LONDON.-Sarah Gallifent has taken top honours in the RHS Photographic Competition 2007, sponsored by Medici, and was named RHS Photographer of the Year, winning joint first prize in the Close Up Category. The Devon-based photographer's striking image of Phormium 'Alison Blackman', was selected from over 3,800 entries, from across the UK and around the world.

It took the panel of judges two days to decide on the 19 winning photographs in the six competition categories. Chris Young, one of the competition judges and deputy editor of The Garden, had this to say about the entires this year:

"The over-riding observation for me this year was that ‘amateur’ photography is no longer a term I fully recognise. The overall quality of the images - in terms of composition, clarity and technical ability - was as good, and in many cases a lot better, than some of the professionals I have encountered in the past. I can honestly say that in each category, the final five or so images were all as good as each other: getting to first, second and third was a challenge. But, it was a great position to be in, and hugely exciting for the ongoing development and status of garden photography.”