My world in colors: #CaptureTheColour contest by @travelsupermkt

When I read the first posts about the “Capture the Colour Contest”, I started waiting for someone to nominate me. I know you don’t need to be nominated to join the contest, but I just wanted it to happen this way!

So now that Juno at Mastering the Art of Travel Photography nominated me, I am so happy and excited to finally join the excellent participant crowds.

The rules are very simple. You just have to post your best photo for each category: blue, green, yellow, white and red. Be sure you captured that color in a creative way in your frame, and spread it with the world. Then, nominate 5 fellow bloggers to keep the fun going.

I remember my first photography course was about black and white photography. I think it was very smart for a school to offer such a subject, because it forced us as students to look for different elements in our shots: composition, balance, strength of the subject. All this because it’s very true that often the beauty of a shot is mostly about its colors… and this contest confirms it.

Be warned, choosing the 5 photos is not that simple… It took me a couple of days to decide and I came up with the following selection. Hope you like them!

Green

Green is my favorite color. It’s the color of nature, of simplicity, of all things environmental, and it’s through my green eyes that I look at the world, through a lens or without.

The photo I am sharing with you today was taken in the Italian region of Abruzzo, a place most of the people don’t really know about, where I have the chance to go this summer and where I had a great time. Landscapes are beautiful there, from the highest mountains to gentle slopes and the seaside. I had to stop while driving to take a photo of this amazing grass field, gently moving in the mild breeze, in a warm summer evening.

Abruzzo, Italy: a grass field with poppy

Red

As you may know, I am currently in the Middle East on a trip from Turkey to Egypt (#MEtrip). This amazing journey took me to some of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen, including Petra. Do you think Petra is overrated? I give you the answer: absolutely NOT. I thought so, but then I went and… words just can’t explain.

I hope this photo of mine can help you getting at least a bit of the feeling I had while shooting it. Try to picture it: darkness all around, a long way across the Sik between you and the closest village, hundreds of candles in front of the Treasury and a million stars above, while a beduin plays a mesmerizing music with his flute. I don’t know if anything can get more spiritual than this…

Petra by night: breathtaking

Blue

Blue is another color I particularly love. Why? Many reasons. My mom used to dress me in blue very often when I was little. My family owned a boat and I literally grew up sailing the Mediterranean. Also, we all live on the Blue Planet, don’t we? We are all linked to this color, like it or not.

However, I chose to post a photo that doesn’t involve water, just so that it’s not too obvious. I took this shot in the Jerusalem, in the Arab part of the Old City. This area is characterized by beautiful colors and typically packed shops. I find mirrors a great way to take creative portraits to people without them noticing… *techniques for being a sneaky photographer*

Portrait of a vendor, Jerusalem

White

When I accepted to work in the Alps for 5 months, I never thought I could end up taking any good photos. I have to thank the beautiful and majestic Mount Cervino (aka Matterhorn in German) for offering me a different show every day… well, when the sky was clear and I could actually see the summit!

What I call “the snow wave” is one of the most unique things I’ve ever seen in my whole life. I was just walking on my way to work, it was an extremely windy day and suddenly the snow started being blown away from the top of the mountain. Its shape changed quickly, but before the show was over I had enough time to take the following photo. No, it’s not a volcano, and that’s not a cloud. It’s flying snow…

Mount Cervino: the snow wave

Yellow

Last but not least, yellow – the color of summer, the color of the sun, the color that brings you a smile on your face! But also, the color of warmth and spirituality.

Agia Sophia is no longer a mosque nor a cathedral, but a museum. Nevertheless or maybe because of this I felt this was a great place for the soul. My attention was immediately captured by the huge Muslim Arabic inscriptions on the sides of the main hall, and the domes, decorated with Christian subjects. In this photo I captured both, together with the visitors looking up in awe.