Winner of Photo Challenge - Golden Hour
This week was very golden, not just visually, but in terms of submissions as well! We received an array of beautiful and visually stunning photos, making it incredibly difficult to pick a winner!
This was a really fun challenge, an extremely good amount of submissions and so much diversity in the beautiful Golden Hour. Picking a winner was not easy, it never is, and it literally came down to the wire again.
Please note that I’ve decided to streamline these winning posts a bit more, so my summaries or thoughts about the photos will be shorter from now on. This is to make the posts more readable as I know most of you are here for the photos and not my writing, which is understandable.
*IMPORTANT NOTE: This post is obviously too long for emails according to Substack, so if you want to see the post in its entirety I suggest you read it on either the Substack App or website. I highly recommend using your desktop to view it, all these submissions deserve it!
Next challenge is - July 21.
The Winner -
Raed took a very gorgeous photo here. I love how the golden light hits the building just perfectly to enhance its colo(u)rs and shadows. Everything about this photo is fantastic!
Absolutely stunning work, Raed!
Make sure to check out Raed’s Substack, aptly named Raed’s Substack. There isn’t a lot of content there yet, but I’m hoping to see much more from him moving forward as I personally love learning and reading about the Quran. So if you’re like me, I highly recommend you subscribe to Raed.
Honorable Mentions
Choosing the winner and runner-ups for this challenge is never easy, especially not when there’s so many submissions. There are so many incredible and worthy winners this week as it is every week!
These honorable mentions are all winners, along with every single photo this week, but these ones had something special about them that I’m positive you’ll love as well.
The runner-ups for this challenge are;
, , , & .
’s submission has action at the same time as it is peaceful and calming at the same time. I love looking at surfing photos and Steven nailed this one, gorgeous work!
Stunning photo!
Steven is a Photographer, filmmaker and writer. His work is absolutely stunning and I can’t wait to discover much more about him after I’ve finished this post.
If you want to see more stunning photos, make sure to check out Steven’s website and his Substack.
If you love photography and visually stunning posts, Steven’s Substack is a must-subscribe. You honestly won’t regret subscribing if you want image posts delivered to your inbox.
Absolutely gorgeous photo!
MILLER and WAKEFORD, are photojournalists, storytellers, and National Geographic book authors. Now focused on doing VERY REMARKABLE photo-based stories worldwide. These are their own words and I honestly couldn’t add anything to it and believe me, I tried.
If you want remarkable stories and stunning professional photographs to look at I highly recommend you subscribe to MILLER and WAKEFORD’s Substack, PORTRAITS of US. You won’t regret it one bit.
’s photo is honestly stunning in every way. The colo(u)rs, the light, the object, the sunset. It is nothing short of stunning. If these are the views to expect when you’re a surfer, I might have to move closer to the sea and actually buy a surfboard because this is stunning.
Such a gorgeous photo!
John is a USAF Vet, surfer, dog and cat dad, a photographer and even a writer and unpublished novelist. John’s got a store where you can buy some of his beautiful photos, which I highly recommend you check out if you’d love to hang this or other photos on your wall.
Make sure to check out John’s Substack, The Endless Scramble. You won’t regret it if you’re into poetry and personal stories.
comes in with this beautiful sunset over a calm and beautiful looking waterbed. The view is stunning, calm and peaceful and definitely a place I’d love to sit in a small boat and just enjoy the sun setting on the horizon.
I love every detail about this photo.
Do not forget to subscribe to Kate and her Substack - Small Glories of New Zealand, while you’re at it. You’ll love her publication if you want to read essays, look at beautiful photos written and published by a Kiwi. Kia Ora.
’s submission is stunning, full of life and golden glow. I honestly couldn’t ask for a much better photo of this scene, it’s as close to perfect as you can get for golden hour.
Stunning photo!
Kristi is an award winning destination blogger and travel writer, that also specializes in taking care of your backend for Substack.
Which I believe is a fantastic idea as it allows those who doesn’t have time or knowledge to write an About page or customizing the look and feel of their Substack, to get it done while focusing on what they do best, writing their newsletters.
If you want to know what else Kristi can do for you, check out her website Unstack Substack below.
Make sure to check out Kristi’s Substack, Wildhood Wanted. If you’re into funny and interesting, and downright … creepy and hilarious posts, like my personal favorite from Kristi - We're All Brave Until We Realize The Cockroach Has Wings, you’ll love her content.
As always, I feature up to five runner-ups plus a winner. But, as there’s so many absolutely fantastic photos, I want to give a quick shout-out to as many as I possibly can.
Each week, I select my absolute favorite submissions for feature, accompanied by a well-deserved shout-out. For everyone else, a link to their submission will be provided. This way, I can showcase the best while ensuring all contributors receive the recognition they deserve.
This week I’ll showcase and shout out only six of my favorite submissions this week. That’s not to say that everyone else’s aren’t good or beautiful, it’s merely to make the post more readable and honestly, due to minor time constraints.
I hope to see all of you and many more in future challenges!
Photos show up in this order:
Thank you everyone who’s subscribed, followed, participated or just engaged in any way, you’re all awesome!
Here are all the other submissions I received this week, in no particular order, so make sure to check them out, leave a like and a comment, and who knows, maybe you’ll find someone to follow or subscribe to while you’re at it!
Next Challenge - July 21
Don’t miss out on these challenges, subscribe today to never miss a challenge.
With the exception of subscribing, restacking and sharing my bi-weekly photo challenges and Behind the Lens posts, you can also support me (Patrik) by buying me a coffee through my Ko-Fi page.
Pretty photos!
Such a wonderful and magical collection of photographs 💛🧡