Blue Lotus Water Gardens, Victoria, Australia.
I captured this macro shot of the golden reproductive parts of a Nelumbo nucifera (white lotus) flower head–which was ready forpollination; this plant can use thermoregulation – to self-heat the flowers to aid in fertilisation.
The sacred lotus is a rhizomatous aquatic perennial and is a ‘living fossil’ dating to pre-history, having been domesticated in Asia about 7,000 years ago. It is believed that its main pollinators are mostly bees, flies and beetles.
The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Los Glaciares National Park is an incredible and primordial landscape in the Argentine part of Patagonia. In this valley, close to the Fitz Roy (Cerro Chaltén)mountain range, there were southern beech trees typical of the region, they created an extraordinary photo with their red colour and bizarre shape.
It was raining really heavily when I spotted this frog outside, clinging to hold on to the stem of this plant; there was a resemblance between the frog and the adjacent, curled leaf; fauna and flora holding on to life.
Tolaga Bay, North Island, New Zealand.
A series of intense storms due to climate change have brought down thousands of tons of wood from forestry plantations in the flooded rivers behind Tolaga Bay. The rivers have spilled their cargo of wood onto the beach destroying the sand dunes and plants in the wake.
Coven, West Midlands, England, United Kingdom.
I captured this photo at a (then) secret locationin the West Midlands at sunrise (the town nearest to the field is called Coven). As with all Papaver (poppy) sunrise photos, you have to get up extremely early, especially when you are travelling 30 minutes from your home to be there before sunrise.
However, the reward is that you have a photo that is unique to you, because there is no one else there capturing the same magical moment as the sun rises and hits the first poppies.
Goričan, Međimurje County, Croatia. Beauty can be found from the imperfect, damaged wings of this dragonfly - Sympetrum striolatum(male common darter). I discovered this specimen close to the pond in my garden, it was morning when beads of dew were still to be seen and I waited for the perfect alignment to complete the composition.
Evening light wove a beautiful tapestry in the Wojsławice Arboretum. I had planned to photograph a typical sunset from the hill, but as soon as I turned around, I saw a golden wall of tall conifers with the sun hiding behind them. The backlit borders and house visible in the distance added to create a magical, fairy tale atmosphere.
I was located on the 20th floor of the Vertical Forest (Bosco Verticale), in the background a dim light sets over Milan, however, what I had in front of my eyes was more pressing. The cities of our planet are redesigned and plants gain unexpected spaces; which present new challenges for gardening.
The Vertical Forest of Milan requires almost acrobatic care and maintenance from this gardener of the future.
There are always images waiting to be created, even early on a wet June morning. Pots of Hosta, Heuchera and Libertia on my patio, each with their own distinctive leaf shapes, textures and colours, were transformed as rain droplets collected on them, with the gloom accentuating their colour.
Leaning against the house for shelter, and moving my camera during the sequence of exposures, I captured their transient beauty as unique patterns that are at the same time; bold and intricate.
Valencia Parque Central was implemented by lead landscape designers Gustafson Porter + Bowman, phase 1 was completed in 2019, following the relocation of high-speed trains below ground. It is one of the city’s most significant redevelopments at a total site cost of €73M.
Sometimes nature reminds us of her power, but even then, gives us beauty. The Po River flooded and created a striking scene, ready to photograph of these beautiful Betula pendula (silver birch) trees.
The left and right side of this tree do not seem to be in the same season. One side holds on to its autumn leaves, while the other appears to have moved on to winter time. I have observed this exceptional tree repeat this phenomenon for many years and this occurred naturally – without manipulation.
Such trees with only half of their leaves are a symbol for ephemerality contrasting life and death. I made use of this symbolism and waited for the right moment so that the dark clouds on the right opposed brighter clouds on the left; revealing the two different paths we can take.
I was looking for colour but few leaves remained on this hillside of trees in late autumn. Using software, I inverted and then altered the colours further to create this magical, abstract treescape.
This portfolio of images are all from one of the most environmentally significant wetlands of Texas. The Caddo Lake and bayou is the stuff made of Native American and even modern legends, sadly its native species are threatened by invasive species such as giant salvinia and water hyacinth. There appears to be not much headway made with respect to preventing invasive species and the mitigation efforts seem to have been equally inadequate.
Dumping chemicals into the lake to kill invasive aquatic plants only poisons the environment, it makes the fish and other aquatic animals toxic to the other wildlife that feed on it. However, biological control methods such as releasing weevils has been initiated. This is my small but sincere effort to highlight the beauty of America's equivalent to the Amazon rainforest and raise awareness.
The Upper Walled Garden is an inspiring place to photograph at virtually any time of year. It was now late October, the cool and sometimes frosty nights were being followed by warm, bright and calm days.
Mist filled the valley and the morning sun began to highlight the scene; the conditions were perfect to photograph an ‘Indian Summer’ morning.
It was very late evening on my garden terrace, when I captured this beautiful flower of Iris versicolor 'Mint Fresh', I chose to focus on the vein-like pattern of the petal design.
The purple bokeh of blurred violets in the lower part of the picture creates a calming separation between the flower and the background.
Even in winter, with the right conditions tropical waterlilies can bloom. The leaves from the tree had long since fallen, however the remaining branches still attracted me, so I tried to combine the two symbols of life with exaggerated visual methods – producing an effect inspired by ancient Chinese lacquerware.
I visited the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Plitvice to capture the stunning winter scenery and woodlands with one of the many impressive waterfalls in the park.
