The photographers of Unsplash.com provided me with a great collection of photos for my March Contest story “Lucky Day,” a Sci Fi story set on the planet Hulm. (If you have not read the story, you’ll want to read it first, as this post contains some spoilers.)
Walls of Jaisalmer
I love this beautiful photo by Ali Zbeeb of a sandstone wall in Jaisalmer, India. The photo is titled “Walls of Jaisalmer.”
The color and textures are beautiful, but of course, the jutting stones that almost make a floating stairway along the wall really make the image. I like in particular how they lead upwards to the right. And I wonder if the contestants writing endings will right a positive, uplifting ending for “Lucky Day.” Only time will tell.
Note that on the story page, I darkened this photo a bit by making it just a little transparent and allowing a black background to show through. By doing this, I allowed the white lettering to stand out. Fun trick, huh? But I really do love the original colors, and I’m glad to show the unaltered photo here.
Ali is a self-described “Lebanese Visual Artist” based in Beirut. You can see more photos by Ali, including, food, street, dog, and Christmas photos, at unsplash.com/@alizbib.
Cabbage
“Lucky Day” begins “Ophir woke in the dark to the thick, warm smell of cabbage cooking.” So I looked and looked for good photos of egg rolls to represent the story’s cabbage rolls. Finding none, I looked for cabbage stir fry in a pan but found none. Fortunately, I found this gorgeous photo by Monika Grabkowska. I’m not even positive these purple and green leafy plants are cabbage. But even if they are not, I think they could easily represent the cabbages of Hulm.
Monika, who describers herself as a “girl from Poland living in the UK,” is a food stylist and photographer. Looking at this gorgeous and delicious photo, how can you have any doubt she is a master of both? On unsplash.com, Monika writes that she “loves nature and healthy food.” And she also loves a good cup of coffee.
You can see more of Monika’s food and coffee images at unsplash.com/@moniqa and monikagrabkowska.com.
Dragon
Marilyn Paige shot this giant, green dragon head in Chinatown. I’m just not sure which Chinatown. It is a dragon head for parades, and if you view Marilyn’s photos as unsplash.com/@marilynhpaige, you can see more parade-related images.
Of course, in my story, this photo represented one of the two dragon heads that led the parade past Baba’s shop counter and Ophir’s home.
Town Square
This photo actually comes from Reiseuhu, the German travel deal portal. They have their own Unsplash page at unsplash.com/@reiseuhu. You can also find more photos from their travels at www.instagram.com/reiseuhu.
This photo is titled “Old Jaffa in Tel Aviv, Israel.” But in my story, it represents part of the path Ophir takes from his home to the town square.
Sandstone Alleyway
Joshua Sukoff took this beautiful photo of a bright, sunny day looking down a crumbly, aged alley of stonework and bricks. It was taken in Safed, Israel, and her merely titled it “Sandstone Alleyway.”
Joshua is a teenager from New York City who likes skiing and traveling photography. You can see more of his flying, skiing, and traveling photos at unsplash.com/@joshuas.