Introducing the International Garden Photographer of the Year competition
By: Philip Smith - 15/04/2010
Find out about the International Garden Photographer of the Year competition and how you can get involved. It's the world’s premier competition for garden plant and flower photography.
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Hello, I’m Philip Smith and I organise the International Garden Photographer of the Year exhibition which takes place annually at Kew Gardens.
About the International Garden Photographer of the Year
International Garden Photographer of the Year is the world’s premier competition for garden plant and flower photography. We want everyone who enters the competition to get something out of the experience – whether or not they win a prize.
Image: Magnolia campbellii by Brian Haslam. Finalist International Garden Photographer of the Year Competition 3.
In this blog we will be helping you to get the best out of your photography – both at Kew Gardens, Wakehurst Place and other locations. We will pack it with ideas for creating your own projects, plus give you professional tips on how to improve your picture-taking.
Right now we are printing up the posters and leaflets to promote our exhibition of winners from last years competition. The exhibition opens at Kew Gardens on May 1st. It's all rather hectic!
Get inspired to take your own garden photos
The competition for next year's exhibition is still open. So there is still time to go out and find some fantastic subjects and snap the winning entry in your neighbourhood.
I live in the country and wandered down the lane early this morning to find the hedgerows dotted with wonderful wild native daffodils. And watch out everywhere for magnolias – this is going to be a great year for them. There are some fantastic specimens at Kew Gardens.
One of our exhibition finalists this year is this magnificent shot of a magnolia by Brian Haslam. Brian found just the right soft natural light – probably a bright but overcast day – to keep detail in the delicate pale shades of the leaves. If the sun is too bright then this detail would be lost as the camera – even a really expensive one - can’t adjust to contrast as efficiently as our eyes.
- Philip Smith -
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Discover more
- What's on at Kew Gardens - International Garden Photographer of the Year exhibition
- Coming up at Kew Gardens
- International Garden Photographer of the Year website
- Book - Better Plant and Garden Photography (available through the International Garden Photographer of the Year website)
- Explore plants and fungi with Kew
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About Philip Smith
Philip Smith is a professional photographer specialising in gardens and plants with 15 years’ experience. His photography has featured in many magazines and books including The English Garden, The Garden (RHS) , and Gardeners’ World. His work has also featured in exhibitions at Kew Gardens and the Royal Horticultural Society at Wisley and London.
As co-founder and Managing Director of the International Garden Photographer of the Year Philip is responsible for the world’s premier competition in the field, which culminates in an annual exhibition at Kew Gardens and other venues. Philip is the author of Better Plant and Garden Photography.
- If you would like to publish material from this blog in a separate publication, please get in touch with Kew’s Press Office at pr@kew.org. See our full Terms & Conditions here.
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7 comments on 'Introducing the International Garden Photographer of the Year competition'
IGPOTY says
25/03/2012 10:55:50 AM | Report abuse
Yes you can but you cannot win a prize if you have aready won a prize for the photo in a public competition
krakadoros says
21/03/2012 4:44:46 PM | Report abuse
can i send the same photos that i send to another competition?
mark says
06/02/2011 12:54:08 PM | Report abuse
simple tips to help with garden photography... take a look! http://bit.ly/dYxRdm
Digital Media Team says
04/05/2010 12:00:00 AM | Report abuse
Thanks for your comment Eileen. Really pleased you like this blog. We're currently developing a Kew news service that will include personalised email alerts and RSS feeds. This service is scheduled to launch in the next couple of months. In the meantime, we do offer a Kew blog feed that might be of interest to you. This feed aggregates all posts from Kew blogs. You can find it here: http://www.kew.org/kew-rss-feeds/index.htm
Eileen says
02/05/2010 12:00:00 AM | Report abuse
Lovely image. Having just found it, I'd like to keep up with this blog but can't see an RSS feed or anything similar. I imagine there is some way people can be informed of new posts and would be grateful for guidance.
Brian Haslam says
23/04/2010 12:00:00 AM | Report abuse
On location, but a black background painted to match the petals.
Tamsin says
21/04/2010 12:00:00 AM | Report abuse
Lovely shot, but done in the studio surely? A bit beyond the means of us amateur photographers.