Hi there my Hivean friends and followers!
Welcome to the 122nd 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:
As I mentioned in my yesterday post dedicated to the Church of Our Lady Victorious, we visited the Hvezda Game Reserve here in Prague, Czech Republic last weekend. A former royal game reserve, the place is now a protected natural monument and also a very popular spot for jogging, hiking, cycling or even skiing (in winter of course) and some other outdoor activities. One of the greenest places in the city, the reserve is large enough for the visitors to spread out so it never feels crowded over there, which is something I really appreciate. I took the picture above just in front of the summer palace that is located in the center of the game reserve.
In the last round, we had 10 participants. After some thorough consideration, I decided to pick these 3 winners:
@suzana72 with this entry from Serbia:
Good evening. One Sunday walk on Deliblato Sands (Banat, Serbia). Sand and wild tobacco blossomed, which attracted various insects with its intoxicating scent. Walking on the sand between the pine forests and blooming wild tobacco. A walk that fills with energy, brings closer to nature and that's where I realize how much I love her. Have a nice evening.
@joalvarez with this entry from Canada:
I love your image of the wild flowers. I love fields of wild flowers. So beautiful. Here is my shot of my walk 4 days ago where I and my son found this gorgeous green trail while going for a walk around our neighborhood in Vancouver, Canada. These stairs really stood out to me and I thought they looked so cool in the midst of all this gorgeous green nature.
@tommyl33 with this entry from Malaysia:
This is my entry for this round from my place in Sabah, Malaysia. Photo taken this sunset during my cousin´s wedding reception near the Langkah Syabas Beach.
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. Feel free to check it out ;)