This Ketel is hot!

Our newest athlete, Nathan Ketelhut of the North Bakersfield High Stars, proved to be a smoking Ketel during our initial shoot Tuesday. Nathan went 3-for-3 with a walk and picked up a huge RBI in the sixth inning to give the Stars some breathing room as league rival Ridgeview closed to within one run in the top half of the inning. The win puts North into a first place tie in the Southwest Yosemite League and Nathan raised his batting average to .359! Keep up with Nate's season stats here.
To view a gallery of full-frame images of Nathan, click here.
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Now that you're in the family...

Once you're in this thing of ours, you can never get out.
Oh my gosh, did I really just go to the Tony Soprano card on our web site about high school athletes? Just having a little fun, but the point I want to make is that once you join the family of Shooting Star athletes, we'll keep an eye out for you, and if we see you at another event we're shooting, we'll grab a few snaps. Like we did for our two-sport athlete Kelly Hosey of Garces High. We're shooting her in track this spring, and when we saw her cheering for the Rams at a basketball game, we grabbed a few shots that we'll happily put on one of her CDs.
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Alana bound for Washington

Super track athlete Alana Alexander of Centennial High is bound for the University of Washington, where she will specialize in the long jump and triple jump. We have Alana as a client after producing a portfolio for her brother, Taylor, in 2007. Why should big brother get all the cool stuff? Alana is primed for another big year. She is a four-event qualifier in the past two state track and field meets, and is working toward a 39-foot triple jump and a 19-foot long jump. Good luck, Alana!
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Farewell Californian, hello new life

On Friday, March 20th, I retired from The Bakersfield Californian, calling it quits after 28 and one-half years. I have desperately wanted to take John Harte Digital Photography Services and my Shooting Star product from a successful part-time business to a full-time one. I was able to craft a nice departure from the newspaper -- one in which I accepted a buyout offer but am able to continue shooting for them as a contractor, so it was a win-win for both sides. I now have the extra free time to build Shooting Star that I so craved; The Cal can still turn to one of its most experienced photographers to help them out when needed. But now Shooting Star Sports Photography is my full-time job. All those folks I had to turn away because I couldn't get the time to schedule should now be able to have their athletes photographed. I anticipate that I can handle twice the current client load.

I want to share with you my very last shoot as a Californian photographer. Fittingly, it was where I am most happy, on a ball field.


That's me with coach Gary Porter on my final assignment. Gary and his wife, Centennial athletic director Becky Porter, played a big role in helping Shooting Star get started with word-of-mouth recommendations and access to the Golden Hawks athletic community. The Hawks are one of the schools we do most of our portfolios for.







These are the three photos I submitted from my final assignment. I wanted to have a good last shoot, and was happy with the pictures.



And this is the final shot I took in my career as a Californian staff photographer. Literally the last time I tripped the shutter. From here, let's see how far we can take this Shooting Star thing!
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