You don’t actually need to bushwhack your way through the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. If that were the case, we probably wouldn’t be holding salsa classes there.

Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

Rhythm, texture, and light captivated the photographers in the second week of our annual Caribbean Garden Photography Contest. There were considerably more entries this week, and the competition was fierce. And why shouldn’t it be? There’s $200 worth of NYBG Adult Education Gift Certificates up for grabs; $100 to each winner in our two categories–Macro and Sense of Place–good towards the class of your choosing at the Garden or at our Midtown Center.

So without further ado, our winners.

Sense of Place Winner, Week Two

NYBG Caribbean Garden by Mika Sato

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I have this sneaking suspicion that the spaces under “Saturday” and “Sunday” are sitting blank in your planner right now. If you’re not dashing onto a plane to escape the return of chilly weather to New York, I’m going to make a solid suggestion: get your camera. You probably have one sitting on the shelf somewhere, pitifully neglected, waiting for the day you make the commitment to get out and start learning the craft.

If you haven’t etched your plans in stone, put a few bucks on your MetroCard and head to the Bronx with your Nikons, your Canons, your Fujis or whatever else you can come up with. We’re actually going to reward you for participating in our Caribbean Garden photography contest, not just with the chance to come back for a course or workshop of your choosing with our NYBG educators, but for tips and tricks provided by professional garden photographers this Sunday afternoon. You can’t keep making excuses! Because who knows? Wait too long and the steamroller of technological innovation just might make your camera format obsolete.
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The first week of the Caribbean Garden Photography Contest was a well-fought match with many beautiful photographs entered. But that’s not all we’re here to tell you. We also would like to announce that the Grand Prize in each category–Sense of Place and Macro–will be receiving $100 Adult Education Gift Certificates good towards the class of your choosing at the Garden or at our Midtown Center. The certificate can be used for any class–not just photography! Now that’s a prize worth competing for.

Do you think you have what it takes? Check out this week’s winners! If you think you can do better, become a Friend of the Garden, get a code good for 50% off your Caribbean Garden tickets, and head to the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory to start shooting!

Macro Winner, Week One

New York Botanical Garden-59 by Yahyia Gassem

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The passion flower: revered for its beauty, nearly extraterrestrial in its strangeness, and occasionally a carrier of squidly tendrils.

Passiflora ‘Grace Ann’ — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

At the core of botany is a rampant love of adventure. It’s traipsing through the back yard in search of four-leaf clovers as much as it’s hiking through a cloud forest on the trail of a rare epiphyte. It’s about climbing trees, whistling through blades of grass, and chasing the satisfaction of discovery. The need to uncover new things begins early. And if, as Carl Sagan once said, “every kid starts out as a natural-born scientist,” there’s no better team to enlist in our search for Dr. Ed!

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Rumor has it we’ll be seeing some snow in New York tonight! Does that mean winter’s finally making its frigid entrance stage right? Or maybe it’s just nature’s subtle way of nudging you to get off the couch and pay us a visit for the balmy opening of the Caribbean Garden. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that–yes–the season is giving you a signal. What could it hurt?

Snowflakes or no-flakes, the NYBG will be buzzing with tours, bird walks, and all the swinging, high-heeled dance numbers of the islands. I’m talking salsa. Salsa and warmth. When’s the last time you got to enjoy that kind of two-in-one in the middle of January? And even if the winter was mild until now, it’s a breezy icebox outside today; I’m convinced the threat of frostbite is reason enough to hang out in the jungle habitats of the steamy Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.

Here’s what’s going on this weekend at the Garden!
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This year’s Caribbean Garden promises to be even more photogenic than the last! The picturesque fronds and flowers of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory‘s permanent collection once again take the spotlight to promote not only the beauty you see, but the beauty you create.

Walk the pathways of the Conservatory on a tour of our verdant living collections. Award-winning photos from the International Garden Photographer of the Year contest–taken in gardens around the world–will be on display alongside plants from around the Caribbean. Enjoy the beautiful photographs and access additional information on the photographers, their inspiration, and the techniques they used to capture these stunning images by simply scanning a code on each sign with your smartphone. And on Sundays, join one of two accomplished photographers for a brief course on the basics of garden shooting.

Whether you’re green to the art or just looking to brush up on your technique, come for some winter weather relief and don’t forget your camera.
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Each year, as winter charges through, every commercial break on television chimes in with the daydream of a tropical paradise–swimsuits, warmth, and salsa music. Suddenly a car horn blares and the vision fades, leaving a woman with a headcold shivering at an icy New York bus stop. It’s as predictable as the sun rising. But while we can’t just let you hop through the visitor gates in your neon two-piece, The New York Botanical Garden brings more than a mirage to the table; the daydream becomes reality this month. Starting January 21, the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory brings the tropics to the city with Caribbean Garden.
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2011 was less than two weeks old when we announced our Caribbean Garden Photo Contest. After receiving hundreds of submissions and a meeting a whole new batch of flickr friends, your votes narrowed it down to twelve finalists in the categories “sense of place” and “macro.”

Well, the results are in. Your Flickr friends voted with their comments and here are your winners!

Macro Category Winner

By kathleenpimm

Sense Of Place Category Winner

By youngsol

The lucky winners will recieve a spot in an upcoming spring semester photography class offered by the Garden’s Adult Education Program.

Thanks to everyone who participated! What did you think of the contest? How can we make it better? What would you like to see? Let us know in the comments below!