Garden Photographer of the Year 2008 Competition

Over �25,000 worth of prizes announced!

This page tells you about the competition, how to enter, how to prepare your images for the competition, and the types of entry we have.

The competition is open to everyone, amateurs and professionals alike. There are no restrictions on the type of camera you use, or the techniques you use to produce your final image. See Competition rules.

There will be a range of cash and other prizes available to winners and to runners-up.

The judges will select around 100 finalists whose photographs will be printed to exhibition standard and shown at amajor exhibition at Kew Gardens, London in the summer of 2008, with substantial press coverage. All finalists will receive an invitation to the private view. Details of this will be announced later in the year.

One finalist will win the title �Garden Photographer of the Year� and an under 16 finalist will win �Young Garden Photographer of the Year�.

Each category will have a winner and two runner-up prizes. An additional prize will be awarded for the best portfolio and there will be two portfolio runners-up prizes.

Another 50 highly commended photographers will receive a prize. All finalists and commended photographers will have their images shown on the Garden Photographer of the Year website during 2008/09.


How to Enter

You must first register then login. Follow the instructions on screen.

The competition costs �10 to enter. First, you must choose which category fits your image best.

For �10 you can enter up to 4 images in one of the categories. If you wish to enter another category, then this costs an additional �10 for up to 4 images. You can enter as many images in as many categories as you like.

Or you may choose to enter a portfolio of 6 themed images. This costs �20 per category entered. You can enter as many portfolios as you like.
NOTE: �10= approx USD19.00/EURO15.00

Preparing your Images

The system will remind you of how to prepare your images before you upload.

When preparing your images please follow these recommendations.
Format: Only images saved in JPEG format can be used
Size: Images should be 800 pixels along their longest side.
Resolution: For best viewing on the site, images should be 72 dpi resolution. Refer to your imaging software (Photoshop etc) for more information.

You must have taken the picture on a camera that will enable good prints to be made from them for
the exhibition at Kew .This means that if your photograph is shortlisted, you will need to supply high quality jpeg images of around 1 megabyte as a minimum. More advanced users should aim to supply image files in 8bit TIFF format, with a filesize between 20-50 mb � this size would enable us to make larger prints if desired. See also rules.

You can still be a winner with a small camera - commended pictures will also be shown in a special online gallery during 2008/9.

Images scanned from transparencies or negatives are also welcome. The high-resolution scan that
will be required for short-listed images should be between 20 and 50mb as an uncompressed tiff file,
although a high-quality jpeg is acceptable. (8 bit, Adobe RGB 1998 colour space).

Digital manipulation by software such as Photoshop is allowed.

No responsibility can be taken by the organisers for images that are incorrectly submitted.

If you have any questions about digital formats, colour spaces and so on, please visit www.gpauk.org where you will find a set of general digital guidelines that you may find useful.

Types of entry

Single images: These are judged as individual, stand-alone photographs.

Portfolios: A portfolio is a group of photographs that work both as individual images and as part of a themed collection. A portfolio can explore a location, a mood, a colour, a plant group, in fact any garden-related subject that fits into one of the categories - but all the images should relate to one another and to the theme as a whole.

Enter now

Closing date: 31st January 2008

source : gpoty