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Thinking of entering the IGPOTY competition?

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 focusing on plants and gardens. What does it mean to win? Whoever wins the next overall International Garden Photographer of the Year title will be . . . £7500 better off – often with a ‘stake’ of just £12! For professional photographers, the exposure gained from any of the IGPOTY awards represents a giant boost for their careers. 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 the coming year you will participate in an exhibition which will be launched at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, then tour to venues around the UK and overseas. 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 magazines and other articles that are written about IGPOTY around the world. Winners will be included in a high quality book. If you win the Portfolio award you not only receive a £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 – ‘Gardens on the Go’ is a new special award dedicated to mobile photography – ‘My Garden Stories’ is all about focusing on a particular garden project. Yes, technical quality is very important – but there is no distinction made between amateur and professional photographers - the image will speak for itself. How do I give myself the best chance of winning? 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. Make sure you enter the right category. If you have a shot of a tree, enter it into ‘Trees, Woods & 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. 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. 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. 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.
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