10 Gorgeous Nature Photos on Instagram // Reader Submission Project Results
Last week I invited readers to submit their favorite nature-themed shots from Instagram. This week I’m thrilled to share my favorites. To say the least, I was shocked by the amazing amount of feedback I received. At the risk of sounding horrifically cliche, there were so many gorgeous images, it was extremely difficult to settle on just 10 – likely the hardest thing I’ve had to do in awhile.
Ultimately there were a few things that I looked for in making my decision:
A | Creativity of the shot – Yes, we all LOVE sweeping panoramic views of fabulous places but since we can’t all globe trot to exotic locales I favored images that showed nature’s beauty in a unique and thought-provoking way.
B | Articulation of the story behind the shot – Painting the scene more vividly by crafting a thoughtful or even humorous sentence to compliment the image is important. A simple “this place is beautiful, you should go” is fair but not moving. Shots that featured creative and catchy comments were also favored.
C | Authenticity of the scene – Although it’s so easy to spice up the saturation and slide the LUX bar, my personal preference is for images to be as real to life as possible. One clue of over-editing: black tinting on otherwise puffy white clouds (I’m even guilty of doing this myself! Oops!).
Without further ado, here are my 10 favorite submissions – in no particular order:
1 | Erica Baker // Bakers Tell Stories // @EricaBakerPhoto
2 | Sarah // The Wanderblogger // @sarahkateshumate
one benefit, and maybe the only one, to being an insomniac is that i get to see more sunrises and sunsets than most do, but none of them in recent memory can compare to the absolutely gorgeous sunset we saw as we crossed over the bridge to the isle of skye. the colors, the mountains, the water – now that’s a welcoming party! #sunset #isleofskye A photo posted by Sarah Shumate (@sarahkateshumate) on
3 | Stephanie // Travelling Teacher // @travellingteacher
4 | Hannah // Fun Flying Four // @FunFlyingFour
5 | Jamie // The Healthy Passport // @jamiegunter83
6 | Mersad // Mersad Photography // @mersaddonko
A storm is approaching… ☁☁☁ #wanderlust #nature #naturelovers #instadaily #travel #mountainscape #mountains #ig_countryside #landscape #trees #clouds #storm #picoftheday #pictureoftheday #photooftheday #bosnia #herzegovina #fields #hills #instatravel #travelgram #canon #landscape_lovers #landscape_captures #nature_perfection #naturephotography #lonely A photo posted by Mersad Donko (@mersaddonko) on
7 | Deanne // Hello City Girl // @hellocitygirl
Venturing in the Canadian Rockies ?. #myjasper #freshairandfreedom #exklusive_shot #lifeofadventure #fromthewest_ #peopleinnature #recklessimage #venforth A photo posted by Hello City Girl (@hellocitygirl) on
8 | Julie // A Life Exotic // @alifeexotic
9 | Jess // Jess on Thames // @JessOnThames
Petting the elephants – one of my favorite moments so far #southafrica #knysna #travel #ttot A photo posted by Jess Henderson (@jessonthames) on
10 | Annie // Montgomery Fest // @MontgomeryFest
for miles and miles.. A photo posted by annie montgomery (@montgomeryfest) on
I really enjoyed this project, did you?! It was so great to correspond with so many of you – thank you all SO much for participating! If you guys enjoyed it, please let me know and perhaps we can make this a ‘thing’! 😉