Over the past four days I’ve shot three races including a night race, a 5K color run and a sprint triathlon, taught a private lesson, did a bunch of post-production and other computer work, and managed to squeeze in another chance to shoot fireworks. Productive, but not a lot of sleep.

I was told about the fireworks at the South Shore Follies held at the South Shore Marina on Milwaukee’s lakefront by one of my students. I know this place well, as I’ve done a lot of paintings there in the past. Apparently this event has been going on for over 67 years.

This fourth of July, I finally managed to get time shooting some of the local fireworks. In addition to my D7000, I also took along, on a whim, my old Nikon Coolpix 5700. These are the results.

Something I’ve noticed many times now, the most stressful elements of being a photographer (or a plein air painter, for that matter), involve what it takes to get into position to take the shot. Shooting is the easy part, almost an after thought. The early rise, travel time, traffic headaches, packing and logistics, the mile-long hike through treacherous terrain carrying fragile gear to your location…not so much.

Last Sunday I was contracted to shoot the Madison Color Run. Like the one in Racine, this is a fun 5K race where the participants are pelted with different colors throughout the course. The color being made of pigment and cornstarch, is very fine, and gets everywhere, but sticks most to areas where there is perspiration or moisture.

Last Saturday I was contracted by Gameface Media to shoot the Muderella mud race in Richmond, IL. The contract specified a minimum of 6 hours, which after the Tough Mudder the previous weekend, would be a cake walk. Or so I thought.

Today I was contracted to shoot The Color Run held at Pershing Park in Racine, Wisconsin for Flo-Foto. The event had over 4500 participants. The images in this post are used with permission.

Last Saturday I was contracted by Gameface Media to shoot the Tough Mudder Chicago event. This was a very long day of shooting. 10 and a half hours of shooting with no breaks. Talk about pushing one’s limits (I began to know how Rand Paul felt when he last Filibustered Congress). [All images here were shot by Anthony Sell and are used with permission from Gameface Media]