A few weeks ago I was asked to take pictures of Francine Giron, the starting catcher for Hanford High’s varsity girls softball team. She has played on the varsity team for three years. But it wasn’t until summer before her season that the her coach, Donnie Fagundes, found out that Francine was legally blind in her left eye, a problem that started when she was in third grade. However, this hasn’t really been a problem for her. She has played almost every position on the softball field. She has even learned to adjust her batting stance. A natural right-handed batter she switched to being a lefty because her left eye, her bad eye, was closest to the pitcher causing her to swing late.

The Shafter basketball team celebrates their win behind Hanford West's Kalia Parker after their playoff game on Thursday, Feb. 24.

For the past two weeks, boys and girls varsity basketball players experienced the highs and lows of the California Interscholastic Federation’s playoffs. When the dust settled two of the seven Kings County schools will  vie for a Central Section Division championship at Selland Arena. Kings Christian girls will play for the Division V championship against Central Valley Christian. And Hanford High girls will seeking their fourth title and first Division I championship with their match up against against Clovis East.

A lot late on posting this one. Above are a few portraits I took for the Sentinel’s picks for the fall sports players of the year. I had a lot a fun over the few day in December it took to shoot this assignment. It really brought out the Strobist in me.

This is my first try at a spherical 360 degree panorama. It was taken at the Hanford Medical Pavillion’s new Aquilion 64-slice CT Scanner room. John Harrignton, left, was the first patient to use the CT scanner with the help of Rose Ortega, right, a CT technologist. So click and drag around the image to see a view of the whole room and let me know what you think. Also, check out the Hanford Sentinel to read more.

Sierra Pacific High School made its first postseason and its first playoff appearance in the school’s athletic history. The school, which has only been opened for two years, defeated Minarets (O’neals) in five sets 25-27, 28-30, 25-20, 25-18, 15-11 to advance in the Central Section Division five playoffs. Read more in the Hanford Sentinel

Jayden Williams, 8, right, and Ethan Powers, 9, slide down a wet tarp at Lions Park during the last of the Lemoore Recreation Depart's Summer Day Camp.

Maria Sanchez sprays Amanda Jones with water during the last of the Lemoore Recreation Depart's Summer Day Camp on Thursday at Lions Park. The campers were treated to a slip and slide down one of the park's embankments.

Children attending the last day of Lemoore Recreation Departments Summer Day Camp on Thursday were treated to a slip and slide down one of the embankments at Lions Park.

Summer fun came to the children attending the last day Lemoore Recreation Department’s summer day camp in the form of a wet giant  blue tarp.

]]> http://fonsecaphotos.com/h-blog/slipe-and-slide-in-lemoore/feed/ 0 http://fonsecaphotos.com/h-blog/2009-cnpa-sports-photo-finalist-hanford-little-league/ http://fonsecaphotos.com/h-blog/2009-cnpa-sports-photo-finalist-hanford-little-league/#comments Tue, 20 Apr 2010 22:40:08 +0000 Apolinar Fonseca http://fonsecaphotos.com/?p=2697

The Phillie's Vincent Rangel, left, celebrate after Anthony Bibbs scores the winning run in their 8-7 Colt Division victory over the Bulldog's at the Bob Hill little league complex in Hanford.

I received a bit of good news yesterday. One of my editors had told me that the picture above was a finalist in the California Newspaper Publishers Association’s Better Newspaper Contest. Also receiving awards was Eiji Yamashita who placed second in the Investigative/Enterprise Reporting category. The Sentinel staff was named a finalist in the Public Service category for their series of stories on how to cope with the downturn in the economy.

The Hanford West Huskies boys varisty basketball team, who are currently first in the West Yosemite League, played their crosstown rivals the Bullpups of Hanford High. This turned out to be one nail biter of a game with the final score being 53-52 in favor of Bullpups. For more on the game see the Sentinel.

A sudden down pour flooded the streets in front of the Hanford Sentinel building. We’re really not use to this kind of weather conditions. It’s a nice change of pace.

Past iPhone365 galleries.