Hi there my Hivean friends and followers!
Welcome to the 162nd 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. 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 in this post as well. I only check the entries submitted here as comments.
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. I also give some smaller upvotes on the other entries too so that all participants get rewarded for their engagement.
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:
Those few warm and sunny days are gone and now we are back to the not so pleasant form of spring with cold temperatures, strong winds, cloudy skies and random mixtures of rain and snow. But I still go out of course and a couple of days ago, I was roaming around this little orchard here in Prague, Czech Republic where I clicked the above featured close up of some blooming trees. It was already quite late so the light was low and the picture is therefore nothing really fancy but I just checked out all of the other shots that I have taken over the past few days and unfortunately, I didn´t find anything better... Hopefully, next week, we will have more favorable weather because a lot of plants and trees out there in nature are already blooming so there is stuff to photograph, I just need a better light :)
In the last round, we had 10 participants. After some thorough consideration, I decided to pick these 3 winners:
@roronoa46 with this entry from Indonesia:
Congratulations to the friends who were selected in the previous round. And this is my entry for this round, this photo I took last weekend when I along with my friends visited one lake in my area, this lake is called Lake Lut Tawar and it is one of the largest lakes in Aceh, Indonesia.
@jlinaresp with this entry from Venezuela:
Hello!... Here my entry to "Round 161". Title: "Macagua Hawk". An in flight capture on this beautiful bird of prey, also known as "Laughing Falcon" (Herpetotheres cachinnans). In times of drought the pairs come to nest in the nearby hills and usually feed on small snakes and other small reptiles. Location and date: Montalbán, Carabobo, Venezuela... March 23, 2023 at 9:AM. Nikon D7000 | 300 mm | F/7.1 | 1/2500s | IS0 500.
@momogrow with this entry from the Netherlands:
This photo was taken some hours ago at Keukenhof, Lisse in North Holland. I will blog about my time there but not include this photo. I spent hours walking around this famous location but what I loved about this photo is the majestic trees and young tulip plants which are waiting patiently to spring forth with all its colours. The contrast in the photo reminded me of the beauty of nature and the 4 seasons. Although this is a well kept garden, it was lovely being outside in nature.
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 ;)
This post was created by me for the Hive blockchain exclusively. All rights reserved.
The weather here in Melbourne this similar but no snow :) It's a pretty close-up pic of cherry blossom :)
Here is my entry :) It was taken last weekend at Great Ocean, Melbourne, Australia when we drove back to city from our Grampians trip. It's beautiful coastal scenery and the 12 Apostles rock stacks have become a symbol of this region. We drove a long way to be here and it was totally worth it :)
Hey Trang! Thanks for joining us again with this stunning entry! Iconic place. I hope to make it there too one day :)
[My entry picture into the contest] (https://ecency.com/hive-127788/@phortun/appreciate-beauty-of-nature-with-phortun-round-162)
A mango tree with many fruits on it, captured on Wednesday when I visited my parents. This specie of mango is called German mango ("Ọpịorọ Mango in my dialect), and it's very sweet. When the fruit ripens, it's back still remains green. It's only when you cut it open that you will know it's ripe. I had the opportunity of enjoying the fruits also as mom had picked some ripe ones that fell.
There's a myth behind this type of mango that "you don't take soda drinks / minerals immediately after taking it, if you do so, you may likely develop stomach upset which may lead to death"
Well, I don't know if it's true or not.
Hey there, good to see you here again! That´s a huge tree, wow! I can imagine how difficult it must have been to fit it into the photo :) Great entry, thank you. Just to be sure though, it was taken in Nigeria, right?
It's actually big, but was determined to capture it 😂. Thanks.
Yeah, Nigeria, Abia State at my parent's home.
& I do it again: Remembering to participate.
Taken last Friday in the hills near the city centre of Durres. On the way to a viewing platform I came across some of the famous Albanian bunkers. & the area between them was alive with spring activity. My scalp got sunburnt in the process. (Spring has gone again, btw, only cloudy 11°C today.)
Thanks for another nice entry, very suitable for Hive hehe :)
Hi @phortun
This week it has moslty been rainy and cold, but one of my flowers in my garden stays strong as spring has just come ;)
Location: Istanbul
Rainy and cold here too but you still managed to capture a very nice flower close up, thanks! :)
Appreciate Beauty of Nature with @phortun: round 162
Hello @phortun 🌸
My entry
These days, rain and sun alternated... I managed to choose the exact moment for a walk on Vrsac hill when it was sunny and beautiful... That was yesterday after two o'clock... I set off through the forest even though it was wet, but that's why the path was beautiful.... All in flowers..... This is just a part of the beauty that I am conveying to you....
Hi Suzana! Sounds like you have the same weather like us these days :D Except here it still snows too sometimes :/ Anyway, that´s an amazing entry, thank you!
Hello @phortun 🙂
At least for a moment we had the feeling that spring had arrived...🌸
Thank you very much 🥰🌸
And today it's snowing here...
What a change of weather?!
Hi! Today morning I was waiting for the Uber arrive here in São Paulo - Brasil, and while waiting I was admiring this plant at the building garden. I found it beautiful and decided to capture a picture and see if it's good angle for capture. I stretched out my arm, point and shoot.
Looks like it's a sago palm, at least what google lens told me so. But I'm unsure.
Hey there, welcome to the challenge :) That´s a very interesting close up. Not knowing the species is not a problem here but what we do need to know is the location :) Doesn´t have to be too specific, just a name of the country will do... Thanks!
Forgot this detail. Edited. Tks
Lovely, soo beautiful photos phortun I liked the view in all these photos loved the flowers photo 😍
Thank you. I hope to see any entry here from you too one day :)
wow, all the pictures look so beautiful..
Thanks for checking out the winning shots from the last round!
Many thanks for selecting my photo and for the nice prize. Congratulations to the other winners as well. Your cherry blossum photo is also gorgeous 😄!
It was a pleasure! That was a really nice shot and I cannot wait to see another entry from you with all the amazing flowers blooming! :) Oh and thanks for checking out my own contribution to the challenge ;)
Aww many thanks. I am also looking forward to visiting again and sharing with you and everyone who appreciated the prior visit.
Wow!... Thanks a lot @phortun friend!... Congratulations to @roronoa46 and @momogrow friends!!!... Sending hugs!!!
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Thank you for the greeting my friend, and congratulations also to you 😊
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Well deserved my friend, that was a very impressive shot! See you in the new round :)
Congrats to the winners!
Thanks for checking out their entries :)
Wow your photography is very beautiful. I like your photography. Keep it up.
This contest series is not about my photography, you may want to read the text before commenting next time...
Great event to encourage people to comment, huh man? You're awesome! Actually, there's a nice snowscape photo, but my aunt took it, not me, so I'll just say good luck to the other participants.
Thanks for stopping by and for being honest man, I´m sure you will take some nice natural pictures yourself too so that you can join us in some of the future rounds :) We have already seen a lot of interesting places from Turkey in this challenge but I´m always ready for more :) Cheers!
Wao very great and wonderful entires and many many congratulations to the winners.
Thanks for checking them out :)
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