Hi there my Hivean friends and followers!
Welcome to the 43rd round of my special weekly photo challenge known as Appreciate Beauty of Nature with @phortun :)
I know a lot of photo contests with nature as the main theme were/are/will be hosted by various people on the Hive blockchain but I wanted to come up with something more than just another photo contest where participants would submit their best natural photos. Therefore, I decided to go for quite an unusual concept that I am going to introduce in the following lines.
The aim of the Appreciate Beauty of Nature with @phortun photo challenge is not to make you dig up your photo archives and submit the best pictures of nature that you have ever taken. Instead, I want you guys to go out and appreciate the beauty of our nature right now.
The internet (and the Hive blockchain as well) is flooded with picture perfect shots of landscapes, mountains, forests, beaches etc. taken years ago. But this is not what I want to see in this challenge. I want to see shots that may not be necessarily stunning but they must be fresh, proving that you have just physically spent some time outdoors in the fresh air. But remember that nature comes in many forms. It doesn´t have to be a pristine jungle or a deep remote forest. An urban park, a botanical garden, a little grove on the outskirts of your town - pretty much any place with some trees, plants, rocks, bodies of water or any other natural features would be just as fine ;)
Obviously, there is no way for me to verify whether the photo that you submit in the challenge is really fresh or if it was even taken by you so I am relying on your honesty guys. The prizes for the winners (as described below) are more symbolical than overly motivating so I don´t expect too much fraudulent behavior in this challenge anyway.
I want to keep the rules of this challenge as simple and benevolent as possible so let´s agree on just this:
Only one entry (photo) per person per round.
The photo must be yours and not older than one week.
Add a few words about the photo, at least where and when you took it.
You can start submitting your entries to this round in the comment section below from now until the next round.
Prior to publishing the next round post, I will pick 3 winners, give my full upvote on their entries and feature them in the next round of the challenge. As long as the response is not too overwhelming, I will also try to give some smaller upvotes on all of the other entries to reward all participants.
I might change the concept and/or the rules of the photo challenge later on, depending on how things go. I usually host the challenge on Thursday but when needed for some reason, I can host it on some other day so better check my blog regularly not to miss out on it ;)
To keep up with you guys, I submit my own fresh natural photo to every round´s post too :) Here is my contribution to start out this round:
Although you cannot really see it in the photo, we had quite nice weather last weekend so we took a little trip to a place here in Krakow that we really enjoyed in the summer - the Zakrzowek Quarry. The former limestone quarry got flooded in 1990 and it has been a popular chill out spot ever since. I know it doesn´t look so cool now in winter but on a warm sunny day, the place is like a beautiful natural oasis in the middle of the bustling city. Feel free to check out this post that I wrote about the Zakrzowek Quarry a couple of months ago, it comes with some really nice shots, much better than this one.
In the last round, we had 6 participants. After some thorough consideration, I decided to pick these 3 winners:
@antikus369 with this entry:
RUSSIA. LANDSCAPES OF THE SOUTHERN URALS. Winter, December. Photo from the series - Winter has come. Beauty, charm and amazing beauty of the winter landscape. So at the end of the first decade of December, snow fell and a light frost appeared. Looking out the window, I saw such beauty that I immediately took a camera and went to take pictures. It was the day before yesterday at dawn, and today all this beauty is gone. As soon as it got warmer outside, all the frost fell to the ground. But I managed to grab this moment and now I show this beauty to the audience. This is the beginning of winter in the South Urals in Russia.
@kohsamui99 with this entry:
Since it seems cold and snowing over your @phortun how about i warm you up a bit with this beautiful warm sunset all the way from the land of down under this was taken this evening on my walk along Byron Bay beach and as i lining the camera up to snap this photo a seagull decided to land and bomb my photo but i didn't mind as he put more life into this beautiful evening sunset and he was quite welcome 😁🌞😊.
@loulou1987 with this entry:
Hi phortun :) That´s just a tiny little piece of nature I can see from my kitchen window (Ostrava) :) The photo was taken only yesterday and I think it was totally worth taking. Yesterday sunset was just amazing. Have fun and thank you for such a great contest ;)
Congratulations guys! It was my pleasure to give you 100% upvotes on your entries :)
I am looking forward to what you will come up with in this round.
Have fun and appreciate the beauty of nature!
I post this series in the Amazing Nature community (a great community for all nature lovers) that was created by @adalger.
This post was created by me for the Hive blockchain exclusively. All rights reserved.
I missed your challenge twice. It's time to add some picture :-).
Yesterday (December 9) I drove around the Orlík dam in the morning. The sun was just rising, trying to break through the haze over the water and the nearby forests. I had to stop to take a picture of this scenery :-).
Jsem rád, že sis sem zase našel cestu :) Velmi zdařilý snímek, opět s lehce mysteriózním nádechem :)
:-)
Že bych jiné snímky neuměl? :-D
Hello There!
I wanted to enter this photo, which l will admit I used a filter on.
Now that's out of the way, this is a photo I took a day ago at a local Marina where I work. It was just at after Sunrise and
I noticed the water was "flat" so I took a few shots.
The bird in the lower right is one of the local Herons (lots here) feeding on bait fish, probably "Mud Minnows".
Thanks for Viewing and have a Great Weekend!
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Welcome to the challenge! Great shot, I love herons :) What part of the world do you live in? My guess would be somewhere in the tropics or subtropics.
Thank You So Much!
I thought I would give it a shot with a photo I took at work.
I live Very South, Corpus Christi TX.,
"North of half or Mexico, South of anyplace else"!
But actually I live on a Sandbar (Mud Island) along the intercoastal waterway, there are Very, Very large protected areas here - Also large tracts of Audubon land, (You better not kill "Nothing"!) And it is along the migratory path of birds flying north and south.
Beautiful Place - Optically.
It's almost 80° now, in December!
I Love it as I grew up in New Jersey, and then Europe (Alps)!
Oh well enough about that,
Wish You an Awesome Sunday,
And Thanks Again!
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Wow, thanks for sharing all the info with us, sounds like your place is a great spot for watching all kinds of wildlife and enjoying some peaceful moments in nature :) Very different from the Alps I am sure though :D
Thanks again, have a wonderful third Sunday of Advent :)
This photo was taken just few hours ago, it is one of the views from Ondrejnik mountain. As it was all the day foggy in the city, I needed to check how that looks from the mountain :)
Stunning scenery, thanks for your entry ;)
Błędowska Desert few days ago. This only desert in Europe is located between Kraków and Katowice in southetn Poland. This place is interesting ecological dillema. Desert appeared there as a result of human activity few hundreds years ago, since then mining has been reduced and the whole place regrows with tress in the process of natural succession. Should we remove the trees to protect unique ecosystem at this place?
Good to see you here again buddy. That´s a very interesting place, I must have passed by it a few times already as I sometimes travel from Krakow through Katowice to my Czech hometown by train... Btw I think there are also some deserts in Spain ;)
Yep, I'm free to explore again after corona-isolation. Spain, true, hmmm, the only one in central Europe then :P
Went out for a little walk yesterday around my parents house in a countryside when the rain stopped in a bit. Such a good feeling to see a late sunset over the river after months of prolonged rain here. :))
Very interesting place, it reminds me of salt pans that I saw in Malta. Can you add the location please? :)
A lovely this evening sunset from my walk along the Byron Bay pathways this evening leading up to the lighthouse it was nice to see the dark clouds still lit up with the fiery sunset peeking through the forest.
Dramatic yet beautiful :) Thanks for your entry man!
Thank you @phortun 👍
Thanks for rating my post and photos
You are welcome, see you in the new round :)
Thanks a lot, Petr 😊
My pleasure Lucie, looking forward to what you will come up with in this round :)
Sounds Good to Me!
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Cool, feel free to join this round ;)
Thank You!
So I got this right,
Just post to the comments of Your post?
Thanks Again!
Have an Awesome Day!
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Exactly, upload a photo here and just add a few words about it, at least where and when you took it (make sure it´s not older than one week). Have a great day too :)
Thanks man see you in the next round keep warm and take care 👍
Thanks buddy, see you later ;)
Yep you sure will...Cheers...and have a great weekend 👍
Nice and informative post. Nature looks amazing. Thank you very much. I wish you success.
Posted using Dapplr
Thanks man, feel free to join this round :)
Thanks @phortun, we also picked out some weekly landscape photos, for those who like to take beautiful pictures when the sun goes down. Therefore, Amazing Nature team focuses on beautiful nature, wherever they are.
I know, you have been doing an amazing job guys and I am happy to share my contests in your community ;)