Appreciate Beauty of Nature with @phortun: round 198

in #hive-12778810 months ago

Hey there my Hive friends and followers!

Welcome to the 198th 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 :)


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Yesterday, just a few days before Christmas, my Czech homeland witnessed the deadliest and most tragic mass shooting in our history. Just like most of my fellow countrymen, I´m still in shock about what happened here in Prague and it´s too painful to go into details (the chances are you might know anyway as the news have been in media all over the world). Instead, I will share a picture here from one of the most peaceful and beautiful places that I have ever been to and that´s the Azorean Islands, namely the Island of Sao Miguel. I got to enjoy many spectacular and serene sceneries like this one that I captured just above the picturesque little coastal town of Mosteiros in the northwestern part of the island. Lush subtropical vegetation, majestic black volcanic cliffs and the vast Atlantic Ocean in the background. This is how I remember the coast of this magical Portuguese island...




In the last round of this challenge, we had 11 participants. After some thorough consideration, I decided to pick these 3 winners:


@incublus with this entry from Turkey:

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I've been forgetting to join the contest for a couple of weeks, but once again everyone has submitted great photos. I took this photo from the garden of my house in Ermenek, Karaman, Turkey. Winter is not that cold yet and when the sun rises it feels good to go out and walk around or watch the mountains and the sky.


@steemychicken1 with this entry from Greece:

BgxWBRxjvNho1d5owNvLc9kLkZETgqoQLu9zcBbNBbDDEp9W4DbuZJuhPcyKYf3A7VaN4V415nvYr3YKzZ6qtQ6DLp8sAFt3tykx6PzWoNoSU3y4nS4XMUGy3guCSM4QGqXjCQsruWWqyh9qfLJGZBVKBz3vHeRNCxAvucW36yuiaDc.png

This weekend, I am finding myself immersed in the serene beauty of the village of Papingo, nestled in the heart of the Vikos–Aoös National Park in Epirus, Greece. The village, now part of the municipality of Zagori, is divided into two charming hamlets: Megalo Papingo and Mikro Papingo. Papingo is a haven for nature enthusiasts, attracting hikers and mountaineers from around the globe. Surrounded by deciduous forests and graced by the snowcapped Astraka peak of Mt Tymphe, the village offers a picturesque escape.


@ph1102 with this entry from Spain:

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Wow, those were some really beautiful photos by @triplug, @friedlymoose, and @himalayanwomb! Congratulations! This was the photo that I took this morning on my walk in Altea, Spain, on December 15, 2023! Clear skies, not too many people walking, so peaceful... There was a bit of wind, but as can be seen from the photo, no big waves or such.




Congratulations guys! It was my pleasure to give you 100% upvotes on your entries and sent 1.5 Hive each, you can check that out in your wallets :)

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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.



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Thank you for visiting my blog. If you like posts about Nature, Traveling, Photography, Animals, Ecology, Crypto, Sport, Fitness and discovering secrets and beauties of the World, feel free to follow me as these are the topics I mostly write about. Have a wonderful day and keep on hiving, guys! :)

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Congratulations to the all winners!!

Thanks for checking out the winning collection.

beautiful initiative!

Thanks, feel free to join us :)

All of them did very well
I love that picture by Steemychicken more
It is really beautiful

Yeah, that was a great shot, I´m glad that he joined us with this amazing entry from Greece.

To je přesně to, co si představuji pod pojmem "uklidnění".

:)

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I would like to participate in this contest round, just to show the world about the beauty of my countryside

Regards

Cool, we will be looking forward to your entry.

If you want to participate in this challenge, please read and follow the rules. Thank you.

!DHEDGE

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Many many congratulations to the winners.

Thanks for checking out their entries.

congrats to the winners

Thanks for checking out the winning collection from this round.

They are all looking beautiful and truly we need to admire the beauty of nature

Thanks for your feedback, glad to know that you approve of my picks :)

@tipu curate

Thanks for the prize! I didn't expect to win! Congrats to the other two winners, @incublus and @steemychicken1! Well done!

I heard about the news from Prague and it's so sad to hear what happened... 😞 I hope that it will never happen again!

You are welcome, that was a great shot and a very pleasant view for anyone (like me) who cannot even go out because of the horrible weather out there...

Well, we hope so too. Our country was one of those fortunate ones where things like these didn´t happen. Hopefully, it was just an exception to the rule and it will never ever happen again...

No fresh nature photos for now, but hoping to take care of that in the coming days. Meanwhile... Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones! Cheers, mate! !LUV

Thanks mate, happy holidays to you and your family too! Looking forward to your entry :)

I'm so glad you liked it, man. There were some amazing entries this week, @ph1102's photo was amazing. The sea always gives peace to everyone.

Great entries indeed but yours still made it to the winning collection as it was amazing :) Your photography skills have obviously been improving and I cannot wait to see your next entry :) Cheers!

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My friend from back home now lives in Prague. He told me about the incident and it broke my heart. It is just so sad and unfortunate.

But, this is a very special Christmas for you. First of it's kind. Sending a lot of greetings and well wishes to you and the family!

So you have more friends in Prague, that´s cool :) You should really come here for a visit. Well, the incident broke many hearts here and we all hope it won´t happen again. Czechia always ranked among the safest and most peaceful countries in the world and we want to keep it like this.

Thanks for your wishes mate, happy holidays to you and yours as well.

Realmente debe ser un trabajo muy díficil para ti escoger el ganador , todas son ...bellas 💟😍 fotos

Difficult indeed, thanks for your feedback man, still looking forward to an entry from you :) Saludos!

pronto amigo..

Congratulations, your post has been upvoted by @dsc-r2cornell, which is the curating account for @R2cornell's Discord Community.

Manually curated by @jasonmunapasee

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Oh no, I’m sorry to hear about what happened in your country this week. I hope you and your family will have a peaceful holidays nonetheless 🎄💙

I’m currently visiting my hometown in Poland, Knurów and the picture for this edition of the contest is fresh from today, 23rd of December 2023. We have snow ❄️ 🤩
!ALIVE

@phortun! You Are Alive so I just staked 0.1 $ALIVE to your account on behalf of @ fantagira. (4/10)

The tip has been paid for by the We Are Alive Tribe through the earnings on @alive.chat, feel free to swing by our daily chat any time you want, plus you can win Hive Power (2x 50 HP) and Alive Power (2x 500 AP) delegations (4 weeks), and Ecency Points (4x 50 EP), in our chat every day.

Thank you very much, I hope you had a nice holiday back in your Polish homeland as well :) Thanks for your entry too, it´s the only snowy one in this round so far :)

Haha, was lucky to experience it even for a brief moment 😍
Just leaving home now for my long journey home.

Safe trip! :)

Home safe and !ALIVE 😁

@phortun! You Are Alive so I just staked 0.1 $ALIVE to your account on behalf of @ fantagira. (2/10)

The tip has been paid for by the We Are Alive Tribe through the earnings on @alive.chat, feel free to swing by our daily chat any time you want, plus you can win Hive Power (2x 50 HP) and Alive Power (2x 500 AP) delegations (4 weeks), and Ecency Points (4x 50 EP), in our chat every day.

Yesterday at early morning around 10 o'clock I get ready to go to khabaki lake which is located in soon valley (Pakistan).
I like this place because we can see nature here very closely.
At evening I click this picture and At that time I was just sitting here and saw a sun set that is looking very beautiful.
In this lake we can also enjoy ship and many peoples believes that at the middle of lake There is a well of older times and we shouldn't standing our ship there as it's so horrible.
I hope you like my contribution.

I do like your contribution, thanks for showing us another interesting place from Pakistan! :)

Appreciate Beauty of Nature with @phortun: round 198

IMG_20231225_070133.jpg

Morning in my village Uljma, the sunrise that I see mostly in winter. The sun then rises at seven o'clock, just before I leave for work....
The sky is beautiful just before the sun appears...and I took this photo on Monday...I was seduced by the color of the sky...

Banat, Serbia

Sorry @phortun , I accidentally posted two, and for some reason it won't let me post a photo...

Appreciate Beauty of Nature with @phortun: round 198

IMG_20231225_070133.jpg

Morning in my village Uljma, the sunrise that I see mostly in winter. The sun then rises at seven o'clock, just before I leave for work....
The sky is beautiful just before the sun appears...and I took this photo on Monday...I was seduced by the color of the sky...

Banat, Serbia

Hey Suzana, that´s a very nice entry, thank you and no worries about the duplicate ;) Greetings from Czechia to Serbia!

Thanks a lot @phortun 🌸

Geetings from Serbia ☀️🤗

Man, seriously, have you ever bothered to look at the rules? If the post is too long for you to read, let me highlight the part you should know...


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.

Wonderful nature photo entries! Congrats to the authors!

Thanks for checking them out and feel free to join us with your own entry :)

Hi! This is my entry:

A few days ago I found this chrysalis attached to a brick. I don't know what insect it belongs to, but since it is under a blue passionflower plant, I suppose it belongs to the gulf fritillary butterfly, which fulfills its life cycle in passionflowers. I was very struck by the richness of the shapes and textures in something so small, which lends itself to imagine different figures.

Good luck to all!

Hey there, welcome to the challenge! This is a very interesting close up, thank you :) Can you just add the location please?

Thank you! It is in a rural area, in the interior of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Greetings!