International Garden Photographer blog

The snow lay thick on the ground and nobody could take off from Heathrow, Egypt still had a president, King George VI was still stammering, and there was a load of Christmas shopping to do.  But the judging of IGPOTY 4 was also just starting, back in December last year.
 

Berberis antoniana by John Barber, Finalist, Plant Portraits 

The process took three months. There has, in the meantime, been lots of talk, lots of discussion, and much tea has been drunk. Everybody who entered has now got an email of congratulation or commiseration. We have been swamped – pleasantly so - with requests for feedback from the judges. The comments people have made have been really good to see:

“I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of taking part in IGPOTY 2010. I have been unsuccessful this time - however, I would love some feedback on the images I entered for the competition"

“Thank you once again for your hard work in arranging this competition. The results again are amazing. Alas the winter daydream of walking away with the winning prize is not to be but I would be very grateful for feedback on the images which I submitted.”

“I know that the competition gets stronger every year and the results are visually excellent, and I take on board all previous feedback that you have been kind enough to offer me in the past. I am really interested in Garden Photography and really want to succeed with this at some point - it is really important to me.”

The judging process

So with more than 14,000 entries, how do the judges work? Do your photographs really get looked at?

Well first of all, two of the judges go through all of the entries. One by one. Opening the file, giving it a ranking, moving to the next one. This takes about three weeks.

At this stage, when 14,000 are whittled down to about 2,000, first impressions count. Here are a couple of things that will enhance your chances of getting through the first selection:

• Don’t put your image in a computer generated frame. The judges are deciding about photographs, not frames.
• Don’t put your name or some copyright text inside the photograph. We treat the issue of photographers’ copyrights very seriously. If you put your name inside the frame the judges will look at that and be distracted from the image.
• Don’t submit a very small file. We ask for low resolution files to be 800 pixels along the longest side – much smaller than that and the image will be pixilated - distorted. It won’t get through the first selection.
• The judges see an awful lot of repetition at this stage – the same kind of images – close ups of rose petals, for example, crop up time and again – it really is a time for originality to be at the fore.
   

Almond Blossom by James Guilliam, Finalist, Plant Portraits

 From 'longlist' to 'shortlist'

We then take our 2,000 ‘longlist’ and widen out the selection process to the entire judging panel. In their own time, they review the images one by one and give them a score.

The judges at this stage are easily able to see your captions and the judges will read them carefully at this stage.  We always remember that many entrants do not have English as a first language and so they are not looking for a work of literature; a caption explaining an interesting angle on the photograph however can help and image along. We couldn't  say that a good caption makes up for a poor image – it doesn’t – but a good or interesting caption can push a ‘borderline’ image through to the next level.

There are several rounds of the ‘longlist’ stage. At the end of this stage, the admin team goes through and weeds out those images that have been ranked lowest by the panel. This leaves about 500 images that we have to reduce to around 200.

Come the middle of January, we all meet up for three or four days in Andrew Lawson’s studio in Oxfordshire and review all the images that are left at this stage. Although we concentrate on those images that have scored highest, all of the photographs entered are still available for review, regardless of how they have been scored. So it is always possible for a judge to ‘recall’ an image from the ‘pile’, or simply to have another look through all of them.

Final discussions

Now the intense discussions begin. Sometimes it’s easy – sometimes the finalists just leap out from the screen. But most times there is a long discussion where the various merits of specific images are discussed and, ultimately, voted on.

At the end of this round is when we send out emails to shortlisted photographers asking for high resolution files. People sometimes think the judging is over at this stage but this is not the case. The judges often go back over earlier decisions and can ‘promote’ a photograph that did not make it to the shortlist.

Make sure at this stage you send us the best image you can. If you are not familiar with the world of tiffs and jpegs now is the time to learn – fast!

Once we have received all the high resolution files, the judging panel meets again to review all the choices and to look at the technical quality of the image submitted. Quite a few do not get through this final round. What we are left with is a selection of photographs that the judges feel represent the best of the wide variety of talent on show. Now, and only, now do we send out the final ‘results email'.

Now it’s over to you – have a look at the finalists on the website and let us know what you think! The winners will  be announced just before the exhibition opens at Kew Gardens - the beginning of May.

- Philip -

It’s a while since I’ve been to New York. Walking around Manhattan on a Sunday afternoon I’m struck by the way it’s possible to hear voices and languages from all continents on the street – including, I’m pleased to say, Welsh. Plus the traffic noise and police sirens. Cacophony is the word.

Ah wah kworfee

In Central Park I stopped at a coffee stall and stood in line behind a very large cop from central casting. He looked around him and then yelled at the top of his voice – seemingly into thin air "Waah ting?". Hmmm, difficult here – do I act cool as if this happens every day, or run away from the mad person with the gun at his hip? Again – a huge shout, even louder, fills the winter air: "Waah ting?" Now I’m nervous. A third one – "Waah ting" - this time another voice – just as loud – from across the street – "Kworfee!" OK so now I fill in the missing vowels and consonants and it all falls into place: "Do you want anything?" our policeman in the queue had shouted to his friend across the way – "Coffee" he replies.

They understand each other and are able to cut through the noise and babble and communicate.
 

Image management - order out of chaos

A very nice story but what has this got to do with processing RAW images? Tenuous I know but this is about making sense of a noisy and confusing world. Every time we pick up a photography magazine we see adverts and editorials about the best image management software – buy me and you will be transformed overnight from a ‘now where did I put that one of the seed-head?’ to ‘ah number 014768- precisely’. What is often not discussed about digital imagery in general is that there is a big overhead that was much less demanding in the film days – organising your files. We call it ‘workflow'.

The thing is the right system is based on a few simple principles that you yourself understand and that you can use to make your software do what you need – rather than the other way round.

A simple framework

The key things to remember are:

1) Your RAW file is like a negative; treat it as such – leave it in the state it was created in the camera.

2) Key wording is essential for any photographer that uses the internet

3) You need a hires master file for print – and a lores master file for web use. 

Sample Workflow

So here is an example of a workflow- every photographer will have their own variant – but the basic principles will hold good.

1) Bring your files into the computer to organise them – trying to organise them on the flash card is very limited
2) Back up your RAW files in at least three locations on three different bits of media – e.g. hard disc, DVD.
3) Use your software to organise your images into folders with names that you can recognise – e.g. a location, a date, a commissioned shoot.
4) Keyword the files. This is essential if you are looking to sell your images through agencies – it enables your pictures to be found by search engines. Some people do this on the RAW file, some on the master Tiff. You can never have too few keywords.
5) Use Photoshop or similar automated Actions to create a Tiff master file.
6) Do your adjustments to your Tiff files like the ones discussed in the last blog.
7) Use Photoshop or similar automated Actions to create a Jpeg master file.

And that’s it. So long as you understand the underlying structure of your workflow it will always be easy for you to find what you want – don’t leave it to the software to organise it all for you.

Cut through the noise and get your cup of coffee.

- Philip -
 

NEXT TIME: The IGPOTY finalists and commended will have been announced – read the Blog to get an insight into the judging process – and some tips on how to being your image to the judge’s attention.
 

In the first part of this series we encouraged you to explore the world of RAW image processing.

I studied photography at Bournemouth College of Art in the 1980s which was a vibrant and exciting place to be (erm… the college not Bournemouth). We were all in love with developing our own film. I was expert at the tricky business of loading film into the developing tanks in total darkness – very fast, very nimble – like a ninja weasel – another disappearing craft like dry stone walling. And everyone seemed to have a secret chemical formula or method that got that most sought-after object – ‘a good chunky neg’.  We would spend long long hours in the communal darkroom printing our chunky negs and obsessing about our blacks and our whites and our grain. I loved it.

Now you can re-create that excitement at the computer screen – but without the chemical burns in your jumper, the acidic smells mingled with adolescent hormones, and the strong desire to book the enlarger booth next to Ann Pethers.
 

Images before (left) and after (right) adjusting the RAW ‘negative’.
More detail in the shadows areas – look at how the foliage of the bay tree is ‘revealed’.

Getting going with your RAW processor

So you have shot some frames in RAW format and have downloaded them to the computer. They don’t look anything special – usually very dull colours with little contrast. They won’t come alive unless you process them with a RAW processor.

There are many RAW processors out there; some you download and use as standalone applications. Some are integrated into image management software like Photoshop. They all do basically the same thing but some are better than others. Best to look on the internet and forums for opinions about which are best. But Adobe products are the market leaders. I am going to use the processor integrated into Photoshop CS3 as my examples.

We only have room here to deal with a few of the processing tools. But once you have got the basic principle you can explore for yourself. There is loads of information on the web – notably the Adobe learning siteis very good for beginners.

Part of the RAW processing window shows a whole lot of sliders and read-outs.
 

The coloured graph at the top of the column is the histogram. A histogram shows you a graphic map derived from the brightness values of each pixel (dot of colour) and how these values are distributed across the whole image. Left is dark, right is light.
 

You can see that our graph is weighted to the left; so the image brightness is unbalanced – with too much emphasis on the darks. So the idea is to spread the brightness values out so that the image shows a good range of tones that are easy on the eye.

An easy way to do that is to adjust the exposure which you can do by using the slider bar ‘Exposure’. The exposure now has been brightened by a value of 0.90. That’s a very precise number and that’s the point. Adjustments can be very subtle giving you absolute control over the finished image. Now the histogram is looking healthier with a good, more even tonal range over the whole image. We haven’t eliminated the shadows – that’s what gives the image its depth and richness – we have simply balanced it better.
 

I have also:

• added a bit of ‘Recovery’ as some of the highlights had ‘blown’ – that is, they had become so bright that they lost detail. Recovery builds the highlight information back up;
• adjusted the ‘fill light’ slider. This is like adding an extra lighting source to the image – it boosts the middle tones of the image and can often reveal more detail;
• added a bit of ‘clarity’ – this is a very subtle ‘sharpening’ tool that helps boost the contrast of the mid-tones – we will deal with sharpening in a future episode.

Now my image looks more like it.

Final touches

But I still don’t like that bay tree. I think it’s still a bit too ‘heavy’ – I would like to see if it would be better lightened. Now in Photoshop I can use ‘Quick mask’ to select the area and to lighten it without touching any of the other parts of the image.
 

The image with 'Quickmask' in Photoshop, ready to work on the bay tree.

Welcome to world of ‘burning’ and dodging’ just the same as the darkroom but a whole lot more effective. The effects are all very subtle – even tiny – but they make a world of difference especially if the images are to be seen on the printed page or in an exhibition context. See what you think of the differences in the bay tree foliage. 

This has been just a brief introduction to the wonderful world of RAW. Next time we will go into more detail on Workflow and some advice on how to organise your files without getting drowned in data and processes.

Would you like us to go into more detail in future articles on processing images – histograms, curves and levels? Why not let us know with a comment on the Blog?

There is more information on many aspects of photographing gardens and plants in our book Better Plant and Garden Photography.

- Philip -

I loved film. As a boy my beloved Brownie 127 was in constant use, photographing irises in the garden or our old black dog in the snow. I used to take the film to Knotts the chemists to be developed, nervously returning a week later when Mrs Knott would hand over the big packet.

I was 10, she was 51. We were so much in love.

Blue irises by P.Smith aged 10. Brownie 127. Kodak Verichrome Pan Film. Hand scratched by brother.
 

‘Did they all come out?’ I would ask – ‘Oh yes they’re lovely’ she’d say. Yes I know this sounds like a scene from Lark Rise to Candleford but that is how it was – or I think so anyway. Maybe I’ve left out the bit where film costs three weeks pocket money – for 8 frames – the one where I left the camera strap in front of the lens for all 8 frames – and the one where my brother opened the back of the loaded camera ‘to see how it works’ – yeah anyway – whatever.

But I loved the smell of film – in later years as a professional, I loved unwrapping new film cassettes and that celluloid smell – so full of potential and longing – a photographer’s blank canvas. I loved using wonderful transparency film that could transform foliage and colour shot in the dullest light into miniature frames of light and beauty on the lightbox. I loved large format dark slides and the whole paraphernalia of loading film, processing it myself, knowing that each sheet was so precious.

Digital doesn’t smell

Let me be the first to say this. When digital first came along I thought it was like photographing with boxing gloves on – I couldn’t ‘contact’ the image in some way. I learnt about jpegs and tiffs and the dreaded monitor calibration and printer profiling. I could see the advantage of being able to see the shot as soon as you had taken it – there’s only so long you can wait a week for your prints to come back from the chemist- but I couldn’t see what it was about.

Then along came RAW. Now I could control elements of my photographs I had previously been completely unable to. I could add light into dark areas of the shot; I could recover ‘blown’ highlights, I could tweak colour and tone to really make my images ‘sing’. I was back in the darkroom, tweaking and pushing and pulling and dodging and burning. I was learning to love digital.
 

The control panel for a RAW processor in Photoshop CS3. So many slider bars - so little clue. Come back next month to learn more detail on this.

But for many photographers, RAW is still an unknown quantity.

So what is RAW?

Well an image shot in RAW format is often described as a ‘digital negative’ – a master file which you can manipulate to create all kinds of improvements to the final ‘print’. It is like that – but it is much more powerful than a film negative.

Cameras create RAW files when you take a photograph. A RAW file is very simple and contains one red, green or blue value in each pixel. So if your camera is set to ‘jpeg’ or tiff’ then the camera has to ‘develop’ this RAW file to create the file you want- and it does that at the same time as taking the shot. This is a very complex process and it is also automatic – you have no control over it. So it’s quite likely that your camera could throw away valuable visual information. Your camera makes decisions about colour, contrast and sharpening that you may not want. And what’s worse its an irreversible process.

Much better to keep all the visual data in your file and then use software on your computer to apply the processing that your camera can do for you; but this time you have complete control and what’s more – all the changes are reversible. Re-enter my feeling of ‘contact’ with the image developing process. Hello tweaking my old friend.

There are many bits of software that process raw files that can be bought or downloaded from the internet. The best known and probably the best is that which is included in Adobe Photoshop.

Learning how to use these RAW processors is a whole blogosphere in itself and we will return to this topic next month in the second of these blogs on RAW files.

If you don’t shoot RAW already give it a go – it offers wonderful opportunities for creativity, artistry and the imagination of the photographer. And if it's all a mystery - come back in the new year to find out more.

But digital still doesn’t smell.
 

- Philip -

Well not long to go now. Then we will be at the end of this year's International Garden Photographer of the Year competition.

The entries are flowing in from all over the world – Iran, Canada, Thailand, Brazil – as well as our main fanbase in the UK, USA and Australia. It’s a really exciting time for us - and busy too as we are flat out organising the entries 'behind the scenes' and preparing them for the judging in January.

Exhibition at Kew, summer 2009.
 

Dreaming of success

In this dark northern European November it's lovely to think forward to Kew Gardens in May 2011, with the next exhibition freshly minted, to the people and photographers all milling round, to the winning photographers proud as punch having their photographs taken next to their winning picture. Good times.

Yet then there are the people who will be disappointed not to have won anything. Having entered photo competitions myself and not won anything, I know exactly how that feels.

What if I haven't won anything?

• ‘I bet they didn’t even look at mine’
• ‘with so many entries I had no chance’
• or even ‘mine was better than some of the winners’.

Now, having been on the other side of the fence, we see things very differently. It seems to us that coping with failure is one of the most important things to learn. If you can use failure as a spur to move forward, to improve, to learn more about your art, to feel better about yourself, then you will be on an upward curve.

Professional feedback for every entry

That’s why we offer people feedback on their entries after the winners have been announced. We invite people to Kew to meet the judges and run workshops and courses. The hope is that these experiences can help to turn disappointment into a rich learning experience.  They can change your view of the competition judges so that they can become people with something to offer you personally in the development of your photography.

At this late stage if you’re reading this you have probably already decided what you are entering this year. But if you don’t plan to enter anything – have a think – you just never know where the journey may end.

Enter your photo | Competition details

- Philip -