The days leading up to the final four are no walk in the park. For the editors and the photographers making sure everything is set up correctly takes careful planning and discussion. Shooting positions needs to be set up, remotes need to be hung and secured and our computers, cameras and networks need to be configured.

Staff photographer Streeter Lecka sets a remote up in the cat walk of the Georgia Dome. (Photo by Travis Lindquist)

One of our remote camera’s points down to the court below. (Photo by Travis Lindquist)

Tech guru Bob Covington helps staff photographer Streeter Lecka fix his camera. (Photo by Michael Heiman)

This year’s final four team consists of staff photographers Andy Lyons, Streeter Lecka, Win McNamee, tech guru Bob Covington, sports assignment editors Travis Lindquist and myself.

For me, it’s my first Final Four and having worked the last three rounds and the Big East Tournament before that, I have a pretty good idea of what to expect. But, I am sure that something out of the ordinary will happen as always seems to be the case with big events.

The Florida Gators (R) practice as the media work (L). Photo by Win McNamee)

Click here to see the coverage captured so far.

Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

As Will Smith said, “Welcome to Miami.”

It’s day nine here at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida but just day two without rain. Rain has made for some tough times here on the island of Key Biscayne but hasn’t prevented the team of four photographers from making some nice images.

The first week’s roster of Getty Images photographers nearly contained a Grand Slam with experience and location. With Clive Brunskill (from the home of Wimbledon), Chris McGrath (from the home of the Aussie Open) and Matthew Stockman (from the home of the U.S. Open) the staff had plenty of tennis knowledge to maneuver the 12 different courts here at Camden Park. The first couple days of a tennis tournament are always hard because with a draw containing both 96 men and women plus 64 doubles teams there is just a lot of cover.

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

The first couple days our crew typically had to cover up to 25 matches in one day meaning timing and speed is everything. So when the rain came – typically around noon everyday – the delays would throw off the entire schedule preventing our photographers from being able to hop around to the matches they were assigned to making it even more difficult.

Unlike other sports such as baseball, cricket and golf, where you also can’t play in the rain, the difference with tennis is that once it rains you need to wait until the courts are dry because the court can become very slick. Each rain delay would cost us nearly an hour and just about when the court would dry the rain would come lashing down again.

The other problem with rain is clouds. A cloudy day in tennis is nearly as bad as rain due to the lack of the natural light from the sun.

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

However, some good tennis is still being played and now that we are on to the later rounds some of the match-ups are becoming exciting. Today alone we had Maria Sharapova take on Serena Williams along with Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Justine Henin also play in Stadium Court.

Let’s hope that tomorrow brings more good matches and sun.

After a 51/2 hour flight from NY to LA , a 3 hour layover and then another 15 ½ hours in the air, I landed in Melbourne, Australia for the World Aquatics Championships.

My first impressions of Melbourne are great. The people are fantastic, so friendly, willing to help and easy with a smile. The weather is pleasant. It is the end of summer here and the temperatures are in the high 70’s.

Al Bello/Getty Images

For the first few days, I spent my time exploring the 3 venues I would be working in. Most of the events are indoors which, is kind of a downer, because you don’t get the chance to work with the sunlight at different times of the day. Nothing beats outdoor swimming events. All of the water splashing around and some late day sun makes some very nice images. I guess it’s not to be this time around but at least I won’t have to worry about sunburns.

It will be more difficult to get great pictures, but that does not mean they are not out there. I will have to give it a shot and see what happens.

Things seem pretty strict for the first few days as far as where the photographers can and cannot go. This is par for the course and it is a matter of convincing the organizing committee that we actually do know what we are doing. For example, at the open water swimming event. (it’s out in the ocean and the swimmers race around a track constructed in the water) I wanted to get in the water and shoot the start from under the starting pontoon where the swimmers would dive over me. I went through the process of getting permission and got clearance, or so I thought. The morning of the first race I got all of my underwater stuff to the venue and was about to jump on a boat to go to the start. The venue manager came up and told me I was not going anywhere and that they had decided against my plan. When I asked why, I only received a shoulder shrug for an answer. “Maybe the next race,” he said.

In the past, I might have been yelled back at him why, why why?! Instead I shrug my shoulders back and say “OK, maybe the next race.” I have learned that yelling and screaming doesn’t get you anywhere. It only makes people mad and it was not worth starting things off on the wrong foot.

Later in the day, before the second race, I don’t hear anything from the manager and I assume that I am not going out there to get this picture. Five minutes before the start of the second race, the venue manager comes up to me and says I am cleared and can go out there. I rush to get my gear together and jump in the boat. On my way to the starting line I watch the race start and the swimmers dive into the water. “Marvelous!” I say to myself. I missed it again. I must wait two more days before the next race.

On the day of the third race the weather is not good. Rainy and choppy water make for difficult conditions. I decide to postpone the shot for the next day’s race. On the fourth day, the weather is much better. It is sunny and the water is calm. I make sure I am good to go with the race people. I get a boat out to the start. The race is at high noon. I am concerned that the sun is too high and the light too harsh for a good picture going with the sunlight. I decide to go for a silhouette instead, shooting into the sun.

There I am in the yellow life jacket.

As the swimmers start to make their way to the starting pontoon I get myself in the water to get in position. In the previous days the swimmers had been getting stung by blue bottle jellyfish which is very painful. I was hoping I would not be the next victim.

There were starting boats, medical boats, and photo boats everywhere around the starting line. Keeping the background of my picture clean and free of these boats was going to be harder than I thought. I had to position myself just right, without having the swimmers dive on top of me. The water current was moderate, but was still pushing me around. I hung on to the pontoon till the last possible second. I waded out to the side of the swimmers.

Camera ready, I looked through the viewfinder. The starting gun went off. I saw a blur of swimmers, followed by splashing, and then sky. They were gone. I fired 8 frames. Four days of work for one second of shooting. I got on the boat and headed back to the shore. Luckily I escaped the wrath of the blue bottle jellyfish.

Al Bello/Getty Images

Editor Mark Kolbe was at the media tent waiting for me. We looked at the pictures together and we got a few frames out of it. I think the pictures could have been better but they were pretty good. I was glad the effort did not go to waste as it does sometimes.

After the open water swimming I mixed in some water polo, and some synchro swimming or “water dancing” as my friend and fellow Getty Images photographer Ezra Shaw calls it. These two sports, while totally different, are the same in one way. You are treading water for a very long time. I don’t know how they do it.

Al Bello/Getty Images

Al Bello/Getty Images

Al Bello/Getty Images

I also got some diving in this week. It was extremely difficult. The backgrounds were horrible with signs everywhere. I found myself walking all over the venue looking for something, anything, to work with. I was very glad when the session was over.

Al Bello/Getty Images

Another thing I have been working on during my time here is shooting travel pictures. It’s the latest opportunity Getty Images has presented the photographers while we are away on assignments around the world. I am very new to this but have been giving it a shot. It is a much different pace than covering a big event. There is nobody telling you that you can’t go here or there. I just walked around the city one day and shot what I thought was cool. I must say it was hard work but enjoyable. The pictures don’t just happen in front of you as they do at events. You have to search for the pictures.

Al Bello/Getty Images

Al Bello/Getty Images

Al Bello/Getty Images

Several people came up to me while I was shooting and were interested in what I was doing. One guy even gave me a ride to a place he thought was good for pictures. Again, they are very friendly here in Australia. I went to St. Kilda beach and the riverwalk in the Southgate area of Melbourne. It was a good diversion from the political madness of a world sporting event. Nobody was shoving me around. Nobody was blocking my view. No TV camera person stepped in my way at the big moment.

But now I go back to reality. The real swimming competition starts this weekend with the best swimmers in the world going at it. It’s going to get intense again, real soon.

The first F1 round of the 2007 season kicked off on Thursday 15^th of March. The day started of with the usual press conferences and driver appearances. Then from midday the drivers have their portraits taken by the world’s media. A small area is set up behind the pit complex, and photographers gather at least one hour prior to get the best vantage points. The drivers have a 3 hour time frame to have their portraits taken. Once it gets under way it sounds more like a red carpet event as photographers call out for the driver to look their way.

On the Friday morning dark clouds and rain greeted the F1 drivers as they headed out for the first practice session. The new drivers headed out immediately pit lane opened so as to familiarise themselves to the track, and put in some laps. Towards the end of the session the bigger name drivers headed out, but only for a handful of laps.

On the Saturday qualifying the sun finally broke, as the qualifying format separated the faster drivers from the rest of the field. The biggest surprise of the day was by Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain who had the fastest time for a few minutes, before the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen took pole position.

The race day start saw Kimi Raikkonen take the lead and he kept it untill the end of the race. He was never threatened and won the race easily. I covered the start of the race at turn 3 before heading over to turns 4 and 5. I then headed back to the start finish line to get the finish picture you see here.

Robert Cianflone / Getty Images.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 15: Fernando Alonso of Spain and McLaren Mercedes is surrounded by photographers as he poses during the pre-season drivers photocall ahead of the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at the Albert Park Circuit on March 15, 2007 in Melbourne, Australia. The Australian Formula One Grand Prix, the first of the new season, takes place on March 18, 2007.

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

As a North Carolina Tar Heel graduate there is nothing better than college basketball tournament time. My road to the Final Four began Thursday in Winston-Salem with my North Carolina Tar Heels playing the last game of the second session. As a number one seed I hope that I will see them cutting down the nets at the end of the month in Atlanta. Don’t worry, you won’t see me celebrating with the team (though it may be hard) as I would much rather have the picture that I will always be able to look back on.

From a photographer’s perspective the NCAA tourney can sometimes be tough in the first couple of rounds because you aren’t allowed to do some of the remote shots that you do throughout the year. However, this also makes you think of other ideas you may not have used during the regular season. For me, Thursday was the beginning of a great month filled with great pictures. There’s nothing better than knowing I will have the chance, at some point along the way, to make a special picture.

In Winston-Salem I have a position on the floor that is usually not considered a prime spot but, never-the-less, it is my spot for the first two rounds. I immediately noticed that the black out of bounds area in front of me might be nice if used correctly. It can produce a nice reflection that adds a little something special or different to the picture. I chose to put a remote on the floor in that area that usually would not have a high chance for a picture. I really just set it up for one picture. The thought was that if someone dove in front of me for a loose ball it would be a cool angle and the black reflection would add a nice pop to the picture. The only thing is it only happened two times in four games and that was actually more than I expected. Sometimes you just have to plan for the unexpected. Fortunately for me it did happen and made a cool frame. However, as a photographer it’s hard to be satisfied and I know it can always be better.

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

After the remote and other basic shots were done there was still more to look for. I have never been in this floor position for a game even though I probably shot around 30 or so college games this year. As the day went on I continued to look for something different and creative. I began to notice that I had an interesting angle of the coaches. Being closer than normal to the bench I could occasionally see the coach in the huddle through the players. It was really cool to listen in and begin to focus on the eyes of the coaches and trying to work all that intensity into a picture.

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

At each site there will be something new and different. Sometimes it may not be what we want or expect but that is what makes it fun. And by the way my Tar Heels came out on top in their first game and I feel like myself and talented editor Maxx Wolfson did as well. So, it’s on to round two and figuring out who will make it to the sweet 16!