Lens-Artists Challenge #416 – Music

/ Leya / 7 kommentarer

The main thing is to let your creativity loose and capture a moment that really shows the spirit of the music, Ritva says. Well, my music is mostly played in my house – and from an ordinary cd-player. Concerts are very seldom on the agenda. It’s not easy to get a dog- sitter Saturday nights…So, I knew I would have to struggle with this challenge, but I finally came up with these old photos.




Music and concerts offer a great escape to many of us. At least for a moment. This is Camelot and its brilliant singer, Roy Cahn. The group was a favourite with our two younsters for some years, (I liked them too) and we took the car up to Norway to listen to them live.

Lodz Light Move Festival in 2018 – (and a ghost to the left…) was a real treat both visually and orally.

Every Midsummer’s Eve in Sweden, old and young dance around the maypole to traditional music from the violin and the accordion. The youngest are the happiest ones!

Some of the ABBA gold and platina collection in Stockholm at the ABBA museum. Thank you for the Music!

More festivals abroad – they can be quite genuine and lovely. Old musicians are usually the best. I totally love the Edinburgh Tattoo but have no pictures because it was raining too much.

Some music can be hard to really appreciate – Chinese opera is one of those and Bhutanese festival music is another. If you didn’t grow up with this kind of music, it takes time and effort to understand it.

Music can be a passion – and it is – for those musicians who make their livelihood from it.

Happy energy on the Dahlia festival in Holland!

One of the first experiences with making music was by filling glasses of water and playing with my hands – I am still impressed every time I come across it! It can be so easy…my children used to do it too.

Many thanks to Anne for her wonderful theme! I think we all liked it – which was evident in the posts I saw. And for this week’s challenge, please don’t forget to use the “lens-artists” hashtag in your posts so people can find you in the WP Reader.

Next week, Egídio is giving us a new challenge that I am sure you do not want to miss. Check out his site and the WP reader at noon EST in the USA.

LENS ARTIST CHALLENGE # 415 – MOVE YOUR BODY

/ Leya / 37 kommentarer

Anne‘s challenge this week, is designed to make us move – not use our zoom lens, if we have one. So, your challenge this week is to move your body up, down, forward and back.

I decided for some of my Netherland photos, as I remembered how much I had to move and squat to get them. A first look at Paul Kubics’ The Temptation of Saint Antony at Keukenhof, and then walking closer to see all the details – and there were many! This is a truly fascinating work of art.

The last temptation was the most difficult one to photograph…

In Norway there are many tunnels for drying fish. It’s easy to walk them and then get up close to see what the fish really looks like. No squatting needed. (Sorry, not much excercise!)

I do think I prefer the long shot…

When we visited the dahlia festival in Holland, we could stand close to the passing trailers and different participants.

After the parade, we walked to their parking place and could get up really close to see the meticulous work with the flowers.

In September 2022 I had a beautiful visitor in my garden – a hummingbird hawkmoth. He was so absorbed with my salvia, that I could get close and watch him working from every angle. I had a great experience and will never forget those moments.

Every summer since, I have been waiting for him, and I plant his favourite flowers…

– but he hasn’t come back. Maybe next sumnmer?

I cannot leave out Greenland, can I?

Traveling through the ice you look ahead all the time, but close to the boat things happen as well. You hear it!

I went down to a lower deck and had a look – fascinating!

Our guide was fishing ice for the drink…

When you post your response to this challenge, please link it to Anne’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag. A huge thank you for your wonderful harmonies last week! My only wish is that they will stay with you too – they have surely stayed with me!

Next week, Ritva will be leading the challenge, so please visit her beautiful site and look out for her post. In the meantime, stay safe and be resilient!

Thursday Thoughts – Cats, Cats, Cats

/ Leya / 13 kommentarer

Athens, Corfu, Mykonos and Montenegro – everywhere in the arhipelago.. Kotor is the real cat paradise and there are many legends about why they revere cats so much. Some years ago when we were there, one popular story was that the city once had been invaded by rats and the incoming ships let out their cats to clear the streets. People still say that the cats saved their city.

They were quite well taken care of. Food provided and vets checking up on them. Big smiles from the tourists as well!