Winning photos of great gardens
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-38829413 Version 0 of 1. This late autumn photo - from Snowdonia National Park in North Wales - has been crowned the overall winner of the 10th annual International Garden Photographer of the Year competition. Taken by Lee Acaster, and entitled Left, this stark image won the Trees, Woods and Forests category - and then beat thousands of other entries to win the top spot. Garden designer Chris Beardshaw - one of the competition judges - says the photo "perfectly encapsulates both the extremes of fortune and personality of these giants". While Clare Foggett - who edits The English Garden Magazine - says the image "draws the viewer in, to reveal the still surface of the lake behind. It demands closer inspection". Scroll down to see a selection of some of the best images from each category. Nigel McCall - 1st Place Autumn Evening at Aberglasney Aberglasney Gardens, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK Judges' comments Philip Smith, founder of International Garden Photographer of the Year: "This is a classical composition with the bridge leading us into the garden and its wonderful display of October colour. The angle of view is very precisely aligned, creating the feeling of serene calm." Clare Foggett, Editor of the English Garden Magazine: "It has a calm, almost Eastern zen-like quality. The autumn leaves on the handrail could have been artfully placed there by a stylist, but the fact that they had been spontaneously placed there by children visiting the garden earlier seems to add even more serendipity to the image." Cathy Cooper - Finalist Marigold Glow Windamere Hotel, Darjeeling, West Bengal, India Volker Michael - Finalist First Rays Jistrum, Friesland, The Netherlands Rosanna Castrini - Highly Commended Towards the Clearing Botanical Garden of Villa Bricherasio, Piedmont, Italy Jason Ingram - Commended Folly Farm Lavender Berkshire, England, UK Jason Ingram - Highly Commended Stavordale Priory in Winter Somerset, England, UK Nigel McCall - Highly Commended Mist over the Lower Walled Garden Aberglasney Gardens, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK Volker Michael - Commended Prairie Plantation Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany Ross Hoddinott - 1st Place Marbled White Butterfly Dunsdon National Nature Reserve, Devon, England, UK Judges' comments Philip Smith, founder of the International Garden Photographer of the Year: "A dreamy midsummer scene. It is an unusual composition with the main subject near the picture's edge, but this, taken together with the empty space in the middle of the frame, heightens the faint sense of unreality that marks this photograph out." Chris Beardshaw, garden designer: "A fleeting and delicate image that encourages a holding of the breath and calm silence, for fear of disturbing the perfection." Henrik Spranz - 2nd Place Evening Encounter Vienna, Austria Minghui Yuan - Finalist Frog Prince Wuhan Botanical Garden, Wuhan City, China Lili Gao - Finalist Waiting Dandong City, Liaoning Province, China Julian Rad - Finalist Thirsty Squirrel Vienna, Austria Minghui Yuan - Commended Band of Brothers Wuhan City, China Yi Fan - Highly Commended Fantastic Homeland Yunnan Province, China Mateusz Piesiak - Commended At Sunset Wrocław, Lower Silesia, Poland Gianluca Benini - 1st Place White Stars at Sunset Belluno, Veneto, Italy Judges' comments Clare Foggett, Editor of The English Garden Magazine: "Wordsworth was right about daffodils filling the heart with pleasure and this photo of 'the stars that shine and twinkle on the Milky Way' does just that, with beautiful light from the setting sun. One look at the image and you want to be there." Susan Brown, Royal Photographic Society Representative: "White Stars at Sunset is a descriptive title for this field of wild Narcissus with the beautifully backlit sta- shaped flowers. The low viewpoint chosen by the photographer has encouraged the flowers to command the stage against a dramatic evening sky." Yi Fan - 2nd Place Standing Alone Hengduan Mountain Range, Yunnan Province, China Salvo Orlando - 3rd Place Saponaria Etna National Park, Sicily, Italy Carole Drake - Finalist Pavement Flowers at Dawn County Clare, Republic of Ireland John Glover - Highly Commended Viper's Bugloss at Sunrise Cuckmere Valley, East Sussex, England, UK Marcio Cabral - Highly Commended Golden Grass Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, Goias, Brazil Dianne English - 1st Place Bergenia New South Wales, Australia Judges' comments Philip Smith, founder of International Garden Photographer of the Year: "Texture and softening effects have been created in post-capture processing, but the strength of the image is in its very simple but accurate composition. In simplifying the still-life, the photographer has created a strong sense of romantic elegance." Susan Brown, Royal Photographic Society Representative: "This charming image of Bergenia not only illustrates the character of the flower, but the added texture and softness to the palette gives it an artistic painterly feel." Alexis Javier Acosta Simon - 3rd Place Las Animas La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain Bert Shankman - Finalist Little Boy II Montgomery County, Maryland, USA Rosanna Castrini - Commended The Ring Piedmont, Italy Angela de Groot - Finalist Bothering Buttercups Dorset, England, UK Nigel Burkitt - Commended Poppies Earley, Berkshire, England, UK Anil Sud - 1st Place Mountain Fog Maroon Bells Scenic Area, Colorado, USA Judges' comments Susan Brown, Royal Photographic Society Representative: "No-one could fault this image for not being true to its subject 'Breathing Spaces'. The glimpse of the mountainside in the break in the clouds has been very well caught and contrasts with the vibrant autumn colours of the foreground. A strong composition with the diagonal of the hillside." Chris Beardshaw, garden designer: "Bold, vivid and beautifully capturing the seasonal landscape." Mauro Tronto - 2nd Place All Together Lago di Campotosto, Abruzzo, Italy Nikki Munro - Finalist A Midsummer Night's Dream Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK Theam Meng Sea - Highly Commended Tea Farm Sunset Cameron Highlands District, Pahang, Malaysia Mauro Tronto - Highly Commended Awakening San Severino Marche, Macerata, Italy Stefano Coltelli - Commended Plitvice Falls The Plitvice Lakes National Park, Plitvicka Jezera, Croatia Geoff Kell - Highly Commended Summer Breeze Northumberland National Park, England, UK Francis Taylor - Commended Cotton Grass Ringinglow, Peak District National Park, Sheffield, England, UK Dawn Blight - Commended Sheffield Park National Trust Sheffield Park and Garden, East Sussex, England, UK Evelyn Nodwell - 1st Place Bringing Home the Fodder Guizhou Province, China Judges' comments Susan Brown, Royal Photographic Society Representative: "This anonymous person collecting fodder for his animals has a touch of humour about it. We have to assume he can see where he is going. The mountainous background with lovely soft, misty and low light adds a sense of place." Philip Smith, founder of International Garden Photographer of the Year: "This is a spontaneous shot that tells the story perfectly. The photographer has intuitively positioned the farmer in the frame in such a way that we can trudge along with him to the village we can see in the background." Flavio Catalano - 2nd Place Savoy Cabbage Piedmont, Italy Mingli Tian - 3rd Place The Miao Terraces Guizhou Province, China Albert Ceolan - Finalist The Grape Harvest South Tyrol, Italy Zsolt Varanka - 1st Place Good night Budapest Budapest, Hungary Judges' comments Philip Smith, founder of International Garden Photographer of the Year: "A clever shot. The flowers are beautifully lit and balanced with the lights of the city. There is so much activity to be seen in the background, but the photographer has succeeded in keeping the flowers in the foreground of our attention." Susan Brown, Royal Photographic Society Representative: "The shallow depth of field has rendered the lights of a city purely as a glow which leaves the interpretation to the viewer." Dina Vieira - 2nd Place Roof Garden Park of Nations, Lisbon, Portugal Evelyn Nodwell - Finalist Trees, Shadows and Greens Parc du Champ-de-Mars, Paris, France Brandon Yoshizawa - Commended City Flowers Los Angeles, California, USA Paul Brouns - Highly Commended Urban Jungle Milan, Italy Joseph Meng Huat Goh - Commended Roof Garden Singapore Claire Takacs - Commended Groningen City Garden Groningen, The Netherlands Bart Heirweg - 2nd Place Noir Flohay Noir Flohay, Baraque Michel, Belgium Cristiana Damiano - Finalist In the Silence Tarvisio Forest, Italy Dylan Nardini - Highly Commended Crooked Clydesdale, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK Andrew George - Commended Mystic Forest Stiphoutse Bossen, Gerwen, Noord-Brabant, The Netherlands Jianjun Huang - Commended Charming Dongjiang Guangdong Province, China Fergus Brown - age 10 - 1st Place Kaleidoscope Abbey Garden, Tresco, The Isles of Scilly, England, UK Judges' comments Susan Brown, Royal Photographic Society Representative: "A blaze of colour brings out the true feel of summer. The shallow depth of field adds to the intrigue of the image. An accomplished image for this young photographer." Philip Smith, founder of International Garden Photographer of the Year: "A wonderfully exuberant image. The photographer has captured the scene very well by excluding anything that might interfere with the appreciation of colour and pattern." Zozi Lencz - age 14 - 2nd Place Spiky Bellini Garden, Catania, Sicily, Italy Katy Read - age 12 - 3rd Place Looking Up Chillingham Castle, Northumberland, England, UK Steve Lowry - 1st Place Cut Flowers Portstewart, Northern Ireland, UK This portfolio of microscopy images was entered as a set in the Beauty of Plants category and features sectioned and stained flower buds. A selection of the images - including some close-up details - can be seen here. Judges' comments Clare Foggett, Editor of The English Garden Magazine: "The images are stunning - a rarely seen glimpse of the mechanics and 'insides' of a plant, normally only seen by botanists peering down microscopes. Their other-worldly quality brings a new level of intrigue to our garden plants." Susan Brown, Royal Photographic Society Representative: "Well executed and inspirational in design. A very unusual way to portray these flowers, the clarity and design are stunning and a lot of worthwhile hard work has gone into this portfolio." George Pantazis - 1st Place Embryo Mouttagiaka, Limassol, Cyprus Judges' comments Philip Smith, founder of International Garden Photographer of the Year: "One of the most attractive macro images in this year's competition. The light falling on this tiny subject is wonderfully handled and reveals the other-worldly elegance of the subject." Susan Brown, Royal Photographic Society Representative: "A captivating image, glorious colours and the composition cannot be faulted. The depth of Field is perfect. The detail is beautiful and this is a very worthy winner of the macro category." Don Rice - 1st Place Water Lily Lake Peten Itza, Department of Peten, Guatemala Judges' comments Susan Brown, Royal Photographic Society Representative: "A dramatic composition for this monochrome image with lighting to bring out the detail and texture in the leaves and yet maintaining the subtlety of the petals." Philip Smith, founder of International Garden Photographer of the Year: "A complex plant stripped down to its essentials of tone, form and texture. It is skilfully processed with a large amount of detail in a complex gradation of grey tones. There's a calm stillness that makes it a worthy winner." The winning photos are being exhibited at the Royal Botanic Gardens, at Kew in London, from 4 February to 12 March 2017. All images subject to copyright. |