International Garden Photographer of the Year

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This page tells you about the competition, how to enter, how to prepare your images for the competition, and the types of entry we have. More detailed and technical information can be found on the Help page. 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.
Breakthrough by Charles Hawes. Finalist 2008	You have to pay a fee to enter. But unlike free competitions, we 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 our special exhibition at Kew Gardens. You can pay your entry fee- perhaps taking advantage of any discount offers, and then upload your photographs later on - at any point up to 31st January 2009 - midnight GMT. 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. For more on prizes, click here. 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 2009. How to Enter You must first register then login. Follow the instructions on screen. More detailed information on entering can be found on the Help page. The competition costs £10 to enter. You can pay in British Pounds, Euros, or US Dollars. As at 26.03.08 - £10 = €13 approx As at 26.03.08 - £10 = $20 approx (Note that the exchange rate applied will be that defined by the banking system; we do not have any control over this.) First, you must choose which category fits your image best. For £10 you can enter up to 4 photographs in one of the categories. If you wish to enter another category, then this costs an additional £10 for up to 4 photographs . You can enter as many photographs in as many categories as you like. So you can, for example, buy 4 entries for 'Plant Portraits'. You can then, if you wish, buy 4 more entries for 'Plant Portraits', or 4 more entries for a different category- it is entirely your decision. Or you may choose to enter a portfolio of 6 themed photographs . This costs £20 per category entered. You can enter as many portfolios as you like. So you can, for example, buy a portfolio entry for 'Plant Portraits'. You can then, if you wish, buy a second portfolio entry for 'Plant Portraits', or a portfolio entry for a different category- it is entirely your decision. As at 26.03.08 - £20 = €26 approx As at 26.03.08 - £20 = $40 approx Note that portflio photographs will not be judged as single images. They will only be judged as one of six themed photographs. Preparing your Images For detailed information on how to prepare your images, see Help. We recommend that you make your final decision on which photographs you are going to enter before you upload them to the competition. You must have taken the picture on a camera that will enable good prints to be made from them for the exhibition at Kew .This means that if your photograph is shortlisted, you will need to supply high quality jpeg images of around 1 megabyte as a minimum. More advanced users should aim to supply image files in 8bit TIFF format, with a filesize between 20-50 mb – this size would enable us to make larger prints if desired. See also rules. You can still be a winner with a small camera - commended pictures will also be shown in a special online gallery during 2009. Digital manipulation by software such as Photoshop is allowed. No responsibility can be taken by the organisers for images that are incorrectly submitted. If you have any questions about digital formats, colour spaces and so on, please visit www.gpauk.org where you will find a set of general digital guidelines that you may find useful. Types of entry Single images: These are judged as individual, stand-alone photographs. Portfolios: A portfolio is a group of photographs that work both as individual images and as part of a themed collection. A portfolio can explore a location, a mood, a colour, a plant group, in fact any garden-related subject that fits into one of the categories - but all the images should relate to one another and to the theme as a whole. Enter now Closing date: 31st January 2009