Award-winning photographs highlight nature in close-up

Jay Birmingham of the UK was a finalist with this picture of a skimmer dragonfly at the RSPB Middleton Lakes nature reserve. Photo / Jay Birmingham, IGPOTY

A pale yellow clouded butterfly pictured with an artistically placed rainbow has won the Macro Art award in this year’s International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY) competition.

Austrian photographer Henrik Spranz took his prize-winning picture in an Austrian meadow in September.

“To get that rainbow stripe to appear in the lower right part of the photo, I used a piece of glass in front of my lens,” he said.

The close-up view of gardens and their inhabitants is celebrated in the Macro Art awards, with an array of colourful flying creatures, flowers, plants, fungi and even a tiny spider featuring as the heroes in these artfully produced images.

Image 1 of 15: Laura Drury's Highly Commended image shows a tiny spider between two unfurling fronds in her Kent garden. Photo / Laura Drury, IGPOTY

Although the name of the competition is “International Garden Photographer of the Year”, as IGPOTY has always embraced the word “garden” in its broadest definition, back gardens, front yards, balconies, local parks and even forests and wild areas are permissible as backdrops for the photographers’ subjects.

Now in its 18th year, the IGPOTY awards are widely respected and supported by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London.

A main exhibition of the winners in a multitude of categories is held at Kew every year, and touring exhibitions all over the UK and the wider world mean the photographs are almost on continuous display.

“Henrik is a ‘master of the macro’, and with this shot has shown artistry via selection of lens, subject, and background,” said IGPOTY head judge Tyrone McGlinchey, “with the rainbow effect delivered tastefully.”

With mostly flying creatures for subjects, the Macro Art entries bring the micro world to view via beautiful and interesting pictures that can surprise the viewer as well as provoke strong reactions.

“Creepy crawlies, large and small,” wrote British author Josie Whitehead, ”Some fly and others crawl.”

And some even pose for the camera!