14 women finalists of #WorldPulse #HerEarth Photo Challenge

It is about time to introduce you our 4 stunning women finalists of #WorldPulse #HerEarth - Earth Day Challenge.

The challenge invited women worldwide to celebrate together the future of our planet and the survival of life on earth. It was created by the leaders of the World Pulse Environment Group. The challenge was to honorthe 46th anniversary of Earth Dayby sharing a favorite nature photo or quote!

A total of 227 photos were submitted for this campaign! Our evaluating committee (more details below), consisted of professional photographers and environmental activists has been looking for the following elements when offering their votes: diversity,uniqueness,connection, andindividual “spark”.

1) First placewent to ROSEMARY, from Tanzania.

Rosemary and her family love and value wildlife a lot. Serengeti National Park in her country Tanzania is one of these greatest reflection of mother nature where you can catch a glimpse or view all the beauty of mother nature. These includes all the big five and one of the greatest wildebeest and zebra migration in very large numbers. The migration is something she wishes those who have never been to Tanzania to plan for some day and come see for themselves. \"You will love it and it will give the value of every money you spent during the visit.\" says Rosemary. Shewas taking pictures in a company of one of her sons who leads tours, excursions and generally loves wildlife. One of the pictures was the picture of the group elephants. This was at Serengeti National Park at a place known as Seronera. \"I love the picture, it is beautiful and reminds us how beautiful our land is. Pictures are treasures that we can pass on to future generations to tell them how our land was and the types of wildlife found at the time. Imagine if we didn't see pictures of dinosaurs, the current generation would not have known such animals existed.\" Rosemaryworks as Development Practitioner, a teacher/ trainer, a women/ girls rights advocate and an environmentalist.

Comment byNusrat Ara:We need to care for our mother earth for our own well being. Elephants have a strong family system. The picture represents what we need to do. TAKE CARE OF EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING.

- This photo has a magical sense of nature. It combines familiar cohesion and strength in a wonderful nature area (Bernd Hau). - Love the photo you chose to accompany with this post and quote. It definitely depicts one of the many beautiful aspects of nature. Happy earth day! (Hellen NG)

2) ZRIVER from United States

showed us two beautiful picturesHummingbird in an agave\"The earth is filled with living breathing textures and colors and wonder...\"and Cranes at the Platte River\"Each March 400,000 sandhill cranes gather at the Platte River in Nebraska,USA to recharge on their northerly migration to their breeding grounds in the far north. Fossils have been found in the area documenting the cranes from 9 million years ago.\"

- Color seen well in an engaging composition make this succeed as an image. And they play of shapes between the beak an agave spike is a nice bonus. (comment by Mike Davis about Hummingbird)

- Comment by Ellen Sokolow: cranes, heartbeat, wingbeat, earth beat... - Mike Davis about cranes picture:Silhouettes are general clichés but this one rises a bit above the norm because of its composition and explosive color.

3) AMBAR SOLARTEfromBogotá, Colombia

The picture captures the movement of the water with the drops changing colors when the sun touches them.Ambar took the picture with a Canon T3i camera, on a river that follows the Bridal Veil cataract, near Portland Oregon. This particular image is, a no-retouched, high speed picture of the small rapids on the river. She loves taking pictures of nature and playing with the images. Ambarlives in Portland, Oregon. She has worked in social programs and sustainable agricultural projects directed to rural communities and minorities affected by conflict and lack of opportunities.

- Comment from Helen Ng: \"Out of all the photos that were submitted, this was the one that stood out the most, in my opinion. The colour scheme that the photographer used to capture the way in which sunlight hits the water droplets falling against the terrain below. It's rather atypical for humans to picture the beauty of nature, especially of light and rain, at a relatively low geographical level. It is that atypicality that caught my eye, and allowed me to view the different manifestations in which natural beauty can take. We tend to view rain as a beautiful phenomenon, but we usually don't look at it closely enough to see the multitude of colours that can be elicited, with the help of sunlight. In essence, the photographer is providing us with a magnifying glass to examine this phenomenon more closely, and to better appreciate its wondrous potential.

- Nusrat:The picture is beautiful telling us we just need to lower our gaze and watch intently to see the beauty of nature in its varied forms. Light is playing tricks with Water, theelixir of life.

4)CARO JUC, Moldova

The title: Granny'sPeacefulGrapes. Northern Part of Moldova (Tabani Village).It is a photo taken by Carolina. It presents a village from the Northern part Republic of Moldova. \"In Moldova we have very beautiful lands, tasty food, amazing wines, nice traditional music and a specific dance called \"hora\". Those grapes grow basically in every garden of the Village. They have at the same time sweet but also bitter. And they color your hands and mouth in purple :))) For many of us is the taste of childhood. In the village people love their gardens, love their plants, love the land, and love the traditions of Moldova. They take care of the plants with love. They are really hard working. Also grapes are special fruits for us. Our country on the map has the shape of a cluster of grapes. I took the photo with my phone this summer.\"

- Comment by Ellen Sokolov: \"i like the contrast of the juicy grapes with the door frame\"

- Mike Davis: \"Just a nice feeling from this. Light is the elixir\".

- Hellen NG : \"Really love the way the light shines through and hits the fruit. Definitely goes to show that simplicity in nature is beautiful\".

______________________________________________

Congratulations to allthe photographers above!

Here is the list of all nominated candidates by our group of evaluators:

1)https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/users/rosemaryntoipoTanzania

2)https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/users/zriverUSA

3)https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/users/ambar-solarteColombia

4)https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/users/caro-jucMoldova

5)https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/users/tamCanada

6)https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/users/iaseaMoldova

7)https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/users/traceyjbellUSA

8)https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/users/emily-garciaUSA

9)https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/users/busayoNigeria

10)https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/users/arthigomesIndia

11)https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/users/sarah-muraliUSA

12)https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/users/stee0260USA

13)https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/users/caniborrowyourwingsNepal

14)https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/users/anda-roccheItaly

Our evaluators:

1) Felix Masi - photojournalist http://asummerbunny.com/photojournalism/ Facebook.com/Felixmasi photography http://felixmasi.photoshelter.com http://www.voiceless-children.org/ http://felixmasi.africamediaonline.com

2) Ellen Sokolov - Guest Lecturer: Environmental Sciences & Policy Program; University of Maryland http://www.ellensokolow.org/

3) Bernd Hau -freelance artist & amateur photographer based in Cologne,Germany. http://bernd-hau.pixels.com/

4) Nusrat Ara - independent journalist based in Indian administered Kashmir https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/users/nusrat-ara

5) Mike Davis - award-winning professional picture editor. http://www.michaelddavis.com/ http://www.alexiafoundation.org/

6) Helen Ng - WorldPulse Community Member https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/users/helenng

Stay tunned and join our group for future activities: https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/groups/environment-group

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSoqE4yrcaM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS7fMAYFfec