Lens Artists Photo Challenge #416: Music

Ritva introduces her music challenge like this: “Whether it’s a street artist down the street, local band or a world‑famous rockstar on stage, this challenge is all about capturing the energy, excitement, and emotion of live music—or anything connected to it.”

I attended many concerts in the days before cell phones and cameras weren’t allowed. In more recent years I have enjoyed photographing music performances in many different kinds of environments.

It’s fun learning more about famous musicians. We toured Elvis Presley’s home Graceland in Memphis, The B.B. King museum in Mississippi, and the Buddy Holly museum in Texas

Athens, Georgia is the home of many famous bands including R.E.M., The B-52’s, and Widespread Panic. The three locations in the final gallery are a part of the music history in Athens.

Last week Anne had us moving our body to capture our subjects. Your responses were incredible. Thank you to everyone who joined the challenge.

Many thanks to our host Ritva for this week’s fun challenge. If you would like to join the challenge please be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and include a link back to his post Lens-Artists #416: Music.

Be sure to check back on Saturday, October 10 at noon eastern time when Egidio will be hosting the challenge.

You can keep up with all of our challenges by subscribing to the Lens-Artists team members websites: Tina, Patti, Ann-Christine, John, Sofia, Anne, Egidio, Ritva, Beth.

For information on how to join the Lens-Artists challenge please click here.

Savannah Scottish Games and Celtic Festival 2024

The Savannah Scottish Games and Celtic Festival took place this year on May 4. It was a beautiful day despite a short rain shower in the middle of the day. We arrived in time to see the Pipes and Drums Band enter the field for the opening ceremonies.

The festival was held on the beautiful grounds of historic Bethesda Academy. Ancient live oak trees dripping with Spanish Moss surrounded the event area.

I have Scottish ancestors on both sides of my family so we stopped to check out the genealogical tent before wandering around to see the rest of the activities.

Border Collie demonstrations, Highland Dancing competition, and Celtic music performances were all taking place at the same time as the Heavy Athletics. Oatland Island Wildlife Center had a presentation of Birds of Prey where we saw Wassaw, a rescued American Bald Eagle. There were also food trucks, kids activities, and vendors selling many different Scottish items.

Border Collie Demonstration
Highland Dancers
Wassaw, a rescued Bald Eagle from Oatland Island Wildlife Center, Savannah

The Scottish Heavy Athletics competition featured feats of strength and agility. Several different competitions were taking place on the athletic field at the same time.

Hammer Throw

We enjoyed the day and arrived home in time to watch the Mystik Dan win the 150th Kentucky Derby.

Savannah Scottish Games and Celtic Festival

Celebrating Scottish culture and history, the  42nd Annual Savannah Scottish Games and Celtic Festival took place this year on a warm and sunny May 5.

The festival was held on the beautiful grounds of historic Bethesda Academy. Ancient live oak trees dripping with Spanish Moss surrounded the event field. The salt marsh was a perfect backdrop for Highland Dancers. Scottish clans, societies and organizations had their tents set up under the trees. And of course there were food trucks and vendors.

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Beautiful location for the Savannah Games

With so many events going on at the same time, we had plenty to keep us entertained. Pipes and Drums music, Border Collie demonstrations, Highland Dancing competition, and Celtic music performances were all taking place at the same time as the Heavy Athletics. In addition, there were tents with information about genealogy and many different Clans.

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Border Collie Demonstration

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Border Collie Demonstration

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Highland Dancers

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Highland Dancers

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Opening Ceremony

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Pipes and Drums

The Heavy Athletics competition included several fun events to watch. The Caber Toss is a fan favorite. In this event the athlete lifts a twenty foot caber weighing over one hundred pounds, runs a few steps holding it upright, and then tosses it. The object is to have the caber flip once and land straight in front of the athlete at the 12 o’clock position. We also enjoyed watching the Clachneart (Stone Put) and the Sheaf Toss. We didn’t get to see the Throwing of the Weights or the Hammer Throw.

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Stone Put

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Stone Put

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Sheaf Toss

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Women’s Caber Toss

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Caber Toss

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Caber Toss

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Caber Toss

The Pipes and Drums were beautiful to hear.

I have Scottish ancestors on both sides of my family. I enjoyed stopping at a couple of tents to see if I could learn anything about my families. I found out a little about my father’s side of the family but didn’t discover anything new about my Scottish roots on my mothers side. And I still don’t know what our Tartan is. A little more research is in my future.

After the games we stopped to check out the roses at the Savannah Botanical Gardens. Stay tuned for more coming up about that in my next post.