All photographers, amateur and professional, are invited to submit their work for the 2009 International Garden Photographer of the Year.

Building on the success of 2008, International Garden Photographer of the Year offers photographers the opportunity to win in excess of £20,000 cash and equipment as well as international exposure in an exhibition at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The Award is open to all photographers who are invited to submit works within seven categories: Wildlife in the Garden; Plant Portraits; Garden Views; People in the Garden; the Edible Garden; Trees and World Botanic Gardens. There is also an award for the Young Garden Photographer of the Year for budding photographers under 16 years old.

The competition is open to everyone and entries are welcome from across the world. For a nominal fee, participants can enter up to four single images in any one category or a themed portfolio of six images into the Portfolio category.

Photographers can enter as many times as they like. All entries are made online. After the closing date at the end of January 2009, the international panel of judges will select the top 100 works for display in an outdoor exhibition at Kew Gardens. Photographers entering a set of six themed images can also win the prestigious Best Portfolio Award.

The 2008 Garden Photographer of the Year was won by an Australian photographer Claire Takacs for her picture of the Japanese, Kenrokuen Gardens. This evocative photograph of the famous Japanese gardens in a flurry of snowflakes was selected from the Garden Views category and won Claire £5,000 for the Best Single Image. Her fellow winners included Henrique Souto from Portugal and Fergus Gill as the Young Garden Photographer of the Year.

The 2009 competition has the following categories;
- Plant Portraits
- Garden Views
- People in the Garden
- Wildlife in the Garden
- The Edible Garden
- Trees
- World Botanic Gardens (2009 special theme)

The exhibition will form part of the 250th Anniversary of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Since its inception in 1759 by Princess Augusta, Kew has grown in size, charm and importance and is celebrated as a World Heritage Site. With over 40 historically important structures; five great glasshouses; 300 acres of tranquil landscape; and the best preserved and studied collection of plants in the world. RBG Kew is a highly prestigious venue for this international competition.

Closing date for submissions is 31st January 2009.

Competition Link / Set Reminder

Celebrate the world outside…
vistas, landscapes, adventures, the big beyond.

Prizes
AMATEUR CONTEST (NGT)
GRAND PRIZE:
A 7-Day trip for two to The Big Island, Hawaii
CATEGORY WINNERS:
One Earth Explorer Shoulder Bag designed by Bogen for National Geographic will be awarded to the winner in each category.

PROFESSIONAL CONTEST (PDN)
First place winner in each category will recieve a Leica V-Lux 1 digital camera and equipment package and a Photoserve portfolio. Winners will also be published in the July PDN issue in print and online.
 
Categories
• SCENICS OF THE NATURAL WORLD
• OUTDOOR SPORTS AND ACTIVITIES
• PARKS (ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD)
• ISLANDS AND UNDERWATER
• GARDENS

Entry fee
$12 per entry for amateurs
$35 per entry for professionals

Competition Link / Set Reminder

Calling all “budding” garden photographers. Are you the next Garden Photographer of The Year? With thousands of pounds worth of cash and prizes up for grabs, this is a unique opportunity for entrants to have their photographs exhibited for the four summer months of 2008, alongside some of the world’s most talented photographers in the gardening and landscape world. Several hundred thousand visitors will see the top one hundred pictures at a purpose-built outdoor exhibition at The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London.

We are now calling for entries in the following categories;
My Garden
Garden Views
Plant Portrait
Life in the Garden
Trees

Amateur and professional photographers are encouraged to enter single images or themed portfolios and there will be prizes to suit both types of entry. There will be a new special award for Young Garden Photographer of The Year supported by Chris Collins, the BBC Blue Peter Gardener. Entries for this category are welcomed from young photographers under the age of 16 and are free.

A panel of high-profile industry and art professionals will judge the competition and the winning images will be displayed from May to September 2008.

Previous competition judge Chris Beardshaw – television presenter and garden designer, says: “Our plants and gardens are delightfully dynamic and effervescent – subtly and constantly morphing. So much can be missed at the blink of an eye but, thankfully, it is precisely that precious moment that the camera captures for eternity.”

Competition Link / Set Reminder