IGPOTY Competition 17 main categories closed for entries on October 31st, 2023 and received many great submissions from around the world.

Categories include; 7IM Abstract Views, Beautiful Gardens, Breathing Spaces, Plants & Planet, The Beauty of Plants, The World of Fungi, Trees, Woods & Forests, Wildflower Landscapes and Wildlife in the Garden.

The Overall Winner was chosen from the 1st Places of the above categories.

Many congratulations to the Overall Winner of IGPOTY Competition 17 – June Sharpe from England, UK – with the photo entitled 'Birdscape'.

June said:

"Now, more than ever, it is vitally important to connect with nature and highlight the beauty and fragility of our planet’s ecosystems. The International Garden Photographer of the Year competition does just that and, in doing so, attracts vast numbers of stunningly beautiful and inspirational entries. Being awarded the title of Overall Winner is an enormous and totally unexpected privilege."

Tyrone McGlinchey FLS FRSA, Head Judge, IGPOTY said:

"When judging pictures we are hoping to be embraced, and taken on a journey, within a story. June’s picture delivers. There is an abundance of interest and depth which fires the imagination. The soft, new growth transforming between plant and feathers – it is both enticing and enchanting. We are pulled into and beyond the symbolic dancing cranes, and embraced by their ‘wings’, to a place of hope and peace. It is rare that one can connect with nature and feel such compassion."

June will receive £4,000 and the Overall Winning photo will feature at the IGPOTY 17 flagship exhibition at Kew Gardens, which is planned to open to the public on Feb 3rd, 2024 and run until March 10th, 2024*

Photo: 'Birdscape' © June Sharpe, 1st Place, 7IM Abstract Views, Overall Winner, IGPOTY Competition 17.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM lens, 1/350sec at f/5.6, ISO 800. Post-capture: added white fill layer (exclusion blend mode), basic image management in Adobe Photoshop.

Caption: The layered branches of this conifer reminded me of the dancing cranes often featured in Japanese woodcuts. In post-processing, I added a fill layer and used exclusion blending mode to alter the colours and enhance the feeling of movement and sense of the ‘birds’ dancing in a fantasy woodland.

Congratulations are also due to all the other awarded entrants from the main categories, 'Portfolios', as well as the Photo Projects and Special Awards!

To see the results which have been made live, please visit the IGPOTY webpage 'See the winners'.

* Exhibition dates may be subject to change, the Competition 17 launch exhibition is supported by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and will feature a selection of higher-placed winning photos (mainly selected from Podium and Finalist level places), there will also be a selection of higher-placed photos from the 'Captured at Kew' Special Award on display.