Hey there my Hive friends and followers!
Welcome to the 222nd round of my special weekly photo challenge known as Appreciate Beauty of Nature with @phortun :)
Important note: I have been hosting this challenge in the same format for almost 4 years but I recently decided to introduce some major changes to it so please read all the updates below. The essence of this challenge stays the same though so the intro part will be the same as it was before.
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 ;)
HERE COME THE UPDATES
Originally, the prizes for the winners were just my full upvotes given to their entries but since, unfortunately, I lately had to power down significantly, my upvotes are not that big and motivating anymore so I decided to reward the winners of each round with additional 1.5 Hive each. So now, the winners get my full upvotes on their entries plus 1.5 Hive each. All of the other valid entries will be rewarded with some smaller (usually 50%) upvotes too so that all participants get rewarded for their engagement in this challenge.
In the past, I usually hosted this challenge on Thursday but because of the reasons described below, I cannot guarantee that anymore so now, I may roll out the new round on Thursday, Friday or even Saturday so if you guys don´t want to miss out on the fun here, please check out my blog regularly.
Also, in the past, I always tried to lead by example and thus open each new round with my own fresh natural photo taken during the previous 7 days. However, as you might now from my recent posts, me and my wife are now taking care of our newborn baby and it takes just so much time and energy that I simply don´t have the time to go out and take fresh natural photos anymore (btw late autumn and winter here in Central Europe are not favorable seasons for natural photography anyway) so instead, I will be using my old photos from cool natural places around the world that I have been to. Hopefully, in a few months, I will be able to go out to nature regularly again and take a nice fresh picture for each round just like I did it over the years but before that happens, I will show you some beautiful natural places that I got to see during our travels. It will also be a nice way for me to remember and relive those moments from the times when it was just me and my wife, traveling around the world - happy, young and free :)
THE RULES
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 7 days.
Add a few lines about the photo (at least 50 words) including the date and location.
You can start submitting your entries to this round in the comment section below from now until the next round. If you want to create a separate post as your entry, you can do that but please always remember to submit your entry in the form of a comment here under this post as well. I only check the entries submitted here as comments.
Prior to publishing the next round, I will pick 3 winners, give my full upvotes on their entries and send them 1.5 Hive each as the prize. The winning entries will be featured in the next round of the challenge. I also give smaller upvotes on the other valid entries as I mentioned before.
So that´s it. Let me now open the new round of my photography challenge called Appreciate Beauty of Nature with @phortun :)
Many tourists coming to Mexico from Europe or the USA stay in Cancun, arguably the most popular tourist destination in the country. We lived in Playa del Carmen, which is just a short drive from Cancun so went there a few times as well but honestly, I prefer other spots on the Mayan Riviera. Most of them are located between Playa del Carmen and Tulum. If you know where to go, you can enjoy some amazing white sand beaches with few to no people. And you can even get some shade provided by the majestic coconut palms and other trees, which really comes in handy under the scorching Caribbean sun. The picture above was taken at such a place, you can see the beach in background. As far as I remember, it was the Xpuha Beach. But it may look different these days. The picture is from 2017 and from what I have heard, the mass tourism has been really spreading like a wildfire all over the Yucatan Peninsula lately. Maybe, the place is now full of hotels, who knows, but I´m glad that I had the chance to experience it with the original, remote and kind of wild vibes that it had when we were there...
In the last round of this challenge, we had 6 participants. After some thorough consideration, I decided to pick these 3 winners:
@videoaddiction with this entry from Turkiye:
Hi @phortun mate. It has been too hot today, and thus I went to my second favourite place to do weekend nature activity. Thus, I would like to participate in the challenge this time as well. As said my second fav place, there is a creek flowing through the forest. It is great to have a barbecue with the sound of the flowing creek. Suprisingly, it is also located in Istanbul :) I think to share a post about there next week. Location: Istanbul, Turkiye.
@stayoutoftherz with this entry from Austria:
This time not the usual pic from me, and less nature to see, but this was in fact very natural (taken this Monday). In Vienna, Austria there is the Old Danube, a kind of lake where in the past the unregulated Danube often caused floods. There were loud frog croakings overall around us. For them it is a paradise there.
@gatubela with this entry from Venezuela:
I love the photo with the donkey, I am a fan of donkeys, I am a donkey lover :) Well, don't worry and don't feel sorry for your decision, do what you have to do and focus on the priorities that you have right now, we will miss you but we know that you'll come back more creative and enthusiastic than ever :) My entry for this weekend, this are the flowers of a plant that grew alone in one of my pots hahaha, I don't know what it is but her flowers are lovely :) I took this photo on Friday, May 31. Location: Venezuela.
Congratulations guys! It was my pleasure to give you 100% upvotes on your entries and send 1.5 Hive each, you can check that out in your wallets :)
I am looking forward to what you all will come up with in this round :) Have fun everyone and don´t forget to... Appreciate Beauty of Nature!
I post this series in the Amazing Nature community, a great community for all nature lovers. Feel free to check it out ;)
This post was created by me for the Hive blockchain exclusively. All rights reserved.
Good evening, dear @phortun
I'd like to share my new photo too. This is our famous Japanese garden, It was opened 2 years ago, but I visited it only last week. It is very picturesque and there are many interesting places for reflection and meditation. And it's a pleasure to go there.
Several architectural groups and bureaus worked on its creation at once. And the landscape designers were not idle either.... The art of combining water, stones, trees and shrubs together is also, in my opinion, not a small skill. Birds are singing all around. Having been here, many people's spirits rise.
There are explanatory signs near the trees, and bridges and architectural structures tell the whole legends :-) It's really just a small part of all this splendor...
This place is located in the city of Krasnodar, in the Kuban. Russia, Krasnodar Territory, S. Galitsky Park. "Japanese Garden".
Hey there, welcome to my challenge :) That´s a very nice place, thank you. Can you just add the location please?
I'm sorry that I forgot to write it right away,
No problem, thanks for the edit :)
Hi @phortun mate!
As I had a full-up weekend, I participate in your challange two times in a row :)
I took this photo nearby my favorite dam-lake where we go many times during the year. This time, I were there with my friend to have breakfast for the first time and we discovered a new place there. I think it is interesting to see cows still grazing in Istanbul 😄 Unfortunately, the around of the dam-lake will be closed for human entrance until October 15, 2024 due to fire danger. Looking forward to going there again ;)
Location: Istanbul, Türkiye.
By the way, I have already posted about it:
https://ecency.com/hive-184437/@videoaddiction/having-a-breakfast-nearby-our
Nice one! Thank you very much :) The scenery reminds me of the Azores. Thay say there is more cows than people living on those remote islands. Certainly not the case in Istanbul which is actually bigger than my entire country :D Cheers!
https://ecency.com/hive-127788/@alfrin/appreciate-beauty-of-nature-with-b0f5773447bfb
Sometimes we spend in the midst of our stress and our thoughts of all our problems that fill our heads in such a way that our eyes do not have the opportunity to see the beauty hidden in plain sight in our eyes.
I was climbing with my daughters on the outskirts of the ARISTIDES ROJAS park and in the midst of the problems God gave me and nature this June 13th a moment of tranquility when seeing a GREEN IGUANA so close, which She remained calm and allowed me to take a photo of her, but then she ran and quickly climbed a tree while looking at us.
When seeing one of these animals that are exclusively herbivorous animals, you should be careful because although they are not aggressive and will always choose to flee rather than attack, if they are cornered they have sharp claws and their tail will be used as a whip to defend themselves. So you have to be careful and as long as you just appreciate it and take photos of it and don't try to grab it, everything is fine.
These animals are very good at camouflage so discovering them is very difficult, so seeing them here is a matter of luck and looking very carefully.
What do you think? I look forward to your comments and suggestions.
Thanks for this entry. It´s a very special one for me as I love iguanas, they are one of my very favorite animals. When I lived in Mexico, I used to observe them every single day. Fascinating creatures. But those in Mexico are mostly the black spiny-tailed iguanas (Ctenosaura Similis). I dedicated many posts to them. The green iguanas are not so common over there but I saw them too ;)
I would love to submit my entry for this round. This photo was taken today when I and my friends go for a swim in a nearby town. The coconut trees together with the cogon grass on the grounds are still rooting for rains to come. Though there were partial rains coming because it's already in the rainy season here but the leaves of the grasses in our area were not fully recovered due to the heat season that we were experiencing in the previous months.
Photo taken today June 15, 2024
Location: Tabogon, Cebu
Hey there, thank you very much for your nice entry but this round is already closed. Please submit it to the new one that I just published ;)
Oh, I am sorry if a little bit late. Thanks, I will just post my entry to your new post.😊
I love the beach photo it's so cool
Thank you :) Feel free to join the challenge with your own entry and show us some cool natural places from your region.
many thanks!!
My pleasure! Always nice to see your favorite natural spots from Vienna and its surroundings :)
Great work
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Those shots are therapy for the eyes, especially for those who don't get to nature so often lately. Thanks for keep hosting this! :)
Well, this was most probably one of the last rounds of the challenge for some time but thank you for your kind feedback Gabriela :) How about you? Any progress on being able to go out to nature more often?
Not really, but there is still half of the year left so I'm optimistic! 😁
I´m sorry to hear that :( What exactly is that prevents you from going out? I hope it´s not healthy reasons! :(
More or less healthy and financial reasons. Not especially mine, but to my family. And since I was mostly travelling with them, that made me not be able to do it more often either. Praying to the day when I'll have a car and be on the road tripping more often! :(
Ah, that sucks :( I´m sorry to hear that. How about traveling by train or bus? Can this be a good option? At least for some destinations in your country? I don´t drive either so I know the struggle but I got used to using trains, buses and public transport anywhere I travel to ;)
That works, but sadly there are not many routes to consider from my place as I have seen pretty much anything that can be reached with public transport. But they work great for a gateway for sure 😊
@tipu curate
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 51/61) Liquid rewards.
Thanks for choosing my photo!
My pleasure, thanks for your contribution! :)
Hello phortun!
It's nice to let you know that your article won 🥈 place.
Your post is among the best articles voted 7 days ago by the @hive-lu | King Lucoin Curator by szejq
You and your curator receive 0.0497 Lu (Lucoin) investment token and a 9.64% share of the reward from Daily Report 325. Additionally, you can also receive a unique LUSILVER token for taking 2nd place. All you need to do is reblog this report of the day with your winnings.
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STOPor to resume write a wordSTARTYou again? Another pathetic attempt to drag me into the same shit you dragged yourself into? Just because I once was one of those people that considered you friend before greed messed up your mind and you started to abuse the system and then, after being caught and punished, made that incredible shitstorm drama full of crazy theories and accusations that even the most insane conspiracy theorists wouldn´t come up with? You said leaving Hive and resorting to Blurt was one of the best decisions of your life. Blurt is now worth $0.0017 but I can see your one-sentence self-voted Blurt posts still make whole cents so you must be a whale over there! Enjoy your amazing Blurt life and leave us here on Hive alone.