The best photos in July by Philadelphia Inquirer staff photographers

Summer is in full swing by the time July rolls around.

The month brought celebrations, including beach weekends, Beyoncé, and baseball victories. And the possibilities for this season’s Philadelphia Eagles percolated with the start of training camp.

The month had its serious and tragic moments, too. Shootings continued throughout the city, including in the Kingsessing section, where five people were killed. A Philadelphia police officer died while on duty, and Bucks County lost loved ones to flash flooding.

» READ MORE: See the best photos in June by Inquirer staff photographers

Two large unions showed their organizing abilities — Philadelphia SAG-AFTRA writers and actors demonstrated in LOVE Park; and, UPS workers conducted practice strikes ahead of what was ultimately a successful collective bargaining agreement that avoided a work stoppage.

Here are the best photographs from July made by Philadelphia Inquirer staff photographers.

Follow Inquirer photographers’ work online and on Instagram.

Red, white, and blue swim trunks head across the boardwalk to the beach in Ocean City, N.J., on July 3.

Milan Howell, 17, teaches swim lessons at the Tiffany Fletcher Recreation Center pool in Philadelphia on July 3. Parks and Recreation offers free swimming lessons at every pool.

Fireworks over the Philadelphia Museum of Art during the Wawa Welcome America Festival on July 4.

Josephine Wamah (left), sister of Kingsessing shooting victim Joseph Wamah Jr., speaks about her brother at a press conference at Salt and Light Church on July 5.

Elver Alvarez and Karla Rivera cool off from the heat in the Swann Memorial Fountain in Logan Circle on July 6.

Philadelphia police investigate the shooting deaths of Andrew Bullock and Nicole Lee-Bullock, a married couple, along the 6100-block of Locust Street in Philadelphia on July 7.

Mark Jones, owner of the Island Breeze Motel, holds a glow stick he gave out to his guest after the power went out in Wildwood on July 7.

People gather along the Wildwood Boardwalk after a power outage on July 7.

Ana Ramirez splashes in a heavy afternoon downpour at Dilworth Park on July 8.

Philadelphia boxer Jaron “Boots” Ennis holds his Interim IBF Welterweight Title belts after knocking out Roiman Villa in the 10th round at the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on July 8.

Lightning streaks across the sky near Rowan College of South Jersey in Deptford, N.J., on July 3.

An Eastern cottontail rabbit eats a white clover flower while keeping a close eye on the photographer on July 7. Numerous ticks are attached to the wild rabbit that was photographed in Hurffville, N.J.

In a view seen from the Girard Point Bridge, clouds hang over the Philadelphia skyline on July 9.

Octavia Brown with her twin sons Jy-Fir Ford (left) and By-Kir Ford (right) on July 12. The family survived the July 3 Kingsessing shooting.

Zaint Thomas (left) and Alexa dressed as alien superstars for Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour concert at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on July 12. The New York couple who are also musicians, designers and artists said they “wanted to be a part of the first show.” Beyoncé's stop in Philadelphia marked the tour’s first show in the U.S. and the only show in Pennsylvania.

Antuan Stevenson, Philly Spider-Man, rolls by on North Broad Street on July 12.

Bordentown Mayor Jennifer Sciortino (left) glances at Mortefontaine, France, Mayor Jacques Fabre during the Bastille Day celebration in Bordentown, N.J. on July 14. The celebration marked the ‘Sister Cities’ ties between Bordentown City and Mortefontaine, France. Joseph Bonaparte lived in both places. Point Breeze, a scenic bluff in Bordentown overlooking the Delaware River, is where his New Jersey estate was located. It was recently purchased by the city and transformed into a public park.

A Philadelphia police procession escorts the body of Officer Lynneice Hill, who was found unresponsive in her patrol car and taken to Jefferson hospital where she was pronounced dead. Here, the motorcade arrives at the medical examiner’s office at the rear of police headquarters on July 14.

Many gather in floats in the Delaware River for the fourth year of Floatopia in Camden, N.J., on July 15.

This overturned car was swept up in flooding that occurred on Washington Crossing Road, near Houghs Creek, in the Washington Crossing/Newtown-area on July 15.

Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher Gregory Soto reacts after giving up two run in the eighth inning against San Diego Padres. Philadelphia Phillies win 7-6 in twelve innings over the San Diego Padres at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on July 16.

The scene of a train derailment in Whitemarsh Township, Pa. on July 17.

Michelle Brister, centre, mother of Laron Williams Jr., sits on her front steps, the place where her son died, on the 700 block of East Locust Ave., in Philadelphia on July 17.

Chef Altenor Vaval in the dining room as lunch is served at Face to Face, a community center in Germantown on July 17. They serve hot made-from-scratch meals with top-end produce from the nonprofit Carversville Farm Foundation.

Dr. Kenneth Ford, retired nuclear physicist, sits in his home in Gwynedd, Pa. on July 18. Ford worked on the H Bomb in Los Alamos, N.M. in the early 1950s and knows several people depicted in the new movie ‘Oppenheimer.’

Dakota Curran holds fresh oysters on July 18, a t his oyster farm in Sea Isle City, N.J. The Curran’s are harvesting fresh oysters from Ludlam Bay in Sea Isle and bringing them to sale at bars.

Fat Cat get inflated in front of UPS Customer Center and distribution center at 15 E. Oregon Avenue on July 20. Union members held a rally to inform management that organized labor will strike if negotiations fail. Pennsylvania State Representative Elizabeth Fiedler led the rally in support of labor.

Santino Vassalotti wears his sun googles as he faces the sun on July 20 during a Phillies vs Brewers game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

Actors David Morse and Brian Anthony Wilson embrace at the podium. SAG-AFTRA, union representing media professionals and entertainers on strike together for first time since 1960. SAG-AFTRA members and supporters gathered together in LOVE Park, 15th and JFK in Philadelphia for rally on July 23.

The crowd pulls out their cellphones during a free concert of Darin Atwater’s Black Metropolis, featuring the Philadelphia Orchestra and rapper-turned-entrepreneur Chill Moody at the Mann Center on July 19.

President Biden (center) walks with Philly Ship Yard Apprentice Workers Megan Heileman (left) and Emily Andrewson (right) on July 20.

President Biden speaks at the Philly Shipyard discussing ‘Bidenomics’ on July 20.

A prayer vigil was held at The Crossing United Methodist Church on July 20 for the victims of the recent flash floods in Washington Crossing, Bucks County. Five people are confirmed dead.

Lynn Trstensky (left) and Sangeeta Kamble attend a prayer vigil at The Crossing United Methodist Church on July 20 for the victims of the recent flash floods in Washington Crossing, Bucks County.

A mural is created at 8th and Market in Philadelphia on July 21. To the right is the “A People’s Progression Toward Equality” mural by Jared Bader.

Fair Ghamina Tumpe, of Washington, D.C., with Spaces in Action D.C., leads chants with fellow protestors during the 2023 People’s Convention Rally in Philadelphia on July 22.

Walter Crew checks out the 4th annual Car Show at Arasapha Farms in Glen Mills, Pa., on July 23. Crew said he has a 1935 Oldsmobile but didn’t bring it to the show. In the foreground is a 1958 Oldsmobile Super 88. The show featured about 400 vehicles and raised money for Operation First Response and Blue Beards for Charity organizations.

Jim Sheils holds his four-year-old son, Jack, and Jim’s father Paul Sheils during the vigil for the recent Bucks County flood victims, at the 9-11 Memorial Garden of Reflection in Yardley, Pa., on July 23.

Upper Makefield Officer Harry Vitello gets a hug and kiss from Paul Sheils during the vigil for the recent Bucks County flood victims, at the 9-11 Memorial Garden of Reflection in Yardley, Pa., on July 23.

A funeral attendee after the Janazah prayer and funeral service for Devin Spady, the son of Philly entertainment mogul Gillie da King, who was fatally shot Thursday night in Philadelphia on July 24.

Gillie da King (left) and his son, Talib, look into the coffin of their son and brother Devin Spady at the Janazah prayer and funeral service. Devin was fatally shot in Philadelphia earlier in the month.

Phillies designated hitter Bryce Harper gets tagged out attempting to score against Baltimore Orioles catcher James McCann to end the eighth inning on July 24 in Philadelphia.

A red table umbrella sticks up out of a sunflower dining field along Lincoln Highway in Lancaster County on July 18. Signs advertised an Amish cooked meal, sunflower trails, and pick your own sunflowers.

A person runs across 5th Street and Market Street during heavy rains in Philadelphia on July 25.

A SEPTA bus crashed into a storefront at 1505 Walnut St. on July 25.

Brandon Marsh celebrates with Alec Bohm after a walk-off win against the Baltimore Orioles in the ninth inning at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on July 25.

Youth football players, mainly the Parkside Saints, vie for the attention of Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown after practice on the first day of Eagles Training Camp at the NovaCare Complex in Philadelphia on July 26.

Eagles offensive lineman Brett Toth after practice on the second day of open training camp at the NovaCare Complex in Philadelphia on July 28.

Lightning strikes over the Commodore Barry Bridge along the Delaware River from Subaru Park in Chester, Pa., on July 28. The Union’s reserves played Wrexham A.F.C., the Welsh soccer team owned by actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds.