Physically demanding water sport splashes photographers with patience
Water Polo
BY BRADLEY WILSON For a photojournalist, taking pictures of water polo presents unique challenges. But the challenges, at least with outdoor matches played in the bright sunlight, are not with the quantity of light. Also, the challenges are not in stopping the action. Because there is so much light, photographers can easily use fast shutter speeds to stop the action. Nor are the challenges in the messy backgrounds. Photographers use wide apertures for low-depth of field and shoot down on the players so the background will be anything but distracting. And because the action is not that fast, composing pictures, not simply shooting snapshots, is a realistic goal. What makes water polo a challenge is shooting different and unique pictures. Water polo shots, offense and defense, have a tendency to look the same. Even when players get emotional and passionate about the game, their reactions are often tempered by their inability to touch the bottom of the pool. As players face their set of challenges, so do photographers covering the games. Camera in hands, journalists deal with heat, with high humidity, with additional environmental conditions and with lack of a comfortable spot to sit or to stand. “Bring towels” was the advice Andrew Mo, a free-lance photographer in Southern California and a graduate of University of California at San Diego, gave to photographers shooting water polo. Primoz Jeroncic, a photographer in Slovenia, took that a step further and said, “It’s usually extremely hot and humid so it’s suffering. The most important suggestion: Don’t forget Tshirt and shorts even if in middle of winter.” Seh Suan Ngoh, a freelance photographer in Singapore, emphasized
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that the conditions are equally hard on the equipment. “Take no assumptions that the ball won’t fly at you and your camera when you least expect it,” Ngoh explained. “A friend of mine recently wasn’t paying attention for a moment because he was taking a short break. He ended up having a ball fly right over and hit his 20D and 70-200mm lens, which dropped to the ground, malfunctioning — or rather, not functioning at all — and resulting in a need to be sent for service. The possible shock factor is very high, and the gear servicing expenditure may be higher. It helps to have your camera environmentally sealed to give you that safeguard against major splashes.” Still, from a good vantage point, photographers can get lively action and reaction shots. WHERE TO STAND With a limited number of vantage points, photographers see two basic choices when shooting water polo: Get up high or down low. “I’ve found that my best experiences are when shooting at the extremes,” Mo said. “Finding a high angle such as a diving platform can clean up your backgrounds. On the other end, ‘hitting-the-deck’ — shooting as close to the pool/deck surface as possible — can help with making your images more engaging.” Jonathan Young, a 2004 graduate of the University of California of Los Angeles and now a New York Citybased photographer, said he prefers shooting on the deck. “I try to stay low to get water, ball and players all in one shot. The splashing water gets in the way sometimes, but when it comes together, it’s gorgeous,” he said. “There are two basic shots for water polo: the players shooting at the goal
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Goalie Nicholaus Mayfield blocks the ball from becoming a goal. “I came into the season thinking that it would be easy,” he said, “but I quickly realized, after three water polo balls had hit my face, that the game is harder than I thought.” Photo by Ryan Tucker, Downey High School (Modesto, Calif.)
WINTER 2006