Thinking of entering the IGPOTY competition this year?
Here are some tips that may help you net the big prize
International Garden Photographer of the Year is the world’s premier photography competition focussing on plants and gardens.
What does it mean to win?
Whoever wins International Garden Photographer of the Year 2011 will be £5000 better off – often with a ‘stake’ of just £10! For professional photographers, the exposure gained from any of the IGPOTY awards represents a giant boost for their careers.
Abstract Impressions of a Secret Garden
"When I entered for the first time, I didn’t expect anything. Even though I am quite well known in
my field, winning has given me international exposure". Marianne Majerus
For amateur photographers, it can be the starting point for a new career.
If you win a category, if you are a finalist, highly commended or commended, you will play a major part in the project for the remaining year. In 2012, you will participate in an exhibition which will be launched at Kew, then tour to Chelsea Physic Garden, Rheged Centre, Cumbria, and Sydney Botanic Garden, Australia. Other venues will be added as the year progresses. Many thousands of people will see your photographic skill alongside the best in the world.
Your photographs can be included in the many magazine and other articles that are written about IGPOTY around the world. They will be included in a high quality book which you will receive as part of your prize. You may choose to participate in our print sales programme, where you will receive ongoing revenue from the project.
If you win the Portfolio award you get not only a big £2000 cash prize but the ultimate accolade of a Royal Photographic Society gold medal
Above all, taking part in IGPOTY gives you the opportunity, along with us and RBG Kew, to celebrate our green planet, and the essential part that plants play in all our lives.
What do the judges look for?
The judges look for an individual and fresh approach to the subject. This could be a new way of looking at a flower, or a view of a stunning garden or a portrait of a gardener. This year there is more scope than ever to expand your photographic horizons – ‘Greening the City’ celebrates plants in an urban environment – ‘Breathing Spaces’ is all about people enjoying green places, in association with the National Trust. Yes, technical quality is very important – but there is always room for the ‘amateur maverick’ to win through to the final!
Fireflies by Radim Schreiber
How do I give myself the best chance of winning?
1) Be careful how you select your entries. Make sure that the image you upload is as good as it can be; is it the best shot of the sequence you photographed? Caption it well; don’t write an essay on the image – but give succinct information that may give the judges insight into why you photographed this subject – and may make your shot stand out from the crowd.
2) Make sure you enter the right category. If you have a shot of a tree, enter it into ‘Trees Woods and Forests’ – rather than ‘Beauty of Plants’. If in doubt you can enter the same shot into two or more categories – they will be viewed by different judging panels.
3) The more photographs you enter, the better chance you have of winning – but the number of entries does not affect the judges’ views – each photograph is judged on its own merits.
4) Try not to leave it to the last minute to select your entries; uploading in advance of the deadline gives the option of changing your mind and time to reflect on your final choices.
5) Don’t be worried about the entry process if you are not confident with computers. It is very simple and many thousands of people use the system – but if you have worries you can always contact us to either sort the problem out or find another way to enter the competition.
Entering IGPOTY can be a gateway to a new career, a new revenue source, and a new dimension to the photography that you love. Whether you win or lose, you will have contributed to the project’s present and future aims of celebrating our Green Planet.
IGPOTY IS CHANGING
From 2012, the schedule of IGPOTY exhibitions is changing.
Over the last twelve months, the scope and number of IGPOTY exhibitions has grown hugely. We now have exhibitions happening all over the UK and the world. More and more people are able to experience the fantastic skill of our photographers and the deep appreciation of plants and gardens that IGPOTY represents.
With support from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and our media partner Gardens Illustrated, in 2012 we are launching our main exhibition at Kew as a new indoor exhibition in the beautiful space of the Nash Conservatory a 19th century building designed by John Nash and the oldest glasshouse at Kew.
This exhibition will run from March 3 - April 12 2012
This new schedule will enable us to make the gap between the end of the competition and announcement of winners much shorter than in the past.
So if you are entering the competition this year - here are the dates for your diary.
November 30th - competition closes
December 12th onwards - shortlisted entrants contacted
December 31st - shortisted entrants MUST have submitted their hires files. For further information on this submission, see competiton rules and Help.
March 3rd - Winners announced. Kew exhibition opens.
Details of the private view will be announced in due course.
There is now a rolling programme of exhibitions. Full details of these can be found on our exhibitions page.
International Garden Photographer of the Year exhibition
comes to the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney.
For the first time in Australia an exhibition of stunning images from the acclaimed International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY) 2010 competition will be held in the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney from 11 – 28 August, 2011, presented by Friends of the Botanic Gardens.
Exhibited annually in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the prestigious IGPOTY exhibition is viewed by visitors from all over the world. The Sydney IGPOTY exhibition will showcase over 60 IGPOTY entries including the winners and a selection of finalists from the fourth International Garden Photographer of the Year competition.
Philip Smith, CEO of International Garden Photographer of the Year says: “Australian photographers have played a very important part in IGPOTY from the start and we are delighted at this opportunity to share the IGPOTY exhibition with the Australian public. The Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney is a wonderful location and we are pleased to help them promote their vital work in plant conservation and research.”
The Sydney IGPOTY exhibition is a result of a new agreement between the organisers of the International Garden Photographer of the Year competition (GALPA) and Friends of the Botanic Gardens who launched their own photographic competition in 2010 called ‘Gardens in Focus’ (GIF).
The GIF photography competition aims to highlight the beauty and importance of botanic gardens. The 2010 GIF competition winning entries will also be exhibited during the IGPOTY exhibition in the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney in August.
As a result of this new agreement, the winners of the 2010 and 2011 ‘Gardens in Focus’ photography competition will be included in the annual International Garden Photographer of the Year exhibition. For the overall GIF winner this is a rare opportunity to be included in the prestigious IGPOTY exhibition which draws over 200,000 of visitors annually.
Executive Officer of the Friends of the Botanic Gardens, Debbie Mills says,
“The International Garden Photographer of the Year exhibition has been captivating visitors to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew for many years. The Friends of the Botanic Gardens are thrilled to be able to bring the best of this stunning exhibition to our own Royal Botanic Garden for Sydney visitors to enjoy. We are particularly delighted that the winners of our own Gardens in Focus photography competition will be exhibited at the prestigious IGPOTY exhibition in the coming years. This is an exciting opportunity for any photographer and I would urge all those budding photographers out there to pick up their cameras and start exploring those wonderful botanic gardens.”
Marianne Majerus speaks to Miranda Gavin of f2 magazine about her experience of IGPOTY
Last year’s International Garden Photographer of the Year winner was specialist garden photographer Marianne Majerus (www.mariannemajerus.com), who has illustrated over 50 books, and is a regular
contributor to national and international publications. In addition to the title, Majerus
won a cash prize of £5000.
She has also been shortlisted in one category in this year’s competition,with the winner still to be announced. Now in its fifth year, the competition is open to all.
“In my estimation, this is the most important competition in the specialist area of
plant and garden photography”, says Majerus. “It evolved from a small scale annual competition and exhibition among members of our professional association within the Garden Media Guild and the
Professional Garden Photographers. I don’t enter a lot of competitions, but this is recognised, and the submission procedure is quick and easy.
“As a freelance photographer, you don’t have much time to enter competitions; you have to fit it around other work. When I entered for the first time, I didn’t expect anything. Even though I am quite well known in
my field, winning the overall title has given me international exposure.”
Marjerus has just finished working on a book, Gardens of Luxemburg, which its publishers can promote off the back of her winning the title.
“I would advise anyone entering photography competitions to read the terms and conditions carefully”, says Majerus, “as some demand far-reaching rights over the submitted images. One of the reasons that I enter
the International Garden Photographer of the Year is its fairness in this respect. On its website, it draws attention to the fact that it is not a rights-grabbing competition. By entering, you do give permission for your
work to be used widely to publicise it, but not the rights to use it in any other way without payment.”
The International Garden Photographer of the Year supports the Photographers' Bill of Rights, and is recommended by Pro-Imaging.
Read the full article.
National Trust announces support for International Garden Photographer of the Year
National Trust announces support for International Garden Photographer of the Year
9 February 2011
International Garden Photographer of the Year has announced a photographic partnership with the National Trust – which will create a brand new award category for the 2011 competition launching on 1st March.
The new category will be called ‘Breathing Spaces’ and judges will be looking for photographs which capture the spirit of outdoor places – whether those are gardens or countryside landscapes. The category will be a celebration of the natural world as a place for people to relax, have fun and find inspiration.
International Garden Photographer of the Year is organised in association with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the winning images will be shown there in a unique outdoor exhibition, as well as at various National Trust properties.
In conjunction with IGPOTY, The National Trust is welcoming photographers into their gardens and estates – and all images, whether shot within National Trust grounds and properties or anywhere else in the world, are eligible for the competition.
Chris Lacey, the National Trust’s Photographic Manager, said. “International Garden Photographer of the Year is a great success story and the National Trust is delighted to be working together with the organisers. We are always trying to encourage our visitors to enjoy what our gardens and landscapes can offer and photography can be a huge part of that for most people. I hope that everyone who takes part has a truly inspired experience and I very much look forward to seeing the resulting images
|
