10 breathtaking photos from gardens around the world
Garden photography that’ll inspire you to reach for your camera. Our favourites snaps from the latest International Garden Photographer of the Year.
Garden photography that’ll inspire you to reach for your camera. Our favourites snaps from the latest International Garden Photographer of the Year.
Stop what you’re doing. Pop the kettle on and take a moment to soak up the staggering beauty of this garden photography from around the world.
Now that most of us own a smartphone, whether we’re snapping stunning sunsets or capturing our cats in all their hilarity, we are more readily armed with the ability to take better quality pictures than ever before.
But sometimes, nothing beats spending hours waiting to take the perfect shot. The winners and finalists of this year’s International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY Competition 16) are testament to the painstaking work and love that is poured into taking world-class photos. We’ve selected some of our favourites...
Breathing Spaces
Tony North’s stunning image (pictured above) called ‘Blue Tajinaste’ won the Breathing Spaces category and was crowned Overall Winner.
Taken on La Palma, part of the Canary Islands, it depicts Echium thyrsiflorum (Syn. Echium gentianoides), which is endemic to the mountains of La Palma island – from high up, there was a magnificent view of both the caldera below, and the stars above.
“In particular the image you chose has a special meaning for me,” says North. “It took an enormous amount of effort to be in that place at the right time – on top of the caldera in La Palma in the middle of the night last May – and yet more to capture and process the shots.”
Slime Mould Biodiversity
Barry Webb won the Portfolios competition (run separately in association with The Royal Photographic Society) for his set of six photos titled ‘Slime Mould Biodiversity’.
Taken in Buckinghamshire, this portfolio illustrates the beauty and diversity of slime moulds.
“Their diminutive size and ephemeral nature, means that they often go unnoticed,” says Webb. “I have spent the last three years searching for and documenting these little-known organisms.
“Every image in the portfolio has used focus stacking, to show the fruiting bodies of the slime moulds.”
Present Uncertain
Though Townshend’s vision of Dante’s Inferno created from a bug hotel in his garden won the 7IM Abstract Views category, we also loved his other work, ‘Present Uncertain’, taken in Northamptonshire, which was recognised as a Finalist.
“This image symbolises the threat of climate change - the surface of a planet becoming out of control,” says Townshend. “I used in-camera multiple exposures to combine several elements in my garden.”
The Stream Garden
Taken by Caroline Piek (who won 1st Place in the Beautiful Gardens category), ‘The Stream Garden’ is in Waspik, Noord-Brabant, The Netherlands.
“The Stream Garden is an immersive naturalistic garden, designed by Noël van Mierlo of Van Mierlo Tuinen and landscaped by Totaaltuin Leende, and is shown here in all its glory in the first morning light using HDR,” she says.
“The meandering watercourse that runs through the garden is directly connected to the River Maas and is full of life such as small fish, crayfish and mussels.”
Born from the Earth
This snap was taken by Ridhima Singh (Finalist, Plants and Planet) in Skógar, Iceland.
“I photographed these attractive model turf houses, historically recreated at Skógar Museum in Iceland, which looked like houses born from the earth,” Singh says.
“Historically, they were built using turf, due to the lack of availability of timber in Iceland and the challenging climate to provide insulation; a symbiosis of people with Plants & Planet.”
Claire Carter (1st Place, The Beauty of Plants) took this image in Shropshire.
“I captured these dead orchid flowers, after they had dropped, when they started to dry and take on a wonderful, paper-like texture,” she says. “To complement this, I added the background texture layer in post-processing.”
Stemonitis Slime Mould
Portfolio winner Barry Webb also took 2nd Place in the World of Fungi category, with this image taken in a Buckinghamshire ancient woodland.
“This interestingly shaped formation of the slime mould Stemonitis – showing its fruiting bodies, was found on a decaying log, on the woodland floor,” he says. “I focus stacked multiple images together to reveal its beauty.”
Stormblown
Finalist (for Trees, Woods and Forests) Timothy Burgess captured this tree on New Zealand’s South Island.
“Perpetually windswept and warped, these trees are located at Slope Point – the southernmost point of New Zealand’s South Island,” he says. “These trees offer some of the only protection available to grazing animals in the vicinity.”
Heather and Bracken
This image of heather and bracken in the New Forest, Hampshire, took 1st Place for the Wildflower Landscapes category.
“This area of heathland near Burley in the New Forest is particularly photogenic in late August, when there is an extensive carpet of heather on the gentle slopes,” says photographer Mark Bauer.
“I found a section which was broken up by bracken, just starting to turn into golden hues. A lone tree in the distance made a natural focal point, with the hills behind it receding into the light mist.
Copper on Blue
Finalist Julie Pigula captured this butterfly in the National Trust Bodnant Garden, Conwy, for the Wildlife in the Garden category.
“It was a beautiful evening in the Garden, with no wind – so it was perfect for both flower and insect photography,” Pigula says.
“There were lots of bees and a couple of butterflies still feeding off the flowers in the round bed. I was attracted to this small copper butterfly, which on the blue Eryngium flowers, posed perfectly, complementing the colour combination of the scene.
“I combined two layers together in post-processing; one sharp, and one out-of-focus.”
Want to start taking better snaps and improve your garden photography? Check these top tips and showcase your garden to the world.
(Hero image credit: Tony North)
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