Hey there my Hive friends and followers!
Welcome to the 214th 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 :)
I´m sorry about the delay guys, it has been another crazy weekend for me and it was not until now, the Sunday afternoon, that I finally got a little free spot in my real life shcedule to roll out the new round of this challenge. My apologies again. The picture above was taken in a country that is actually my very favorite country in the world, mostly because of its extremely rich, diverse and beautiful wildlife. Yes, I´m talking about you Costa Rica, the magical land of Pura Vida :) It was one of those unforgettable evenings on the Playa Negra Beach just outside of the little picturesque coastal town of Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean Coast of the country. Oh boy, how much I miss those moments...
In the last round of this challenge, we had 9 participants. After some thorough consideration, I decided to pick these 3 winners:
@stayoutoftherz with this entry from Austria:
Male flower catcins and early leaves from a walnut tree (Juglans Regia), near our home. It has become rare in our area, as its wood is highly appreciated! The photo was taken in Vienna, Austria.
@suzana72 with this entry from Serbia:
Yesterday's walk on Vršačka Brdo in Serbia. This is the beginning of the Zdravlja Trail and there is a viewpoint from where you can see the entire city and its surroundings. And you can also see neighboring Romania, since the border is very close, some fourteen kilometers. Yesterday it was a beautiful view, so in the distance you can see the fields of Banat! Greetings.
@alfrin with this entry from Venezuela:
Insects are the most abundant and at the same time most despised order of animals and the contribution of many of them is not seen. When you see them, the first reaction is to eliminate them, crushing them, stepping on them or using insecticides, and in this way many times we do not know that we are eliminating a great helper without knowing it. An example is the insect in the photo, which when seeing a close-up photograph like the one shown we see the beauty that we find in the smallest things, with beautiful blue eyes that are hidden from our fearful and often prejudiced view. The insect that we see in the photo, if you see it, you will appreciate it and take care of it knowing the great help it provides us, since this insect is called PARASITIC WASPA-COCKROACHES, species of EVANIIDAE, also called wasp flag, blue-eyed flag wasp. This wasp is a great ally in the fight against very annoying insects that abound in homes, but they control them by placing the wasp eggs in the cockroach eggs, so that their larvae develop and in this way prevent them from spreading, keeping their numbers low. So every time you see this insect, do not kill it, take care of it and what you can do is trap it and place it in the area where you usually see the most cockroaches. So this is an example of how we must take care of our prejudices since we may have unknowingly eliminated a great ally in our fight against cockroaches. I hope you like this information, this insect was taken inside my house in MARIPERES, Caracas, Venezuela on April 8, my daughter's birthday, I hope this information helps you appreciate the insects that help us since they This insect is not dangerous for humans, although it is toxic, but it only uses it for its prey or predators.
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.
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
Hi, I took this picture last weekend on the beach in Varadero, Cuba. Amazingly this little crab allowed himself to be captured and posed calmly holding my daughter's hand. It seems he wanted to be photographed to appear today in round #214 of Appreciate Beauty of Nature with @phortun.
Wow! That´s an amazing shot! Thank you for sharing it here with us :) Saludos!
Thanks to you for the initiative. Saludos de vuelta!
I had to come see it because when you showed it to me on your phone the sun was blinding me... great. I love that you have joined this initiative. This snap is beautiful!
It is Thursday and you do not have anything to do. So you go hiking. You pick random hill in Jeseniky mountains, Czechia. You clamber it up and suddenly, there is an unexpected find at the rock! Chamois pose you for a couple of minutes. You take 50 shots and go home knowing the hike was worth it.
Tak jsem si toho kamzíka od tebe nakonec přece jen vydupal :D Ale ty to přece děláš pro lidi a ti určitě tuhle kouzelnou jesenickou momentku ocení :) Děkujeme pěkně!
https://ecency.com/hive-127788/@alfrin/appreciate-beauty-of-nature-with-87b1bf7785923
This image is of a capuchin monkey located in ARISTIDES ROJAS PARK on ANDRES BELLO avenue in Caracas Venezuela, where there are several large cages where there are capuchin monkeys and in one a rabbit and there was a howler monkey but He was apparently taken to another location for better treatment and care.
However, one of those monkeys managed to escape, but according to what I consulted with those who take care of him, this monkey never goes near that cage where his other monkeys that were part of his group are.
The capuchin monkey (Cebus olivaceus) is a species of neotropical primate found in the jungles of the Guianas, northern Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela.
This is one of the most intelligent monkeys in the new world. It has been seen using tools in its natural environment, so it is not unusual that sometimes they manage to escape from their keepers in a zoo and this one in particular, the majority are monkeys rescued from human captivity. Without awareness that they have them as pets and seeing how complicated it is to maintain them and even more so in the current difficult economic environment in Venezuela, they end up abandoning them or handing them over to the park.
The importance of these monkeys in the natural environment is that they are important pollinators of trees and plants in their natural habitat.
This photo was taken on April 16, 2024, after leaving my daughters' soccer classes.
Wow, thank you very much for another interesting entry with a great and educational write up! Please just remember to mention which photo is the official entry next time (I can only accept one) and include the date in the text too so that we know that the picture is not older than 7 days ;) Thanks!
I forgot to put the date but it was last week and you can only put one photo in the comment and noi like in others you can put several but the first is the one that enters the contest
No problem :) See you in the new round.
Hi @phortun
We have had a 9-day holiday, today of which is the last day. I think I have spent them fully 😄 and I went to have a barbeque yesterday. It was the usual place we often go, but this time we tried to explore different location in there. The weather was super warm and sunny, it was good to be a dam-lake side among the trees. I also shared a post about it today 😉
Location: İstanbul, Türkiye
https://ecency.com/hive-163772/@videoaddiction/exploring-our-favorite-barbeque-place
Man, you are the Barbecue King of Hive :D Most of your entries in this challenge have been from your barbecues :D You really pick cool places for your favorite outdoor activity though, nice shot!
Many thanks, I had totally overlooked this post!
(In the meantime I had posted the contest pic together with others here, just as reference, doesen´t mean that I want to participate again):
https://peakd.com/hive-127788/@stayoutoftherz/fruhlingsblumen-2024
No problem :) Thanks for the link, many amazing shots in there! I will roll out the new round in a while so hopefully, see you there!
Good day @phortun!☀️
Sorry for the late reply!
These days I have a lot of work and I don't get here to see everyone!
Thank you very much for choosing my photo! 🥰🌸
Have a great day! ☀️🌷☀️
No problem, thanks for your contribution :) Have a nice day too!
Congratulations, your post has been upvoted by @dsc-r2cornell, which is the curating account for @R2cornell's Discord Community.
Yay! Thank you guys! :)
I’m sure every participant will be happy about the 1.5Hive that you want to add to the upvotes you give them too
I hope to submit my entry someday when I go out and enjoy a natural view
Submitting an actual entry would be a cool way to show us that you are not just an Ecency points comment farmer :) Will be looking forward to that big day.
Indeed, he/she always comments some meaningless stuff. A real annoyance.
Yeah, some people even think that account is actually a bot :) I think she is just an ignorant comment farmer who writes random generic short comments on people´s posts without reading them. And she also never bothers to reply to anything. A real annoyance indeed.
@tipu curate
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 44/54) Liquid rewards.
All these entries are very good and amazing.
Hello phortun!
It's nice to let you know that your article will take 8th place.
Your post is among 15 Best articles voted 7 days ago by the @hive-lu | King Lucoin Curator by szejq
You receive 🎖 0.5 unique LUBEST tokens as a reward. You can support Lu world and your curator, then he and you will receive 10x more of the winning token. There is a buyout offer waiting for him on the stock exchange. All you need to do is reblog Daily Report 273 with your winnings.
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