This picture was a finalist in the Beautiful Gardens category.Image by Nicola Munro. Go to www.igpoty.com for more information about International Garden Photographer of the Year.
Winners of the International Garden Photographer of the Year competition have been chosen and we think you’ll agree these pictures are certainly worth more than a thousand words.
The competition’s goal is to exhibit garden, plant, flower, and botanical photography. Entries are accepted from both professionals and amateur from March through October each year, with winners announced each February.
The eight categories are as follows: The Beauty of Plants, Beautiful Gardens, Wildflower Landscapes, Wildlife in the Garden, Greening the City, Bountiful Earth, Breathing Space, and Trees, Woods and Forests. The Greening the City category celebrates plants in urban environments, while Breathing Spaces displays people enjoying green places.
The judges look for novel approaches to the photograph’s subject. Winners, finalists and highly commended photographers will participate in an exhibition that takes place at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, London. Later this year, the exhibition will visit countries such as Sweden, Germany and Australia.
The overall winner of IGPOTY is Richard Bloom, who photographed lupins growing on South Island, New Zealand.
“When I first saw this shot, it just blew me away,” Christina Harrison, an editor for Kew Magazine, told the BBC. “I’ve been to this area of New Zealand but have never seen the lupins that grow there look so stunning. The way the soft light picks up the best of all the colors in this landscape makes it a very worthy winner. You just want to be there.”
Below is a sampling of some of the photographs in this year’s competition, along with remarks from the judges about the submissions.
The overall winner of the International Garden Photographer of the Year competition.
Image by Richard Bloom. Go to www.igpoty.com for more information about International Garden Photographer of the Year.
This picture won first place for the Beauty of Plants category and was taken at White Sands National Monument in New Mexico.
Image by Lesley Chalmers. Go to www.igpoty.com for more information about International Garden Photographer of the Year.
"I loved the balance of the picture, the color of the stone work reflected from wall to pigeon house, and the blossom on the tree, also mirrored on the round building." This picture won first place for the Beautiful Gardens category.
Image by Carole Drake. Go to www.igpoty.com for more information about International Garden Photographer of the Year.
"You can almost hear the rain softly pattering on the ground, but the golden light peeping through the tree promises that sunshine is not far away," said Christina Harrison, editor of Kew Magazine. Rodger Foley earned second place for the Beautiful Gardens category.
Image by Rodger Foley. Go to www.igpoty.com for more information about International Garden Photographer of the Year.
"We see the man-made structure and formality of the decking - and clipped hedges looking on to the untamed landscape of the marshes beyond," said Tyrone McGlinchey, managing director of IGPOTY. This photo was highly commended in the Beautiful Gardens category.
Image by Marianne Majerus. Go to www.igpoty.com for more information about International Garden Photographer of the Year.
"The photographer has chosen the angle for this shot so well -- and having the person walking towards that vanishing point of the setting sun was the icing on the cake here." This picture took third place in Wildflower Landscapes.
Image by Matthew Thomas. Go to www.igpoty.com for more information about International Garden Photographer of the Year.
This frosty picture was a finalist for the Wildlife in the Garden section.
Image by Johannes Klapwijk. Go to www.igpoty.com for more information about International Garden Photographer of the Year.
The picture of Crossrail Place Roof Garden placed third in the Greening the City category.
Image by Simon Hadleigh-Sparks. Go to www.igpoty.com for more information about International Garden Photographer of the Year.
"Human impact on the natural environment is not often to be celebrated but here Xuejun Xia shows us a quite remarkable vision," said Philip Smith, found of IGPOTY. This picture of rice terraces in China won first place for the Bountiful Earth category.
Image by Xuejun Xia. Go to www.igpoty.com for more information about International Garden Photographer of the Year.
This picture placed second in the Breathing Spaces section, which is sponsored by The National Trust.
Image by Brandon Yoshizawa. Go to www.igpoty.com for more information about International Garden Photographer of the Year.
"It is often said that photography is all about being in the right place at the right time," said Philip Smith, founder of IGPOTY. "This is true but you have to have the skill and artistry to capture that moment effectively, and this is what James has done here." This photo won first place for the Trees, Woods and Forests category.
Image by James Woodend. Go to www.igpoty.com for more information about International Garden Photographer of the Year.
