconds as I shot with my other cameras. Gazette photographer Kevin Kreck covered for me during the Palmer ceremony because I had to go to Boulder Tuesday night. ( thank you Kevin) When I edited the remote pictures, I grabbed every fifth frame. I started with one school's procession and worked my way through the schools till the seats filled with Doherty graduates. I ended with Doherty because they had more seats on the floor than any other school. I recorded the audio from all the ceremonies. (with the help of Kevin again) Photographers David Bitton and Carol Lawrence helped shoot the graduations too. Then Wednesday night I produced the show. The four of us put in 60 hours covering and producing the slideshow. I spent 20 hours Wednesday covering the two graduations, editing the 10-plus hours of audio and producing the show. Check out the slideshow at http://www.gazette.com/interactives/2007grads. While the graduations were a lot of work, I think it was well worth it. The four of us captured a special moment in the lives of the graduates and their families. A special moment in our community. The one lesson I learned is while every graduation seems the same on the outside, they are all unique. That is except Superintendent Terry Bishop's speech about the Lee Ann Womack's song "I Hope You Dance."

Local photographers wins

Colorado Springs photographer Lyle Davis won second place for April in the prestigious photography contest sponsored by BetterPhoto.com. Davis won top honors in the Elements of Design catergory with his image "Slinky." Way to go Lyle. Check out all the entries at http://www.betterphoto.com/contest/winners/0704.asp. More than 23500 entries were submitted to the online photography contest, which attracted contestants from around the world and featured 10 separate categories.

A feature above the clouds

Here is a nice feature of a vulture flying over Rio de Janeiro as the clouds surround the Brazilian city Friday, May 18, 2007. At center in the background is the famous landmark Sugar Loaf. The photo was shot by Associated Press photographer Ricardo Moraes.

Two different point of views

Sometimes a different point of view can make a photograph. These two examples recently ran on The Associated Press wire. The top one, shot by Petr David Josek, i's from the Prague International Marathon. The texture of the street and the rider's shadow made a nice feature. From the ground the photo would have been average at best.
The second picture, shot by Gautam Singh, is from the outside of a cricket stadium in Bangladesh after the match was called because of rain. The high angle gives you a better sense of the size of the crowd trying to get on the bus.