Every year, hundreds of members enter their stunning alpine-inspired photos into our Photographic Competition.
Why? For the accolade!
…and the icing-on-the-cake cash prizes.
The competition has eight different classes. Our experienced judges review entries and award a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in each class. They also choose an overall winner for the entire competition.
Want to know more? Read on!
Class 7 winner 2018: Ursula Junker - View looking east with the mountains Hvalfell and Botnsúlur, Iceland.
Up until now, there have been 8 different competition classes. We may add a class or two for the 2021 competition – so be on the look out for announcements in summer this year!
Got lots of photos? Never fear! You can enter up to 3 photos per class.
This means that, with 8 classes in the competition, you can enter as many as 24 photos! Talk about maximising your chances of winning. eh?!
Here are the classes from previous years:
For this class, we’re looking to see wild alpine plants in all their glory, set against the backdrop of their natural habitat. The photo you enter should feature both the plant(s) and the landscape in which they’re growing.
This is similar to class 1, except here we’re looking for photographs which feature the entire plant as the main subject. No surrounding landscape is necessary.
This category is for fabulous close-ups, which show just a part of an alpine plant in magnificent detail. For example, you could zoom in on a flower, interesting foliage or a delicate seed head. The plant is your oyster!
The picture can be taken anywhere – in the wild or in cultivation.
We’re looking, here, for photographs of alpines that are being grown in a garden setting.
Don’t worry if you don’t have an extensive collection of beautiful alpines in your borders – the plant can be growing in your own garden or in one you have visited!
In this class we’re looking for photos of stunning alpine gardens (or parts of them) that show features used to grow alpine plants, e.g. troughs, raised beds, crevice gardens, pots, screes and alpine houses.
Alpine plant habitats also have their very own special range of animals! From insects to birds and larger mammals. This competition class is to celebrate them.
Your alpine animal can be photographed in the landscape or in association with plants – completely up to you!
Here we’re looking for photos that capture the breathtaking beauty of alpine plant habitats. Your photo need not show specific alpine plants – the focus should be on the scenic beauty or geology of the setting.
Photos can focus on on the small and intimate right up to the grand panorama.
Got a photo that’ll make us laugh? Do a double-take? Scratch our heads? This class is for you! Any weird and wonderful photo featuring alpine plants goes.
Digital manipulation is allowed in this class. In fact anything goes – let your imagination run riot!
Judges are both current and non-AGS members with artistic and photographic expertise. They judge photos based purely on photographic merit.
This sets the Photographic Competition apart from our Online Flower Show in which it’s the plant in the photo that’s being judged.
This means that a stunning photo of a common-as-muck Sempervivum will do better than a blurry shot of a rare-as-hen’s-teeth Androcymbium burchellii.
Our seasoned judges pick a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in each class. They also select an overall winner.
Winners are given cash prizes to the tune of…
But we also promised you accolade!
Every 1st place entry earns you five points towards an AGS medal, which tally up as follows:
Members who exhibited in the photographic Artistic Section at AGS shows can add these points to their existing Open Section totals.
Fired up? Bet you are!
Our annual competition opens for entries in late summer and accepts photos until December. All classes and information for our 2021 competition will be announced in summertime this year.
If you’re keen to prepare yourself for this year’s competition, have a glance at How to Enter the Photographic Competition and the Photographic Competition rules.
See some of the winning entries from previous years below to whet your photography appetite!
