International Garden Photographer of the Year competition 2024

An abstract photograph by June Sharpe has won this year's International Garden Photographer of the Year competition. "The layered branches of this conifer reminded me of the dancing cranes often featured in Japanese woodcuts," said Sharpe. "Now, more than ever, it is vitally important to connect with nature and highlight the beauty and fragility of our planet's ecosystems." In post-processing, Sharpe enhanced what she describes as a "sense of the 'birds' dancing in a fantasy woodland". Head judge Tyrone McGlinchey said: "When judging pictures we are hoping to be embraced, and taken on a journey, within a story."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."Annaick Guitteny came first in the Portfolios category for a set of six photos with the title Evanescence, each one a close-up of a plant covered in water droplets. "I love capturing these fleeting moments early in the morning, when these ephemeral little pearls adorn plants and illuminate them," said Guitteny.