Honors galore for spring Shooting Star kids!

In what is easily the most successful season for Shooting Star clients, we are happy to report that nine of our spring high school athletes earned either first or second team all-league honors. All league selections are made by the coaches in the athletes' respective leagues. Here are the athletes, along with their very proud parents. We always make mom and dad a part of each athlete's portfolio! Congratulations to all on your outstanding season.
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Riley Showers of Bakersfield Christian with his parents
Jeff and Kym. Riley was named South Sequoia League
Player of the Year.


Pitcher Bryan Maxwell of Centennial High with his parents
Jeanne and Marty. Bryan was named first team all South-
west Yosemite League.


Nathan Ketelhut of North High with his parents Tammy
and Brian. Nathan is the first team SWYL catcher.


Centennial's Alana Alexander with her parents Treena
and Pat. Alana was named first team all SWYL in track.


Bakersfield Christian's Tori Hoffmann was named first
team SSL in softball. Her parents are Beth and Tom.


Garces sophomore Grant Campbell made the first team
all Southeast Yosemite League outfield. His mom and
dad are Jack and Bonnie.


Garces' Kelly Hosey and her mom, Sandy. Kelly made
the SWYL second team in track.


Josh Dickey of Centennial with his parents Darrin and
Mandi. Josh is the SWYL second team catcher.


Bakersfield Christian shortstop Dwight Mashburn was
named to the South Sequoia League second team. His
parents are Denise and Mike.

Orioles take Martin again

It seems the Baltimore Orioles like Jarret Martin. For the second straight year, Jarret was chosen by Baltimore in the Major League Baseball draft. Martin, who set a central section home run record at Centennial High last year and tied the Bakersfield College home run record this year, was chosen in the 18th round, a one-round improvement over last year, when he was chosen in the 19th round. Despite his prolific batting numbers, major league teams are interested in him as a pitcher.

As he did last year, Jarret will now consider his options before deciding to sign professionally or return to the Renegades for his sophomore year. K.C. Hobson, the dominant high school player who led the Stockdale High Mustangs to back-to-back section championships, was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the sixth round.

Whew!! Spring portfolios are done!!!

I hope all our Shooting Star fans didn't think we abandoned them. The site hasn't been updated because the past two weeks were devoted exclusively to preparation of the spring portfolios, and I'm happy to announce that they are completed and ready for delivery! Preparation of a Shooting Star Sports Photography portfolio is no simple task - each one is a meticulous and painstaking endeavour, and a minimum of 12 hours goes into every portfolio. While I frequently use the word "we" in these posts because I do have some excellent contract photographers and even a great high school student to help with some tasks, I flew solo this spring and handled the whole workload myself. The total: 14 portfolio athletes, plus substantial contract work for Cal State Bakersfield athletics, Bakersfield College baseball, and my former employer, The Bakersfield Californian. In all, just over 10,000 images shot and 2,783 photos delivered to our clients in their portfolios! Above is our new client Dwight Mashburn of Bakersfield Christian High School.

Fittingly, one of our best moments of the spring happened on our final shoot, when client Bryan Maxwell of Centennial High launched this homer in the exciting playoff game last Friday against arch-rival Stockdale High. I love the reactions of all the people in the photographs. I'm sad Bryan's homer didn't hold up for the Hawks, but I'm also happy my pal Dan Lemon and his Stockdale Mustangs made good on the victory by winning a second straight section championship. Check out the sequence below, and please click the photos to view larger versions.

Cooper Thompson wins state JC javelin title!

Cooper Thompson of the Bakersfield College Renegades, whom we profiled earlier this week, (see post from May 10 below) has won the state junior college javelin title at San Mateo College with a throw of 222 feet! You can read The Bakersfield Californian article about Cooper's big win here. Congratulations, Coop!

Going in style: Tori's Senior Day slam

It was Senior Day on the Bakersfield Christian softball diamond Thursday, and Tori Hoffmann was likely playing her last home game for the Eagles (pending playoff seedings this weekend.) Tori's had an outstanding senior year. A hitter on the volleyball team, she helped lead the Eagles to an undefeated league season and the section championship. As a catcher and infielder for the softball squad, she was batting .403 with three home runs. But when Tori came to bat in the third inning against Taft with the bases loaded, she was looking at something she had not done in high school. A grand slam. Three homers is a nice number in prep softball, but in 80 plate appearances, it was not a given that Tori could launch one here. But it was Senior Day. Mom and dad in the stands. Maybe her final game at Bakersfield Christian. Could she do it? Uh, yes. This was a no-doubter, a rocket shot over the left field fence. The big hit in a big three-for-four, 5 RBI game that powered the Eagles to a 15-5 victory. But most importantly, a memory of a lifetime.

These are our images of Tori launching her grand slam and a thrilled Tori after the big hit.

Think about being able to tell that story. And being able to pull out the set of pictures that captured the moment. We were happy to be there, delighted to capture this moment for Tori and her mom and dad. Tori is headed to Abilene Christian University in Texas this fall and hopes to make the softball team as a walk on. She is the daughter of Tom and Beth Hoffmann.

Oh noooo! Here comes Black Friday

Kelly Hosey of Garces High will not encounter any Black Fridays during her varsity career. Her mom has booked her portfolios for the next two years!

Shooting Star has three bad days every year. We call them Black Fridays. It's the day when parents, sometimes more than a dozen at a time, call us frantically trying to hire us to photograph their athlete on the last day of the season. Almost always, their athlete is a senior playing his or her last game. And we have to turn them all away, because we just are not an "on demand" business. When we meet prospective clients, we beg them - no make that we plead with them - that if they want our services they have to book us before the season begins or at worst, very early in the season. We painstakingly explain the incredible juggling act we must do with the schedules of as many as two dozen athletes competing in different leagues. We explain how the earlier they get us, the more opportunities we will have to photograph their athlete. We explain that we set our schedule months in advance, and once we schedule our clients, it's pretty much locked in granite. We stress it over and over. Yet on three Fridays every year, the last days of the fall, winter and spring seasons, the calls pour in. It's really sad.


Blake Campbell is also "Black Friday-proof" as his entire high school sports career has been booked four years in advance.

Tomorrow is Black Friday. The first call will come in around 7 am and continue throughout the day. We'll be at Garces High photographing our clients Blake and Grant Campbell and Nick Sakowski. The Campbells book us four years in advance, no Black Fridays for them! And the Sakowskis booked very early in the season. The moral of this little story is we don't sit around waiting for clients. You are in a competition for our services just as your athlete is in competition against his or her opponent. You have to book us early or we just can't help you. So please, please, please - see, we're pleading again - books us early or we're just not going to be able to shoot for you.
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Anything more special than Senior Day?

Is there anything more special to a family than senior day, when the athletes take to the field for their last regular season home game with their parents and give their moms a rose? We were able to photograph the Bakersfield Christian High School baseball seniors Tuesday since we were there photographing our portfolio clients Dwight Mashburn and Riley Showers. Non-client parents may purchase our photos. Dwight and Riley's photos will be included in their portfolios. To see how good these special images are, we want to direct you to our full-size image galleries. You may purchase prints and or original digital files. Just send an e-mail to johnharte@johnharte.com for prices and details.
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New sport, new championship for Cooper

During the past 10 years, we've photographed more than 400 of Kern County's best athletes. But even among the very best, some are a notch, or several notches, above the others. Garces grad and emerging Bakersfield College track star Cooper Thompson is easily among the very best athletes we've photographed. A standout at Garces High, Cooper played key roles in leading the Rams to the CIF section championship in football during his junior year and the section championship in basketball his senior year. He also competed in the long jump and triple jump in track. But this year, Thompson has accomplished the remarkable - he took up the javelin and almost immediately was throwing among the best in the state. Then this weekend, just four months after deciding to give the javelin a try, he won the Southern California junior college championship and will compete for the state title later this week.





Check out The Bakersfield Californian article about Cooper's incredible journey by college reporter Jeff Evans. Below, take a look at some of the photos we shot for Cooper during his outstanding varsity years at Garces High. And of course, we wish Cooper the best of luck this Friday and Saturday at the state championships in San Mateo.
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Greg Sanders: Just in the nick of time!

It was last Tuesday and Greg Sanders was pitching his final game for the Bakersfield College Renegades. It was a beauty; Sanders had a shutout going against Citrus and was working the final innings of his two-years for Tim Painton's 'Gades when I was introduced to his dad, Jerry. Like so many parents, Jerry didn't know about Shooting Star, but asked if I could get him some pictures. Normally that's not possible, as I am totally focused on my clients, sometimes as many as eight or nine at a time. But on this day I was finishing up on Jarett Martin, who was the designated hitter, and was able to catch Greg, who attended Liberty High, pitching the final two innings of his career at BC. And of course we got a great set of photos for Greg, including him being embraced by his teammates as he came off the field, and are happy to welcome him to the Shooting Star family of athletes!
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BC's Martin named first team WSC

We offer congrats to slugger Jarret Martin of the Bakersfield College Renegades, who has been named to the Western State Conference first-team. Jarret was selected as the all-conference designated hitter. Jarret is Bakersfield's lone representative on the first-team squad, comprising both the northern and southern divisions of the conference. A tremendous hitter who is also being coveted by several major league organizations as a pitcher, Martin tied the Bakersfield College home run mark with 11 this season. He batted .331 with 35 RBI, scored 32 runs and had 44 hits, including 9 doubles. You can see a gallery of our images of Jarret here.
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Jarret delivers the first base hit in the
newly-remodeled Collis Field on April 4.

A graduation congratulation: Cody Stone, Southern Utah

Cody Stone walked the walk as an outstanding quarterback for the North High Stars, the Bakersfield College Renegades and the Southern Utah University Thunderbirds. On Saturday, Cody walked the aisle in Cedar City, Utah as a college graduate, with a degree in communications. We shot Cody's portfolio during his outstanding 2006 season for the BC Renegades, when he threw for 10 touchdowns and rushed for two in leading the 'Gades to an 11-2 record and a trip to the Southern California junior college championship game.

At Southern Utah, Cody became the starting quarterback late in his junior season, and remained the starter for the 2008 season. He started all 11 games and threw for 2,664 yards and 22 touchowns. Cody lit it up during the game at Cal Poly, throwing for 469 yards and four touchdowns. He completed 34 of 59 passes. He had another four-touchdown game against UC Davis. He was a standout athlete at North High and earned all-area honors during his senior year, when he threw for more than 1,700 yards and rushed for more than 300. Cody's mom and dad are Elissa Loop and Bob Stone. Congratulations, Cody!
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Slide shows to post online in super-high quality

Two-time Shooting Star athlete Tori Hoffmann.

Our Shooting Star clients will now have a new way to share their multimedia slide shows with friends and relatives who can't get over to the house to watch the DVD. Utilizing some of the same technology that the major networks and Netflix use that lets you watch shows and movies online in super-high quality, we will begin posting your slide shows online this spring. We've resisted this for several years because we just weren't happy with the size and quality that was previously available, but the breathtaking and rapid changes to the online landscape have changed that. As a matter of fact, the shows online are even clearer than those played through a conventional DVD player!

We've posted a demo show featuring athletes Tori Hoffmann of Bakersfield Christian High, Jarret Martin of Bakersfield College, Chad Pollard of Liberty High (now a Bakersfield College Renegade) and Alana Alexander of Centennial. Check it out and please send any suggestions! To view the sample show, click here.
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Grant Campbell launches first V-bomb

Garces High sophomore Grant Campbell has carried a weighty responsibility for the Rams' varsity baseball program. He was inserted as the team's clean-up batter during his freshman season and carried it into this season. Grant, a powerful free-swinger who seems to always puts the ball in play, was missing only one thing in his impressive tenure in the number 4 slot - that first-ever home run as a Ram. It was only a matter of time, and that time came Wednesday at Bakersfield High when Grant launched a rocket shot to left-center field, easily clearing the 360-foot marker in the Drillers' spacious field. His first varsity bomb! I even got excited, and I'm not supposed to do that!

Our first picture of Grant, taken in October 2001.

I took my first picture of Grant, then 7-years-old, in October 2001 when I photographed his older brother, Jack, in a championship football game. Since then, the Campbell family has trusted Shooting Star and John Harte Digital Photography Services with their photography needs. We don't just shoot pictures; we have for eight years been weaving a tapestry, through our well-honed photojournalism skills, of the most important moments in the lives of this super close-knit family.

Grant's excited mom and dad, Bonnie and Jack, with little brother, Joe, after the home run.
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Here's a slide show of Grant's first home run.


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Then and now: New job for Kerianne's legs. Marathons!

Kerianne Kreger's legs made her one of the best volleyball hitters in the area, helping her power the Garces Rams to the section championship in 2002 and landing her a scholarship to play volleyball at Cal State Bakersfield. Kerianne graduated in 2007 with her degree in business administration. She moved to Newport Beach last year and works for AAA Insurance and has found a new job for those "leap-out-of-the gym" legs. She's running half marathons!





Kerianne ran her first one in October, and completed the 13.1 miles in 1 hour and 49 minutes. She is training for another that she will run on May 9th. She says it was a bit of a challenge transitioning from volleyball shape to marathon shape, a process that took about six months. Kerianne also practices yoga and loves to travel and has a pretty interesting career goal. She hopes to form a non-profit organization that will let her combine her love of yoga and travel to help people in need around the world. And while Kerianne's competitive volleyball days may be finished, she's not yet done with the sport; she plans to start playing beach volleyball for fun!
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No waiting with Jarret at the bat

We have added Jarret Martin of the Bakersfield College Renegades, one of Central California's most prolific home run hitters, to the Shooting Star family of athletes. Our big question was how long would it take Jarret to launch a bomb while we were photographing him? Uh, how about one swing? During our initial shoot Thursday, Jarret homered on his first swing, then launched another in a four-for-four performance to power the Renegades to a win over LA Valley College while leaving us thrilled with the set of pictures we came away with!


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One of the most exciting baseball talents to come out of Bakersfield in a long time, Jarret set the CIF central section record for home runs last year when he hit 18 during his senior season at Centennial High. He is currently chasing the season homer record at Bakersfield College. He has 10; the record is 11 and the 'Gades have three games left. Jarret was drafted in the 19th round by the Baltimore Orioles last year, but chose to attend Bakersfield College with hopes of improving his position in a future draft. He's in good hands, as coach Tim Painton and his staff have a nice track record of having Renegade players drafted.

To view a full-frame version of Jarret's gallery, click here.

Nick Sak ducks some high heat!

Take a look at our client Nick Sakowski of Garces getting out of the way of some "chin music" during Friday's game at Golden Valley. The Sakowski family have been clients for four years now. We started with Nick's cousin, Jenna, in basketball and did our first portfolio on Nick last year. Nick is quite a talent; he started at shortstop for the varsity Rams as a freshman last year, and most likely play the position for the Rams throughout his high school career. The Sakowskis are a fixture at Garces High. There were even Sakowskis there in the 1970s when I was in high school at Taft.
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A fun pick-me-up for the Shooting Star gang

Here's a little something for the weekend that I think will bring a smile to all in the Shooting Star community. Enjoy.

Alana gearing up for third state meet

Our initial shoot on Centennial's super track athlete Alana Alexander as she gets ready to make her third run to the state track and field championship meet also provides a glimpse at the incredible care, attention to detail and planning we put into our portfolios. One thing you'll notice in this initial set of Alana's images is they contain only a few action photos.


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That's because the configuration of the track was not to our liking. The backgrounds were cluttered, the long jump and triple jump pits - Alana's specialty - were severely backlit, with a milky-white sky. Not good for pictures; not good at all. But we know that in a couple of weeks, we'll be shooting Alana in the league meet and the area meet in a venue more favorable for the action shots we need. So we call an audible, take the action shots of Alana where we can obtain a favorable result, but we don't force the issue. Quality of light and clean backgrounds are an obsession with Shooting Star. We decide that we will do most of our action shots next time.

Still, there's plenty of work to be done for Alana's portfolio. We spend the afternoon gambling on a few different angles, a few motion effects and mostly taking all of the extra intangiable photos that make our portfolios so special. Alana with her friends, family and coaches; the intensity of Alana as she peers down the track; Alana being Alana. We're so much more than just action shots. Alana's portfolio is not a set of pictures, it is a carefully woven story reflecting a very special time in her life. And we'll deliver big time. Good luck, Alana, we're rooting for you!

To view the above gallery in full-frame, click here.

Maxwell a Golden Hawk multi-tasker

Bryan Maxwell, one of our new athletes this spring, is proving himself to be quite a valuable player on several levels for the Centennial High Golden Hawks as they battle arch rivals Stockdale and North in the tough Southwest Yosemite League. Bryan is putting up some impressive numbers on the mound for the Hawks, leading the team with a 6-1 record and a 2.22 ERA. He's struck out 48 batters in 41 innings. At the plate, Bryan is batting .340 with 18 RBI in 19 games and his 12 walks has him reaching base just about every other at bat.
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Bryan is best friends with two of our other clients, Riley Showers of Bakersfield Christian and Nathan Ketelhut of North. All three players were referred to us by Centennial mom Mary Westendorf, after we shot a wonderful, emotional portfolio of her son Sam, who is now playing for the Bakersfield College Renegades. You can keep up with Bryan's season stats here.
To view full-page galleries of Bryan, Nate, Riley and Sam, click here.


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Then and now: Volleyball still Jackie's passion

We were still experimenting with our format in 2001 when Jackie Bernardin's parents found us just in time and commissioned us to photograph Jackie (Centennial High, 2002) as she played her last home volleyball match. And Jackie delighted us with a spirited, emotion-charged performance that eight years later remains one of our most memorable.





Jackie played for and graduated from the University of San Diego in 2006 with a degree in communications and leadership. Volleyball is still big in her life; in fact, volleyball coaching is what she does. She did stints as an assistant volleyball coach at the University of San Francisco in 2006-2007 and the University of New Mexico in 2007-2008. She is currently living in San Diego and is coach of the Coast Volleyball Club, 16-1 division team which is ranked fifith in southern California. Jackie reports that she is about to open her own volleyball business and will provide details shortly.
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