Garden Photographer of the Year 2008
Friday, May 23rd, 2008
“Kenrokuen gardens, Kanazawa, Japan” by Claire Takacs - Victoria, Australia
“I find Japanese gardens so beautiful, and went to Japan specifically to visit and photograph them during the Cherry Blossom season. I researched many gardens, and Kenrokuen was classified as one of the most beautiful in Japan. I was hoping to capture this garden as best I could, and was so excited to be there while it was snowing. It was like being in a painting. People/visitors were not deterred by the snow. It was such a sight to see the colourful umbrellas passing through the gardens and over the bridges. It definitely added a whole new dimension to the garden visit.”
LIFE IN THE GARDEN CATEGORY
WINNER - FIRST PLACE
“Robin tugging Earthworm” by Andrew Bailey - Suffolk, England
“This photograph was one of a sequence taken of a tug of war between a robin and an earthworm. It took place in the wild part of my garden, where I had been baiting robins with cockchafer larvae. The resultant tug of war was caused by the worms digging into the lawn to seek safety.”
SECOND PLACE
“Toad in Rain” by David Chapman - Cornwall, England
“A common toad, Bufo bufo, shelters under a toadstool in the rain. I really wanted to show a subject which is often regarded as unappealing in an attractive way. I had seen a toad underneath a toadstool beside our garden pond and wanted to capture the scene in a photograph.”
THIRD PLACE
“Friends” by Andras Meszaros - Agard, Hungary
“One morning I found this Common Blue and Ladybird, who interestingly chose the same blade of grass as night shelter. After being heated by the sun’s rays, they started their day from there. The sun was still below the horizon so I could play a little bit with the presentation of the colours of the grass and the insects and colour of the sky.”
This competition is open to everyone, amateurs and professionals alike and entries can now be submitted for the 2009 competition. There is a small entry fee allowing you to submit up to four photographs in any of the categories which are:- Plant Portraits, Garden Views, Wildlife in the Garden, People in the Garden, The Edible Garden, Trees, World Botanic Gardens. There is also a Portfolio category where you can submit six photographs on a theme.
Being a finalist of International Garden Photographer of the Year will not only bring you a prize - it could be a life-changing event!
The judges will select around 100 finalists whose photographs will be printed to exhibition standard and planned to be shown at a major exhibition at Kew Gardens, London in the summer of 2009, with substantial press coverage. All finalists will receive an invitation to the private view. Details of this will be announced later in the year.
One finalist will win the title ‘Garden Photographer of the Year’ and an under 16 finalist will win ‘Young Garden Photographer of the Year’. Each category will have a winner and two runner-up prizes. An additional
prize will be awarded for the best portfolio and there will be two portfolio runners-up prizes.
Another 50 highly commended photographers will receive a prize. All finalists and commended photographers will have their photographs shown on the Garden Photographer of the Year website during 2008/09.
Website here
Now that you know all about it go and enter the competition - I might even give it a go myself!
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May 23rd, 2008
Nice sharing.