I arrived to shoot Womens Waterpolo at 6:02pm, two minutes past the start of the game. I also was going to leave early because I had to go over and shoot Mens Volleyball at 7pm, which required me to get there early in order to turn on my strobes. I quickly pulled out a borrowed D300 and the newspapers 300mm f2.8 lens. With the sun beginning to go down, I positioned myself near the back of one of the goals with the sun behind me. This is where I stayed for most of the game. I was glad to be shooting waterpolo again and even more happy to be shooting it while the sun was still out.

Nikon D300, 300mm, 320iso, f2.8, 1/3200th

Nikon D300, 300mm, 320iso, f2.8, 1/1000th

Nikon D300, 300mm, 320iso, f2.8, 1/1250th

Nikon D300, 300mm, 320iso, f2.8, 1/1250th

The sun was just about gone and a large shadow was beginning to cover the pool. I changed positions to the opposite side of the pool and tried to get a silhouetted shot before I had to leave. The glare off the water was harsh but I tried to make it work. I had time for a few click and then had to head out.

Nikon D300, 300mm, 400iso, f2.8, 1/8000th

Every time I shoot a water sport I am reminded of how much I like shooting water-sports.

…and every time I use a nikon it grows on me a little. Especially when I can use one with a 300mm 2.8.

Winter break was rough. It was good to get a much needed break from work and school but I didn’t intend to take such a long absence from shooting. Anyways, I came back to school a few days early to shoot the conference opening basketball game against Fullerton who beat us in the finals of the Big West Tournament last year. Thankfully we beat them in overtime. I only had one camera so I didn’t set up anything special, although I did roam away from my usual spot on the baseline and shot from the stands for a while.

I also shot my first swimming and diving competition. It was a last minute decision. I woke up at 9:45 and decided to shoot it. After getting dressed and driving to campus I got there by 10:10. I only had until 11:00 so I quickly found which lanes the UCI teams were swimming in and immediately went there. I really wanted to setup a remote near one of the starting blocks but got there after the competition started so it was out of the question. I was shooting with only my 70-200mm which limited my shooting because it was hard to shoot all the way across the pool. I managed though. Shooting the swimming was easy because I could identify our team by the swimming caps they wore. Diving was a different story. All they have is a little logo on their swimsuit and when they are up on the diving board its pretty hard spot. Here are few shots.

Hopefully one day I’ll get up the nerve to shoot from in the water.