3/30/12 -- New Orleans, LA: Your "standard" workout day photos: Kentucky head coach John Calipari (left) and Ohio State's star player Jared Sullinger dunking. Photo by Robert Hanashiro , USA TODAY

Workout Day At The Final Four
By Robert Hanashiro, Sports Shooter Academy

The day before the NCAA Final Four each team holds a 50-minute “workout” on the floor of the host venue — this year it’s the SuperDome in New Orleans.

This city is probably the perfect site for any big event and it has certainly held more than it’s share over the years. New Orleans is a wonderful city filled with history, culture, great food, wonderful people, a large tourist area, bad strip clubs and lots of hotels (especially Marriott properties to keep the sports writers happy collecting more awards points!).

Workout day for the four teams can be basically a walk-through on the court,coach schmoozing with the court-side big-wigs  (Louisville) or a full-out, hustle-your-ass, coaches yelling like it’s the final 2 minutes of a game deal (Ohio State).

3/30/12 -- New Orleans, LA: One of the players on our list of advance features was on Kansas Jayhawks center Jeff Withey (5). The "standard" photo would be something like the image of Withey, shot tight with a 200-400 (above). But after making several images like that, I went with a low, wide angle look to not only show Withey but give a sense of place with the large NCAA banner on the score board. Once you get the "safe shot" don't repeat yourself, look for something (anything) a little different. Photo by Robert Hanashiro , USA TODAY

And it’s also a huge photo-op.

For photographers that have to cover the workout day, it’s a chance to make sure the remotes you installed Wednesday are still working, check the camera system you’ve set up to tether your cameras and shoot the players and coaches that are on the story list from the sports writers.

3/29/2012 --- New Orleans, LA : Ohio State Buckeyes run through drills the day before playing Kansas in the NCAA National Semi-Finals. Looking for something different and using a technique --- like blurs --- is a good to do during the workout day. Photo by Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY Staff

The challenge is to get all of the setting up stuff done, tested, ready to go for the real games plus check off those names on “the list” … and get out of the dome at a reasonable hour. (So you can get a nice dinner at a place like Gautreaus near the Garden District — thank you very much Ron!)

The second challenge is to get a couple of nice, interesting images and (for me) not just settle for the “usual”.

Most of the photographers work on things that you’ll be doing for the next day when it really counts — tweaking remotes (like my buddy John McDonough from SI and David Phillip for the AP were doing), double checking color balance and exposure and for me, deciding whether to go hand-held or with a monopod on my down court camera with the Nikkor 200-400.

After shooting four practices, I decided I’m going to “man-up” and go without the monopod.

I can always change for the finals on Monday.

3/30/12 -- New Orleans, LA: Shooting a lithe wider to show photographers photographing Kansas head coach Bill Self. And then look for the little details, like team managers lining up the rack of basketballs before a practice session starts. Photo by Robert Hanashiro , USA TODAY

(The Bottom Of The 9th is an occasional column by Sports Shooter founder Robert Hanashiro. He is also USA TODAY’s west coast staff photographer.)