What do you mean Summer is over already?

I know the snow flurries, the neighbor’s Christmas lights and the studded tires on my mountain bike should be a give away, but it’s still had for me to believe that summer is over already. It has gone by in a flash, with some great events and trips to show for it as well. It is easy to say that you are committed to keeping current on a blog, but doing so is quite another matter. My hat is off to those who do this both professionally and personally! It is a challenge for me to find the time. I have been keeping a spiral binder with some great topics, but it seems that too has just been a collection of notes.

Both to try to get caught up and provide somewhat of a Readers’ Digest version of the summer, I am going to just include a few of my favorite photos and some notes and thoughts. Nothing too extensive, but I hope you enjoy it.

The Hy-Vee ITU Race in Des Moines was the qualifying event for the final spot on both the Mens' and Womens' Olympic Triathlon Team. The spring and early summer flooding almost make it look like it would be a tri, without a swim! With the high water levels, also came high bacteria counts. A change in venue, some luck and the event was a great success! Hunter Kemper and Sarah Haskins claimed final tickets to Beijing.







Next up on the tri scene was Life Time. Always a great event, with the weather ranging from a downpour in 2003 to oppressive heat in recent years. Emma Snowsill continued with a win and another outstanding performance in what turned out to be a prelude to her Olympic Gold. The most amazing performance was Andy Potts finishing third after breaking one of his aero-bars.






The next big tri was Accenture in Chicago. I recall driving down and trying to figure out why I was so far behind on everything. Counting in my head, I realized this was the 7th or 8th tri that I was shooting and that since May 1, I had also shot 2 running events, 3 bike races and over 25 soccer games!

I like Chicago. My mother lives there and my son is living there while he is finishing school. It was a beautiful weekend and the Cubs were playing at home at Wrigley Field. As luck would have it, Jonathan works at Wrigley Field and was able to get me a pass to shoot. After moving around the outfield, I settled in to the photo-bay on the first base side. Even though I don’t understand the subtleties of the game, I was able to get a few fun shots.





With over 8,000 athletes, covering the Accenture Chicago Tri, offers many challenges. I did get to meet Sarah Reinertson and get a few shots of her.




Two weeks after Chicago, I was back in Madison at the Ironman. Another beautiful day and a great race! Both the men’s (Chris MacDonald) and the women’s (Hilary Biscay) winners had just raced at the Louisville Ironman the week before, each with a finish near the top!





I also spent a bit of time in the studio working on a few set up shots. Certainly more fun than products. Julie, my friend and favorite victim / model came over to help. Julie also shot with me at Wisconsin and at the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. In addition to having a good eye for composition, she has great eyes for intensity as well! (Although Julie races at an elite level, this is as much of a race face that you will ever see.)




Back at home, there is the Aflac Iron Girl Duathlon - one of their biggest events in the country.



The final clue that the summer was really over should have been the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. If the Get in Gear 10K is the annual rite of spring, this is certainly my rite of fall. In total we had a crew of 15. Eight photographers, six drivers and one coordinator (not me). The Saturday 5K and kids events were great, bright sunshine and big crowds. Marathon Sunday was another matter, with the rain starting at about 8:30 and continuing for the next two hours. We were cold, wet and most of us had equipment issues. Having said that, we did shoot over 16,000 images that weekend and delivered 1,800 to our client for promotional and marketing use. Similar to at the TC 1 Mile we did some very special early morning lighting. More on that later in a separate blog post.



This one is by Matt Moses -



I know I could have posted more images, passed on more stories about the incredible people I have met along the way, and provided more technical information, but then it would be another month to get it completed. So, there you have it, a thumbnail of the summer. It has been a good year! More soon - I promise!