We demonstrate that a two-color high-n Rydberg excitation of hydrogen atoms using a circularly polarized tagging laser may be combined with pulsed-field ionization to allow for direct velocity map imaging of the H atom spin polarization. In this proof-of-principle study we only detect the incoherent spin polarization for a single velocity component in the 213 nm dissociation of HBr, but anticipate that by combining this strategy with slice imaging, the full velocity dependent H atom spin polarization may be obtained in a single experimental geometry. (c) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.