Beck Diefenbach photojournalist

Best of 2011 Part 1: Technology, Part 2: Boy Scouts. Part 3: Personal
Best of 2010, 2009, and 2008

What a change in sports coverage compared to 2010. In 2010, I was photographing high school sports everyday with the occasional Northern Illinois University match up. Now it’s only MLB, NFL, NHL ect…

1) Probably my most intense sports image for 2011: one of the Oracle racing boats capsizes during a practice race in San Francisco Bay in June.

Side note, I totally destroyed a Canon 5D Mark 2 on this assignment. I was riding in a rib boat getting splashed with salt water every second. Hurray for insurance!

2) Club America vs Manchester City at AT&T Park in San Francisco in July.

3) This was my first year photographing at the ‘Stick. Blake Costanzo celebrates against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in San Francisco in October.

4) Ahmad Brooks loses his helmet against the Browns in San Francisco in October.

5) I gained a huge appreciation for tennis after covering the 7-day Bank of the West Tournament at Stanford in July. It is as aggressive as boxing sans violence. Here, Serena sets up a serve.

6) Only shot hockey once and I love how the Sharks enter the rink (November).

7) Color guard at and A’s game in Oakland in August.

A month later, I was sitting in the exact same spot when the power went out at the Oakland Coliseum during an A’s game. Interesting diptych?.

9) Not one of my best images, but one of my most descriptive from the year. Hideki Matsui was brought in buy the A’s to liven up the batting order. “Godzilla” (his nickname) barely broke .250 BA.

10) Sorry mom.

11) Darth Vader throws the first pitch at an A’s game in Oakland in September. I’m surprised the Sith Lord can’t just use the force to hurl ball at the plate.

12) Detroit Tigers pitcher Al Alburquerque celebrates clinching the American League Central Division in Oakland in September.

Part 5 in my best photos of 20011 coming soon…