This annual competition always attracts a wide range of excellent plant, flower, garden and fauna images. The deadline for this year is November 30th 2011.
Uniquely among major photographic competitions, all entrants can receive professional feedback on their entries – after the judging of the competition is completed and on request. The competition is open to everyone, amateurs and professionals alike. Entries are welcome from any country in the world. There are no restrictions on the type of camera you use, or the techniques you use to produce your final image. For more detailed technical information, see Help You have to pay a fee to enter. But unlike free competitions, they provide feedback on request (after the judging), they have a huge range of cash and other prizes available to winners and to runners-up, together with the unique prize of having a photograph exhibited in the exhibitions.
Being a finalist of International Garden Photographer of the Year will not only bring you a prize – it could be a life-changing event!
They are embarking on a series of events that will help you improve your photography. Some of these we are offering as prizes. Find out more about the prizes.
The judges will select around 100 finalists whose photographs will be printed to exhibition standard and planned to be shown at a major exhibition during 2012, with substantial press coverage. The mounting of the exhibition is subject to prevailing circumstances and will be confirmed before the end of 2011.
One finalist will win the title ‘International 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. For more on prizes, click here. All finalists and commended photographers will have their photographs shown on the International Garden Photographer of the Year website during 2011 and beyond..
Full details of the competition are here
Colin Roberts
Sea thrift flowers
Widemouth Bay, North Cornwall
The tide was out and the sun-lit flowers looked beautiful against the golden sandy backdrop. I needed the perspective of a wide angle lens to make the small cluster of flowers loom large in the foreground.
Claire Takacs
Victoria, Australia
Kenrokuen gardens, Kanazawa, Japan
“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.”
Jonathan Berman
Tresco, Isles of Scilly, England
View of Abbey Gardens, Tresco
This is an early-afternoon infrared view over Tresco Abbey Garden, looking south, with my daughter viewing the scene. A tiny, four-day-old crescent moon is just visible. I first visited Tresco and its gardens as a child, and I remembered it as a magical place. I did not return for many years until I came for holidays with my own children. I wanted to capture in this photograph my undiminished wonder at this special place. I used infrared – with its ability to darken skies and lighten foliage – to create the fairytale atmosphere. The inclusion of my daughter added depth. I had photographed this scene on several occasions but on this occasion the cloud patterns and presence of the moon lifted it out of the ordinary.
Marianne Majerus
Layered landscape: a moment captured
Private Garden, Luxembourg
Sunlight streams through the trees to actaea, sedums and grasses, and the layering of the mist over the fields in the distance provides a stage on which the plants perform their morning dance.
Actaea simplex Atropurpurea Group, Sedum spectabile
The scene was utterly irresistible as the early morning light broke through the tree canopy and tickled the actaea.
Oxford School of Photography 