June 2026 Photo Contest Theme: Such a Beautiful Landscape

Hello,

It might not be very original, but I see it hasn’t been suggested—or at least not for a very long time. I’d like to invite you to discover the beauty of the great outdoors through landscape photos. Whether they’re desert, sea, countryside, or mountain scenes—with or without other elements (people, buildings, animals, etc.)—they should make us want to dive right in without hesitation.

To participate: Photo submissions until Wednesday, June 24 at 11:59 PM You can post up to 3 photos, numbered and shared in separate messages, along with a short description of the place and the story behind it.

To vote: from Thursday, June 25 at 12:01 AM to Monday, June 29 at 11:59 PM After the deadline, it’s too late!

Please include the photo number, username, and the points awarded: Photo #1 = 3 pts Photo #2 = 2 pts Photo #3 = 1 pt

All VF members can vote (even those who didn’t submit photos). In case of a tie for first place, the winning photo will be the one with the most first-place votes, then second-place votes! The lucky winner will get to organize July 2026’s photo contest.

For discussions about the theme, it’s here: Discussion thread for June 2026’s theme: Such a Beautiful Landscape

Good luck to everyone!

Philippe

Chumphon, Thailand: Doi Tapang

I love this theme 😊 It’s amazing how a single landscape can capture an entire adventure, a meeting, or even a moment in life. Personally, the landscapes that stick with me the most are often the ones you have to “earn” a little: a hike, waking up before dawn, a slightly chaotic journey… In the end, the emotion is always stronger. It reminds me of the ascent of the Fogo volcano I did solo in Cape Verde: a completely surreal black volcanic landscape, and that incredible feeling of being tiny in the face of the world.

Can’t wait to travel through your photos

Hello, are you suggesting this as photo number 1? If so, edit your message. Otherwise, share it in the discussion thread.

Photo 1:



The Inner Niger Delta (here during the dry season), located in the semi-arid Sahel zone at the crossroads between the tropical savanna south and the Saharan north of Mali, is one of the areas most affected by conflicts over natural resources. Livelihoods in the Delta are shaped by the rhythm of seasonal rains, the Niger River’s tides, and the movements of herds...

Hery

Photo 2:



The Sahel (here: between Déra and Sendégué, Mali): a region with a rich climatic gradient shaped by the Sahara, ranging from arid to semi-arid and through the savanna—a complex and constantly shifting zone. The dry season, which lasts 8 to 9 months depending on the area, dictates the rhythm of sedentary and nomadic pastoral life, leading livestock herders to move around very regularly (transhumance).

Hery

Hi there,

Well done! :) (even if I didn’t understand your winning photo)

Photo 1: Ischia, the maritime, the volcanic, the earthy, the endlessly delicious.



Catherine

Photo No. 1

Mountainous landscape in Marmaris, Turkey

Photo No. 1, Le Crotoy, Somme Bay Nature Reserve, France

Yes, like photo number 1, but I can’t edit the message

Hey, are you submitting this as photo number 1? If so, edit your post. Otherwise, share it in the discussion thread.

Photo No. 1

Volcan Fogo

Photo #2 — Santorini 🇬🇷 My first solo trip. I think this landscape will always hold a special place in my heart because it represents so much more than just a pretty postcard view. That intense blue, the white cliffs hanging over the Aegean Sea, the almost unreal sunsets… but above all, that feeling of total freedom I discovered there.



Santorini taught me that a trip could be both outwardly beautiful and deeply liberating on the inside.

When I saw the theme, I immediately thought of this photo 😊 and to echo the photos Agnès posted in the discussion thread 😉

Photo 1: Iceland, Vestrahorn

Photo 2: The Odle, views from Val di Funes, Italy



Catherine

Photo 3: Auvergne (not sure where, I was lost on a backroad )



C.

Photo 1 Xoxo Valley. Santo Antão, Cape Verde.

Photo No. 2 View from the summit of Thabor (Hautes-Alpes)

Photo no. 3

Butterfly Valley. Fethiye, Turkey.

Hi there

Photo #1: Lesotho mountains before the rain (and snow)

Photo 1: Coming down from Gornergrat (Switzerland)

Photo 2: Prato Piazza, Dolomites, Italy

Photo #2

Mountain range in Orjen Park, on the border between Montenegro and Bosnia. With the colors of an Indian summer.

I hesitated to post a photo of xoxo—such a great choice!

Hellooo

First off, I looooved your staircase to nowhere. Like I said in the thread, it reminded me of the stairs Jim Carrey takes when he steps out of the set at the end of *The Truman Show* Bravo 😉

The theme for this month is ambitious—I can tell the votes will be tough because there’ll be so much variety, and we all have different landscapes that speak to us 🙂

I’ll kick things off with my desktop background for nearly a year now. The view of the Mu Cang Chai rice terraces. That vibrant green under a light drizzle, their perfect geometry, and at the very top, the "rice plateau," that perfectly round rice field.

Photo 1 Mu Cang Chai Vietnam

xrctn-1 - A monolith as a landscape, Uluru/Ayers Rock, NT, Australia

but not just any one: height 348 m, perimeter 9.4 km, age between 550 and 530 million years

Photo 1: Through the twists and turns of the Strait of Magellan in Chile

Photo 2: The slopes of Kilimanjaro via the Machame route

Photo 3: On the slopes of Mount Cook in New Zealand

xrctn-2 - How Green Was My Valley, Mount Skerkhota, Gudauri, Georgia

Photo number 1

Chapel of Sainte Anne (Mont-Saint-Michel Bay)

Photo number 2

Palm grove of Tinghir, Morocco

Photo number 3

Vineyards of Lanzarote, Canary Islands

Back in Australia (200 km north of Perth), at the best time of the year: spring.

xrctn-3 - Wildflowers take over the fields, Lesueur NP, Western Australia

Those purple flowers are actually weeds, harmful to livestock (Paterson's curse), a nightmare for farmers but a feast for the eyes...

Hi, Photo 1 Telica Volcano at sunrise, Nicaragua. .

Julie is finally back...

PHOTO 1: SWITZERLAND

PHOTO 2 : TUNISIA

PHOTO 3 : COLOMBIA, Tatacoa Desert

Hi there, I’m giving this a first try! Photo 1: Pedernales Park located between Austin and Fredericksburg in Texas (April 2023)

Photo 2: Reynisfjara Beach near Vik in Iceland (August 2024)

Photo 2: The southern side of the Aravis Pass - France

Hello,

Photo 1: at Machu Picchu

Photo 2: Vietnam

Photo 3: Germany

Photo 1



Italy, Dolomites: the Fuciade valley, located in Trentino, not far from "Passo di San Pellegrino." You can reach it either via Val di Fassa (Moena) or Val d'Agordo (Falcade).

Photo 2



New Zealand; South Island. Lake Wanaka; Glendhu Bay and the Matukituki River Valley.

Lake Wanaka is one of the large lakes on the South Island. Near the town of the same name, a hike leads to the top of Roy's Peak. The photo was taken during the climb, quite far from the summit. The shores near Glendhu Bay are more rugged than elsewhere. The Matukituki River Valley (beyond Glendhu Bay) isn’t populated—I’m not sure if there’s even a trail that goes up it.

Photo 3



France; Pas-de-Calais.

The photo was taken near Mont Couple; you can see the countryside, the coast between Wissant and Cap Blanc-Nez, and the Strait of Dover. You can just make out the English coast and a boat (probably a ferry on the Calais-Dover route).

Hello

Photo No. 1

Vang Vieng in Laos (halfway between Luang Prabang in the north and the capital Vientiane in the south), to be discovered at dawn when the morning sun’s rays light up the karst cliffs lining the Nam Song River—so "peaceful" at that time.

Photo #3 — Safari Blue, Zanzibar This photo was taken during a Safari Blue excursion off the coast of Zanzibar.



Beyond the spectacular beauty of the place, what I remember most is a day of freedom—sailing, swimming in crystal-clear water, and discovering a different way of life at the rhythm of the ocean. One of the highlights of my solo trip to Zanzibar, which I actually wrote about in more detail on my blog since the experience left such a mark on me. 🌊

Photo #3

Loire landscapes. In Aurec-sur-Loire, Haute-Loire

Photo 3: Mont Saint-Michel Bay (June 2021)

Hello,

Photo No. 1: Morocco - Tizi N'Test Road (north of Tinmel)



Murielle