Photographing the 2011 Men's U.S. Open of Water Polo in Costa Mesa, CA

Last weekend was the 2011 Men's U.S. Open of Water Polo down in Costa Mesa, CA and I was down there to photograph this event for USA Water Polo. It was a perfect day in Southern California, with the sun high and the temperatures pretty mild.

The great thing about water polo is that there is always a lot of action to capture.

At this high level of play, it is amazing to see ho high these guys can propel themselves out of the water.

At the beginning of each of the medal matches, the teams would line up for introductions. I took the classic shot from across the pool, but then quickly moved to the side of the pool to shoot a photo down the line of athletes.

I like this shot, because the offensive player is setting up for a shot and the goalie is concentrating, but relaxed.

When shooting water polo, it is good to shoot a combination of wide shots like this, and also zoom in to isolate the action, like the shot below.

Here is a shot of the goalie in the right place at the right time.

It may not look like it from this photo, but the NYAC goalie (the MVP of the tournament) made an amazing stop on this shot. This image was captured after he deflected the ball with his left hand.

The New York Athletic Club won the tournament to match the win by their female counterparts two weeks before. This team was the favorite to win the tournament with half of the team being made up of silver medal winners from the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.