The winners of this year's International Garden Photographer of the Year have been announced, with the overall winner also being picked.
You may also like
The IGPOTY is an annual international photography competition open to amateur and professional photographers, who can submit their images of gardens and plants to the judges. There are nine main categories, including Beautiful Gardens, Wildflower Landscapes, Wildlife in the Garden and the Beauty of Plants. The pay-to-enter competition then awards an overall winner a prize of £4,000.
This year, the overall winner was a photograph by Max Rush, called 'Spectacle of the Painted Storm' an image of Brockwell Park in Lambeth, London, taken on a unique camera made from wood. The head judge Tyrone McGlinchey said: "This winning photograph has managed to capture that rare, magical moment between stormy weather when the sun and clouds blend to create painterly light. This, combined with Max’s unique camera setup, has produced an image of outstanding artistic merit."
He added: "It's clear that Max's artistic vision and the dramatic natural elements aligned perfectly in this composition. It's always a wonderful experience when the photographer's intention is realised in the final result."
The winning image was taken from a camera constructed from wood, which came from three trees in Richmond Park. Each photograph is composed of 8 overlapping frames which match precisely. These were then stitched automatically in Adobe Lightroom, giving the equivalent of a ‘virtual’ 6x7cm sensor with 200 megapixels resolution.
Max said of the image: "This picture was made with a camera I designed and built for a project photographing ancient oaks in Richmond Park – a digital view camera made out of the trees I intended to photograph. I'd just finished rebuilding part of the camera using wood from a 400-500-year-old tree and hadn't tested it yet in the field, but the weather looked too promising to miss, so I rushed out to my local park – Brockwell."
He added, "A dark, heavy shower was passing over the Walled Garden but the setting sun had also begun to appear, lighting the stormy clouds from behind. I battled the rain, using an umbrella to set up the camera with one hand and struggled to focus in the dim light. For a minute or two, the blazing colours and glistening summer flowers created one of the greatest scenes I've yet witnessed in this beautiful garden, and one which I just managed to record with my strange camera."
Other finalists in the Beautiful Gardens category include Gardens Illustrated photographer Bennet Smith, who was recognised for his image of a private garden in Sussex created by Tessa Crowe. The image features Camassia naturalised in a meadow.
Gravetye and Borde Hill Gardens also feature in the Beautiful Gardens category, photographed by Claudia Gaupp.
In other categories, an image of bluebell woods was taken by Timothy Burgess in the Wildflower Landscapes, while a stunning image of a purple Siberian iris at Chicago Botanic Garden won first place in the Beauty of Plants Category, taken by Amy Duffy.
Other winners and finalists from the International Garden Photographer of the Year Award 18
For the full list of winners head to IGPOTY.com
