Hey there my Hive friends and followers!
Welcome to the 219th 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 still have a lot of unused photo material from Madeira, Portugal and since I have no idea when I will be able to start working on those super long due posts, I picked one those cool Madeira pictures to open the new round of my challenge. Madeira is literally packed with all kinds of amazing natural features - from magnificent mountains and stunning black sand volcanic beaches to impressive laurel forests and spectacular waterfalls but you can actually find some very nice natural places even in Funchal, the capital city of the island. The Monte Palace Tropical Garden is definitely one of those places. There is some entrance fee to get in there but it´s totally worth it as the garden is just breathtakingly beautiful and you can easily spend hours and hours just roaming around and admiring all those exotic plants and trees over there. The upper parts of the garden also offer these lovely panoramic views of the ocean.
In the last round of this challenge, we had 7 participants. After some thorough consideration, I decided to pick these 3 winners:
@bozz with this entry from the USA:
@mrsbozz and I got to see the Aurora Borealis this weekend in Onaway, MI US. My wife and I were camping for the weekend up there, but people were reporting seeing the lights as far south as Georgia and Florida. Being right on the south shore of Black Lake gave us a perfect vantage point to see them. We had to fight with some clouds on Friday night, but they broke enough for us to get some amazing photos.
@xaviduran with this entry from Spain:
Hi @phortun, here is my contribution to the challenge. For about a month now, since the tourist season started, I have been going to the small island of Formentera every Saturday for professional reasons. After lunch I always take a walk around some corner and try to take some pictures. Last Saturday it was cloudy and there was not a single tourist on the beach, when I arrived I saw the path with the ropes protecting the dune area and I think it was the image of the day. The seagull spontaneously collaborated in the shot. Platja de Llevant (Formentera, Spain). 11-05-2024.
@bossel with this entry from Germany:
Finally got something to participate again. The Jacobiweiher, a small lake in the Frankfurt city forest. Was in Frankfurt, Germany last week to get a new Indian visa. One day I took a stroll through the forest. Quite nice & not too far from the centre. Loads of birds. They try to let it go wild in parts, which is nice.
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.
Hello and blessings @phortun friend!!! Excellent photos of @bozz, @xaviduran and @bossel friends!.... I will try to go out in nature this week to be here with you with a photo! :))
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Thanks for your kind words, support and contribution my friend! We will be looking forward to checking out your entry :)
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Hey @phortun 😇, I am swinging by to say hello and that Madeira looks awesome from your lenses. Hope you guys had a lovely Sunday with Florinka ;)) 🌺
Maybe I can also contribute this week to your initiative. 😉
We walked this afternoon to a neighbouring town. I've been seeing Jacaranda trees everywhere these days, it was the same today, but I only took one photo this afternoon. It was standing out with its colour from the other trees, as all Jacarandas do when they bloom. ;)
Hey there! What a nice surprise :) Thanks for your kind words and for this lovely shot! What a cool tree! According to Wiki, it´s supposed to live in regions where I lived too but I cannot remember seeing it, that´s strange as I usually pay attention to the plants and trees around me. Anyway, great entry, thank you! Do you want to be more specific with the location or shall we leave it at just Spain? ;)
I have seen jacaranda for the first time here in Spain, but they originate from South America.
My entry - it can stay just as Spain, Mediterranean coast. (not that it would be a secret where it was taken but it is a forest area between two small towns haha 😂)
Hi @phortun mate!
Nice to participate in your challenge after a while. I took this photo on Saturday when I was in one of my favourite place, which I was there also last month. It is nearby a dam-lake in Istanbul and one of the rare places that we can get rid of the crowd and rush of the city in the weekend. Moreover, I think to share a post about it during the next week if I can make it ready.
Location: Istanbul, Türkiye.
Nice place! I guess you used it as a site for your barbecue, right? :D ;)
Right 😄
https://ecency.com/hive-127788/@alfrin/appreciate-beauty-of-nature-with-a5f7d8a2a6d12
Here you can see what is known in Venezuela as CHICHARRAS and in other places as CIGARS, which are insects known for making one of the loudest noises known in nature, up to 115 decibels. It is equivalent to a rock concert and is produced by males to attract the female to reproduce and to mark territory. This sound has a characteristic that is produced so that it has an echo and thus when trying to search for the CHICHARRA for the origin of the sound, it will not be found because it seems to originate in another place, being that the insect that produces it It is in some tree around where the sound takes us, making it very difficult to find it.
In addition, the CHICHARRA has a particular life cycle in which the female dies shortly after laying the eggs, the larvae bury themselves in the ground and remain there for 4 to 17 years, then they emerge all together and undergo metamorphosis and Thus the cycle begins again. This particular way of life is so that the adults do not compete for food with the larvae and also when all the larvae emerge at the same time, the probability that predators will be able to devastate the population of CICAGARRAS decreases as there are many of them. at the same time.
These insects are not a danger to man or his crops because they feed on tree sap.
This photo was taken on May 20 on a walk through Los Caobos Park in the center of the city where you can hear the CHICHARRA, in this month, giving a special atmosphere to the park.
I hope you like this post and waiting for your comments or suggestions.
Very interesting species. In my language, it´s called "cikáda", which is actually just transcription of the English name "cicada" but I didn´t know that they are called "chicharra" in Spanish. Sounds similar to "chicharron" which is something very different haha :) Anyway, cool entry as always, thanks!
They are very difficult animals to see but their characteristic noise gives the place where they are a very particular atmosphere, thank you for teaching me how to write correctly.
I already picked your entry as one of the winners but I just realized that you didn´t mention where and when you took the picture, which is important. Please make sure to do that next time. Thanks.
I'm really sorry if it happened to me, it's just that these weeks I've been a little distracted because my daughters got sick, then my wife and finally me too, well and I'm just getting out of that.
I already edited it
No problem, thanks for the edit. Happy to hear that you are feeling better already.
Hello @phortun. After a long gap, Iam in here to Appreciate beauty of nature with @phortun
Firstly, congrats to all the winners. Lovely photography.
Last week, ie., last saturday on 18th May I had a chance to visit Munnar, a beautiful hill station in Kerala (India). This place is famous for the tea plantations.
We stayed in a hotel for a day. As we checked in, during the late hours of evening, I couldn't get the beautiful view until the sunrise. The view was amazing and a breath taking one. As its a hilly area, the view was just amazing, from the room balcony. Beneath, you can see the tea gardens.
Hey there, good to see you here again :) Nice picture but I think it would look better if you took it horizontally instead of vertically as these landscape views usually look better in horizontal frame :) But cool place for sure, thanks for sharing!
Will keep this in mind while capturing the next photo. 🙏
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Lovely shots :)
Thanks for checking them out :)
Welcome :)
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$PIZZA slices delivered:
@jlinaresp(7/10) tipped @phortun
Many thanks @phortun for appreciating my work and congratulations to the other winners and contributors.
My pleasure, that was a great shot! Thanks for your participation.
Thank you very much!
& congrats to the other winners!
& a !BEER
My pleasure mate, it was good to see you here again after some time :) Cheers!
Too many things going on at the moment. So, sadly not much time or motivation to be active.
Totally understand ;)
Great photos by @bozz, @xaviduran, and @bossel! Congratulations, guys!! Well deserved!
I don't have some good ones for this round, but here to support others! 😃
Very kind of you :) Thanks for your participation and support!
Many thanks @ph1102 for the mention and constant support for my work.
Oh, you are most welcome! I hope we will have a drink on that beach one day! 😃
Beautiful pictures 😍
Thanks for checking them out, feel free to join the new round with your own entry ;)
@tipu curate
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 50/60) Liquid rewards.
Congratulations to every entry selected here. This contest is really interesting and in the coming time I will also participate in the contest. @phortun
Cool, we will be looking forward to your participation :)
Congratulations to the three winners, very good choices.
Yeah, many great entries in the last round, thanks for checking them out! :)
You're welcome, my friend.
Location: Farmland Along Mbak road, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
This young you mantis i saw hiding by the narrow leaves of a maize plant in th farm. It looks very quiet as it waits its prey to engage the delicious attack.
I dont kill them because they are very important during the spring season for faemers as they help to destroy pests especially on our grain plants, fruits, vegatables, etc
Nature is green and this guy too, matches perfectly with its colour, making almost invincible to the prey.
Nature gives us food, health, takes care of us and also take care of itself. I really appreciate the gift of life we have to live on Earth.
#photography #naturephotography #proofofbrain
Hello phortun!
It's nice to let you know that your article will take 10th place.
Your post is among 15 Best articles voted 7 days ago by the @hive-lu | King Lucoin Curator by deepresearch
You receive 🎖 0.7 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 304 with your winnings.
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