I always encourage families to take a few images when we are shooting their graduate. After all, once they leave for college the dynamics of the family they’ve known change.  And many times, these kids find love and then the dynamics DEFINITELY change.

Meet, the Jones Family.  They live in my hometown of Slaton.  I was thrilled when Jace’s mom contacted me to photograph his senior session.  Somewhere in the archives I have photos of him in one of his first baseball uniforms at the clubhouse by the ivy wall in the city park.  Somewhere.  Maybe I can dig that out later?  His sisters are older and living away from home, but I was so happy they made the effort to take a few images before we set out on Jace’s photo shoot.  I LOVE the way they turned out.

Here’s a sneak peek of our afternoon together.  He’s a total stud in front of the camera!  Of course I had plenty of help from his beautiful sisters to bring out the best in him.

Enjoy!

And now, here they are in the SENIOR year and headed to the Playoffs!

Their first play off game was Friday night against the Seminole Maidens.  A team they’ve played twice before this season.  The Maidens came out tough, but it just wasn’t enough against our defense and shooting.

Great game, girls!

They play again Tuesday night in Dimmit against Dalhart.

See you there!

If only you knew how much I enjoyed photographing you.  Maybe you do?  I think many of you see it in my face when we lock them under the goal and I’m all intense and thinking “kick donkey” thoughts.  I LOVE photographing you.  I really do.  And yes, a HUGE part of it is because my girls, Kalyn and Summer are Lady Pirates, but please know it’s also because I love girl’s basketball.  I grew up around basketball.  Even played some myself.  It’s a great sport to watch and play.

You give up so much to play athletics.  Sure you love it.  And you’d probably do it again, but you sacrifice so many things to play this game.  And I want you to know I appreciate it.  I’m glad you do.  I love you for it.  I’m aware.  I know.  I understand.

Here’s a short list of what I’ve learned after watching/shooting/studying the life of a female athlete.

• You wear pony tales a lot.  And this is usually because your hair is a mess, you only wash it every other day and you can do NOTHING with it.  You also wear a pony tale holder on your arm even if you have a pony tale on your head because you never know when you will have a hair emergency.
• Your hair dresser only sees you in the off season.  Which is why wear ponies a lot.  AND why your hair is long.  So every few weeks when there’s a free day, you change your hair color.  Or make it wavy.  Or make it straight.  Or why you no longer have bangs.  Bangs get in the way anyway, but you love the look.  You just can’t get to the hairdresser enough to keep that look.
• You have words, phrases and even wild dances that would scare small children.  It’s part of your tribe or ritual or language that you get from hanging out with your teammates more than your family.  I catch conversations all the time from the court side, hallways, and I understand hardly a word you are saying.  It’s quite wicked and fun and a part of me is jealous I don’t understand.  But I love it all the same.  You are mates.  Friends.
• You rarely keep a small animal in your home that bonds to you.  Fish not included.  Neither are lizards.  They are NOT bonding creatures. I’m talking about the family dog or cat.  They sometimes fail to recognize you or run and hide due to the fact that once, you hit them with a flying athletic bag or shoe.  They become your friend again during the off season.  But until then?  The puppy you knew in childhood has now bonded to your mother.  Yep.  They are home more than you.  And they don’t throw shoes or athletic bags near as much.  This is a sad, yes.  But this animal LOVES to eat, chew, lay on your sweaty clothes.  So, they still love you and the fact that you play sports.
• You’ve missed a lot of parties.  Yep.  Your social life suffers when you play sports.  Your friends are out enjoying the non-school time, hanging out together, chasing boys, watching movies every other day, tanning, getting their nails done, but you can’t because any free time you have off the court is enjoyed with school work, family and chores or better yet, SLEEP.
• You don’t always get to eat what you want.  You have to make a decision every time you open your mouth.  One, will this give me gas during the game?  Golly I don’t want to have to go to the bathroom or take a dump during the game.  Or two, I bet this will go straight to my hips and make that uniform look even more lovely on me.  Where’s the food that makes my boobs grow?
• You barely have time for family and friends, and the thought of a boyfriend?  HA!  Good Luck with that.  Yes, many of you have managed to date and even  keep a boyfriend.  You can quit reading this bullet.  Your guy is special.  We get that.  But the rest of you?  Nope.  No guy.  But t’s not for lack of trying or want.  You’d love to have a guy!  We all want to be loved.  It’s just the male species is a needy creature.  You have winning on the brain.  They typically have other things on their mind.  Instead?  You fantasize  about  the perfect boyfriend and how he will be waiting outside the locker room with a cupcake and a bottle of Gatorade,  ready to whisk you away to your massage appointment that he scheduled and buy you the latest issue of In Style Magazine.  Oh, and abs.  HE SHALL HAVE ABS.  And he’s good with homework.  How’s that for a boyfriend?
• You’ve amassed an ungodly amount of athletic apparel.  UNGODLY.  You know how folks do cute quilts of all their childhood t-shirts?  Well, the Lady Pirate Parents could carpet the mall with what’s been saved sports wise over the years.  I’m not kidding.  We keep China in business.  We buy anything and every thing with your name and number and keep it FOREVER.
• You can’t EVER buy tickets to a local kick ass concert.  You know as soon as you do, you’ll have to find someone to give your tickets away to because, guess what?  Yep.  You have a sporting obligation or your parents won’t let you go because YOU NEED YOUR SLEEP FOR THE GAME.  This is also why you can’t plan movie nights with friends that haven’t seen you in 2 months.
• You never have a cute outfit in your closet.  Why?  Because you haven’t been to mall in weeks.  You didn’t even know Yoga pants had caught on or that everyone is wearing cropped leggings with flip flops.  Or that killer boot sale at Dillards last week?  Yeah, you missed it.  So instead you group text the team and throw together outfits based on what they have in their closet but have no idea if it’s clean or not.  When did I last wear that?  8th grade banquet?  Will it work with tights and those old heels?  Why are we dressing up again?
• You never quit.  You just don’t.  It’s not in you Pirate blood.  We can be down by 10 points with less than a minute and you are still pushing it harder than ever.  It makes me so proud!  I hate that you hurt when you lose, but I love that you have that spirit to GIVE IT YOUR ALL.  That will serve you so well in life.  It really will.  Especially if you have to go through 22 hours of natural labor.  I’m just sayin’.
• You aren’t afraid to try.  And I have hundreds of pictures displaying your fine mad skillz of trying something new under that goal or dribbling down that court.  Oh, how much fun I’ve had watching you try things!  But eventually you hone that new skill and it’s just a part of your basketball subconscious.   It fun to watch you get better and better and better.  You my dears, can seriously ROCK a COURT.
• You are BEAUTIFUL!  Your bodies work hard for you and your brains even harder.  You are so beautiful.  I hear all the time from other teams fans, from refs, from people, etc.  They all say that girls are BEAUTIFUL.  I joke and say it’s a requirement at Cooper.  But I’m really not talking about perfect hair and makeup.  I’m talking about that athlete’s spirit that each of you have and show endlessly to us that sit on our rumps and watch.  We the fans.  We are attracted to that spirit you show.  We LOVE it’s strength and beauty!   We love that you throw your body around and don’t worry about how you look when you play.   We clap when you do well, we even  clap when you don’t.  We hold you when you cry.
• You can laugh at anything and everything.  This team gets the giggles and just keeps on going.  You smack talk each other, you tease relentlessly, but you also cry together, hug each other and have seriously BONDED deep within that even if you don’t like each other all the time, YOU WILL DO ANYTHING FOR YOUR MATE.  For your basketball sista.  For that one that wears the same jersey as you.  I’ve witnessed it.  I’ve heard about it.  It makes me all warm and tingly inside.

I could go on and on.  And I may in another post.  But this is long enough and I have an episode of Parenthood saved on the Tivo.  I have a few pictures to edit as well.  PIRATE PICTURES.

I’m so very proud of you.

Kalyn, Summer, and ALL THE LADY PIRATES!!!!  Very proud to call myself a fan.

Much love,

Kristin

PS  Now go kick some “donkey”!!!!

But she’s going to be OK.

I knew better. But I did it anyway.  I just figured it couldn’t happen to us.  She’s smart.

But I think she was chasing that black cat she barks at all day and she took off across the street and was hit.  I immediately took her to Above and Beyond where they took care of her.  She’s resting and yes, will need some mending, but she’s OK.

Me?  Completely DRAINED.

Yes, my children mean more than this dog, but that doesn’t mean this dog doesn’t rank pretty darn high up there.

She’s family.

I get to bring her home tomorrow pending a good report and blood work in the morning.

Prognosis is good.

But I would appreciate your happy thoughts and prayers.

Great game, guys!  It was neck and neck the entire game until our boys pulled way ahead in the 4th Q.  They secured a win and from what I heard, with Shallowater’s win last night, our boys are 2nd in District and will head to the play offs.  WOW! Way cool.

Enjoy the photos!  I’ll post them on facebook as well.

Love,

Kristin | Lubbock Cooper Pirate Fan

And then it was time for Senior Night!!!

I like that they did their’s BEFORE the game.  We learned that lesson the hard way, didn’t we Lady Pirates.  UGH.  The bile is still in my mouth after that loss.

Daniel Schwertner is the trainer for the boys bb team and she was escorted by her Mom and Dad.

Sean Bentley, below.

Mitchel Dinsford

Brenan Ehlers

Alex Hill

Casey Owens

Garrett Taylor

And the Seniors All Together

I’m not sure if any of you noticed.  But it was down and gone and out for about a week.  It’s back.  And to celebrate my human mistake, I’ll offering 50% all orders for the next 5 days!  That’s right!  JUMP on this and get your favorite pirate digital download for 1/2 off.  Here’s what you do.

• Go to www.kristinbednarz.com
• click “client galleries”
• type in pirates to access the gallery.

Once you click on an image you want to purchase, you’ll see the 50% off discount under the print tab.

Enjoy my goof.

Tayla Mosser scored the winning shot, a 3 pointer with the assist from Kalyn Marie, and LCHS Lady Pirates are DISTRICT CHAMPS for the first time ON THEIR OWN since 1984!!!  HOLY MOLY!  That was a long time coming.  I graduated HS that year!

To explain, we’ve shared the district champ title  many time before.  But to win DISTRICT kind of puts us in a harder bracket for the playoffs.  Not kind of.  It does.  But that’s OK.  We’ve always played a tougher schedule compared to other teams in our district.  It is what makes us tough.  Makes us play harder.  Makes us grow and learn and WIN.

It wasn’t an easy win last night.  Our girls were neck and neck with the Matadors the entire game.  It was hustle and hustle  hard.  Kalyn Marie’s middle name is hustle.  It’s not really, but it should be!  She had an awesome game and some amazing moments!  And if you see her or Tayla Mosser (or any of the girls) in the hallway today, give those girls a high 5 from me!

Well done, Lady Pirates.

Kalyn’s been rocking the “fishbone” for most of district.  LOVE THIS!  I can braid, but I can’t do this.  So every time I see it, I want to photograph this thing of beauty and mystery.

It was senior night and much emotion in the house.  These girls didn’t want their season to end.

We had a full house of Pirates representing!  LOVE it when they come out and support the teams!!!!  A few of these fans seriously missed their calling.  HELLO!  Cheerleading tryouts are coming up so go see Mrs. Ferris about that.  IMPRESSED!

Oblivious to his fan club, Coach Hilliard kept his cool during the game.  Okay, almost kept it.  The man got a T called after some horrid call in the 2nd half.  HORRID.  They tackled my kid, Summer and NOTHING was called. Just  a turnover in the books, according to the refs.  If I was a Coach I would never make it to the 2nd 1/2 of many of our games.  I was trying to think of the last time I saw a T thrown his way.  Anyone remember?

Here’s part of the tackle that really  upset our coach and the fans.  (and me…)  Oh, yeah…she had the ball on the frame before this one was taken and it’s horribly out of focus so I didn’t save it.  I’ll see if I can find it and add it here later.  You know, for your judgement.

Discussing the politics of the day.  LOL

Shooting the FT’s from the technical foul.

LOVE THESE GIRLS!!!!

I haven’t had the chance to talk to Bridget.  Anyone have  a finger report?  I snapped the image below after she came out of the game.  She was visibly in pain.  I’m surprised with her long arms that these fingers don’t get hit by satellites in outer space.  I can’t keep them in my frame when shooting her vertical.  Great game, Bridget!

Okay, I snapped this one below AFTER the dude on the left called a foul on Kalyn in the 4th Q.  HELLO!  She didn’t even touch her.  Seriously folks, she didn’t.  She argued with him and pleaded her case, but to no avail of course.

Of course, I have to include this in my photo essay of the game.  Oh, my gosh!!!  After Tayla hit that 3 our fans went wild!!!!  Wild!!!  And her momma was wild with them!!!!  LOVE this Charlsie!!!

And we win!!!!!  I’m so proud of our team and this girl below!!!  How she does not get herself ejected from a game is beyond me.  So much passion and heart in her game.  There may not be many points after her name in the paper, but this girl GETS IT DONE. She who you want on the court when you have to win.  We could not do this without her and her mad basketball playing skills!!!!

Great Game, Kalyn Marie Bednarz!!!!!

You’re gonna wish these days

hand’t gone by so fast.”

Trace Adkins

She does this before every game.  You can’t read her lips.  It’s right before the jump ball.  It’s not showy.  Most don’t even know she’s doing it.  They are watching the girls at 1/2 court jump the ball.  I watch for it every game and say a prayer through my lens.

I’m gonna miss this.

I’m still choosing joy.

Days are hard and long, but when you stop and breathe and live in them, the are full of grace and wonderful moments.

We have basketball games tonight and I have the joy of placing the locker tags on the girls lockers today.  I’ll share photos later, but they turned out so dang cute.  I know it will make them laugh before the game and maybe they too can breathe and receive a little grace before they “kick some donkey”.

Go Lady Pirates!

And because no blog post is worthy without a jpg to share, how’s that little joyful face above?  Cute, no?

Just STOP.

I’ve been pouring over photos for our sports wall in our game room/media room.  I framed a bunch from Kalyn’s years playing soccer and I just swoon over her freckles and little arms and strawberry blonde hair.  My kid is adorable.  She just is.  Plain and simple.

But then, yesterday, I showed up to photograph Kristin, a Senior at Coronado, who played soccer with Kalyn Marie way back in the day.  Ha!  Way back.  Well, actually it’s been a decade.  So, yes.  WAY BACK!

I had her sneak peek ready to show and thought I would show one from WAY BACK in the day.  Kristin is the 2nd from the left.  They are adorable.  And they kicked some donkey, if you know what I mean.  Kalyn has had the most wonderful, beautiful girls and athletes come into her life.

Thank you Kristin for “working it” in East Lubbock.  Oh, gee…how inappropriate did that sound?  HA!  And thank you, Mark for playing reflector boy to the BEST of your ability.

Well, done, Tijerina Family.

Love,

Kristin