Being that I was in my high school and college marching bands, I know a lot about them. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the game and see the bands, but at least I was able to attend and photograph the kickoff festivities.

The kickoff was extremely enjoyable.  I was in a suite full of volunteers and participants at the Civic Center where the guests were greeted and fed delicious foods and desserts. Just being there made me soooooooo hungry.

While I was there I met some really great people, some of who I photographed like Angie Stone who put on an awesome live concert.  Raheem DeVaughn put on an excellent concert too, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to get any images of him.  (sadness) I had never seen either of them in concert before, but I tell you I’d love to see them again.  I also saw Tommy Ford of “Martin”, whom I was unable to photograph, (darn it); Terri J. Vaugh of “The Steve Harvey Show”, and Jasmine Guy of “A Different World” and stage productions.

As you can tell I had a great time and I’d like to thank Ms. Patty Green of “Ms. Patty Cakes”.  If you haven’t heard of her yet, you will.  She is a fabulous woman with a good heart and is always helping those in need.  I also want to give a shout out to other fabulous people I met like Steven, Isaiah, Gloria, Darnell, Mark and numerous others that I can’t list because my memory fails me.  Enjoy the images from the event.  I know I enjoyed taking them.

Anyway, last night was very enjoyable.  We had a multicultural meal that included Afghani rice, hummus, injera (Ethiopian bread), baklava and other goodies.  Not only was there good food, but excellent entertainment too.  Larry Goddard and Goatville Jam performed “Texicana” ™ music, which is a mixture of classic country, western music, blues and americana.  Then there was a Contra dancing demonstration, which called for audience participation.  If you’re wondering what Contra dancing is, it’s like square dancing that is danced to all types of music.

The next acts were the Bhutanese Artists of Georgia dancers, a Zumba demonstration, with audience participation.  Zumba is a fitness program that combines Latin rhythms with energetic yet easy to follow moves that tone and sculpt your body and burn calories.  After that was a Tai Chi demonstration and a vocal soloist.  Just to let you know, Contra dance, Zumba and Tai Chi are all offered at the Clarkston Community Center, along with other classes.

The final act was the Burundian Drummers of Atlanta.  In a word, awesome.  They came out with such flair and energy.  The drums were absolutely amazing and you could feel the beat in your chest.  They were so synchronized and precise, yet seemed to play with such reckless abandon and joy.  It was truly an experience.  If you get the chance to see them perform, please do.

The Clarkston Community Center has a lot to offer.  If you get the chance, you should visit them some time, either online or in person.  http://www.clarkstoncommunitycenter.org/

Below are a few images from the event.

Even though I’m not a concert photographer, I couldn’t help but take pictures during the performance.  By the way, the name of her CD is The Mosaic.  Pick it up and tell me what you think.

At any rate, the session went great, aside from the cold wind that was blowing & making all of us tear up.  We had a great time because they were open to trying different things to make the shot more interesting.  They even had a few ideas of their own.  In case you’re wondering, they perform positive, laid-back rap; nothing violent or offensive, which is what I really liked about them.

All I can say is that I felt privileged for them to select me out of all of the photographers in Atlanta to shoot the cover for their first release.  And since their music & attitude are positive, I’m sure they will go far.  Below are a few of the images we took today.