FOCUS:
24 Hours in the Pikes Peak Region

A photo essay and exhibit, celebrating home and home-grown talent.

• by Kathryn Eastburn

Exquisite Metaphor

Photographs evoke writer Frank Waters' boyhood memories of Pikes Peak early this century.

• by Pat Musick

Councilor lobbies on taxpayers' dime

A letter written on city stationery has raised questions over whether a first-term councilman misled people.

• by Cara DeGette

City in boxing match over old records

A boxing match is underway between city officials and a storage facility that houses old city records.

• by Malcolm Howard

County Inmate: 'County took my truck'

Should the El Paso County Sheriff have sold a repeat traffic offender's truck while the man was in jail awaiting trial?

• by Malcolm Howard

Focus: "Antoine and Friends"

Hunter's insider point of view captured the faces of visitors to the rare albino alligator exhibit at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.

Focus: "Focus on the Future"

"I knew I wanted to take a picture of my daughter mainly because of all the bad things happening around us now. I wanted to show her innocence. Looking at children should make us want to focus on the future, to give more attention to the kids.

Focus: "Leonard"

Leonard belongs to Myers' brother and is named after Leonard Bernstein, who is his hero. Myers couldn't get in front of the dog, because he just runs to her, so she got behind him and said his name.

Focus: "We Have Just Ridden a Horse Together"

I was born in Russia, and I'm now a 10 year resident of Colorado. I'm interested in American heritage and the fate of this nation; this is reflected in my pictures. This was taken at a pow wow in Florissant.

Focus: "The Smile That Won't Wash Off"

The tough day hike up to St. Mary's Falls left the kids hot and dog-tired. So they stuck their heads in the waterfall. But David Peek, 7, was the only one brave enough to go in, full-body. "I took several pictures that day, naturally pictures of my kids never turn out as well as pictures I take of my friends' kids," Barnett noted.

Focus: "Rainbows in the Garden"

"That's Miles, my son. He went out with me both days. We were at Memorial Park, and he got ahead of me and went right into the middle of the flower patch. I said, "Stop! Wait!' I thought, "Stop and smell the flowers.' That's what life is supposed to be about."

Focus: "Goose Shoes"

Focus: "Lookers"

Onlookers at the Douglas County Fair told a story to Lilla Woertendyke. The three young women, looking over a fence, are notable for their looks -- posture, hair, figure, etc. And in the corner, next to the first girl, a baby carriage evokes intimations of where the mating dance can end.

Focus: "My Porch"

"I wanted to capture 24 hours in the life of my daughter Ruby. I stayed close and got down on her level to take the pictures, just following her around as she did some of her favorite activities.

Focus: "Daydreaming"

"The picture was taken at Green Mountain Falls at the gazebo. I saw the children fishing, and then one little boy seemed apart from the group."

Focus: "Positive and Negative"

"This was really about the range of public art and the desire to have things besides the historic. The beauty of Starr Kempf's [Wind Clock] vs. the freezing of time from the past. Even though I like the history of the West, Starr Kempf's work is constantly in the present, and the other is constantly in the past."

Focus: "0540"

Hill was driving to work at The Broadmoor when she spotted this Colorado College kid taking an afternoon snooze. The setting was perfect. The air of the neighborhoods around the college smell distinct, different from any other part of the city.

Focus: "Prospect Lake"

Focus: "Old Colorado City"

"I was going to call it "And No One Got Wet,' because the ladies were under their umbrellas, and I was dry in my car," said Colorado Springs native Tim Carpenter, who used a German 1934 Leica-3A to take this shot.

Focus: "You're Not in Kansas, Anymore"

"This photo was an accident."

Focus: "Little Boy Dreams"

"It was my son who inspired me. My son loves firetrucks. I mean he LOVES firetrucks, and we just happened to be at the station (Fire Station No. 2 in the near North End)."

Focus: "That's Tits"

"I was walking around with Bitsy Carleson at a car show in Old Colorado City. When I was in art school in Italy, I started playing around with reflections in windowpanes and puddles of waters."

Focus: "Royal Tavern"

"I love the arcade area in Manitou; It's such an unusual spot in modern America."

Focus: "Buried Treasure"

"I walked around behind Old Colorado City and took pictures of older homes -- different doorfronts, facades and unusual molding."

Focus: "Hobos Under Bijou Bridge"

"I walked down under the bridge Saturday around 6 or 7. I started to shoot just the train, and right when I had my focus, two hobos came out from under the bridge."

Focus: "Buddy, Can You Spare A Dime?"

"With the recent (Colorado Springs City Council) vote on homeless people (re panhandling on highway ramps), my wife and I thought this would be a good picture."

Focus: "Locked Out"

"I wanted to capture the flavor of the variety of people the Springs has to offer. This one young gentleman was just sitting there playing with his cat across from Acacia Park."

Focus: "Just Call Me Mrs. Albany"

"We eat a lot at Jose Muldoon's and hang out downtown, and this woman has been there all summer wearing winter clothes."

Focus: "Bike Wash"

"I was driving around that Saturday evening, and I saw the guy washing his bike at the car wash at 30th and Colorado Avenue. It was dusk, just after dark, and the water he was spraying on his bike was going everywhere, and it was being lit up by all the lights from the cars."

Focus: "Back Art"

"I took this at a women's party at Desert Reef Hot Springs."

Focus: "Concentration"

Justis was down at the botanical gardens, shooting flowers but he was running out of ideas. Then he noticed the woman who had set up her easel and was painting away.

Focus: "Peter at the Bicycle Clinic, 6 p.m."

"I thought I'd better figure out a strategy," said photographer Meg Poulton, who's had a camera in her hand since she was 8.

Focus: "Garden of the Gods, Climber"

"I spotted that one girl who was kind of off on her own there. The light was kind of bad, so I was having to use a real slow shutter speed and brace up against another rock to get the picture. She kind of had that look in her eyes as she stared up the mountain."

Focus: "Awakening the Gods"

"I always feel like the rocks come alive with the sun and glow from within," said photographer Debbie Yarra, who woke up at the crack of dawn to take this shot. "I particularly liked how the clouds were. You don't usually get clouds like that in a sunrise."

Focus: "Little Princess"

"I am a professor at UCCS doing biology and environmental research. I notice everything in the environment, and I love the beauty of nature. This tiny flower was just about an inch in size. She was standing in front of a rock providing shadow for the background."

Focus: "Portait of Echo"

Focus: "Fox"

"We drove down Old Stage Road looking for a photo opportunity and didn't really see anything. Then we went to Cripple Creek and were checking out a bed and breakfast."

Focus: "Rainbows in the Garden"

"I have a friend who is Native American, and I was taking some shots of her. While we were there, it started pouring. We got under a tree to get out of the rain, and I started shooting. It was about being at the right place at the right time."

Focus: "View of Bison Creek"

"The idea was to get to the top of Mount Baldy, as the locals call it, and I had to jump through a bunch of hoops, because the road is owned by a microwave company, and I had to get the key."

Focus: "Nude Woman Reclining on Rock"

Zeornes usually shoots abstract landscape pieces. But this day, July 24, he was taking a workshop in the Garden of the Gods on the human form.

Focus: "North Cheyenne Canyon"

Focus: "24 Hours at Balanced Rock"

"I took the photo with a pinhole camera, and the exposure is 24 hours long. I put the camera in the back of a VW bus -- so no one could mess with the camera -- and parked it at Balanced Rock in Garden of the Gods."

Focus: "Pikes Peak in the Rain"

It was cloudy and stormy the evening of the 24th. It's the best time to view the peak from Palmer Park.

Focus: "Dancing in the Dark"

Focus: "Does It Rain Like This Every Afternoon?"

Moments after taking this shot, Lamoureux sought shelter in the alcove at Novis Frame Art Gallery north of Starbucks, where he struck up a conversation with a couple tourists. Their question had a ring to it.

Focus: "Mud Fairy"

Stainsky went to the Renaissance Festival in Larkspur the day of the FOCUS shoot. A sculptor there molds fairies out of mud, and Stainsky was particularly taken with this one, so she took its portrait.

Focus: "Flag Jumper"

"It was a no-brainer. Mark Schlatter comes down several thousand feet swirling around the flag and draws the focus of the crowd, the drivers and the pit crew."

Focus: "Crossover"

Focus: "Academy Spires"

"The Aiken Audobon Society was planning a trip to the Air Force Academy, so I took my camera. As part of the tour, we went to where they train the falcons. We were there at 10 o'clock, and I took pictures, but that didn't count (photo contest rules required that the shots be taken between noon on July 24 and noon on July 25)."

Focus: "Yard Sale"

"My wife and I were driving around Sunday morning looking for things to photograph. We were on Tejon, a couple blocks north of CC, and she said, "Look at that yard!' I wish I could say it was all my idea; she suggested I stop and take a picture, and I did."

Focus: "Sunday Morning Solitude"

"What caught my eye was the shadows and the serenity of Evergreen Cemetery that time of morning before anybody was there."

Focus: "Pioneers Museum"

"I like the grainy effect I get with a very fast film, and photos taken at dusk can enhance the effect. I was heading near the museum that evening and went out of my way to see what it might look like."

Focus: "Spirit of the Indian Dance"

"I've been playing with multiple exposures for a while now, so when the contest came along, I said, 'OK, let's try this and see what happens.' So I went up to the Cliff Dwellings and watched the first dance."

Focus on the Winners

Here are the winners of the photo contest!

Bill Bowers, Photographer

Bill Bowers was born in Colorado Springs in 1903. Yes, that makes him 96 years old, but you'd never guess it if you met him.

• by Scott Larrick

'Hactivism' Must Stop

You can't censor hate; you must cure it.

• by Donna Ladd

Have camera, will shoot

What did you capture on film this summer in Colorado Springs?

• by Matthew Fullen

The Outsider

The current bunch of council members only has a couple of years to put its stamp on the community, before it's business as usual once again.

• by John Hazlehurst

Feeding Your Heart Out

The world is full of folks with a penchant for really feeding people, body and soul.

• by Marina Wolf

Let 'em Eat Mo' Greens

The true story of how salad greens saved a life.

• by Brennen Florey

Playing Around: The Jeff Healey Band

The Jeff Healey Band has laid low the past few years, but they're back on the road with a vengeance.

• by Suzanne Becker

Prep School Blues

"Outside Providence" adds depth to the body of films about teenagers that have hit American movie screens in the past year.

• by Kathryn Eastburn

Pardon My Greek

Despite its great promise, including some terrific one-liners, "The Muse" falls flat.

• by Andrea Lucard

Seven Days

Seven days worth of things to do in Colorado Springs.

• by Suzanne Becker

Event Listings

If there's something going on, we've got it listed here.