There are just a few competitions that I enter most years which include Wildlife Photographer of Year, British Wildlife Photography Awards and International Garden Photographer of the Year. This year, for the first time, I thought I would try my luck (you never know whether you will be successful or not) with the Italian competition - Asferico: International Nature Photography Competition. There are some exceptional images (the overall winner is yet to be revealed) with a strong, creative bias and amongst those awarded only 4 are represented from the UK and so I was especially happy to be awarded Highly Commended in the Plants and Fungi category with my image of a white helleborine at twilight.
Taken as part of my Twilight project (you can view the series here) I recall, vividly, the evening I captured this image. As with most of my personal work I concentrate on those areas very close to where I live and there is a reserve not far away that each year has many white helleborines flowering in the same place. They have a wonderful structure and I was sure they would make an interesting silhouette. After some time scrambling around on all fours, in the fading light, moving from one flower to another desperately trying to seek out a gap in the trees in which I could place the flower I had all but given up hope until suddenly, there it was. Not only a window in which to frame it but one that mimicked its shape too! Those moments when it all comes together are rare but always make the effort more than worthwhile.
