Home ❯ Tree Festival 2025 ❯ Winners: “I love this tree because…’ 2025 photo competition

Winners: “I love this tree because…’ 2025 photo competition

Celebrating the immense value of trees

Winner

Paul O’Prey
Dew Pond & Hawthorn

The judges said:
“As classic as a photograph can be, done beautifully”
“A really simple composition, it says it all about the Downs”
“Great with rolling hills in the back ground and with nature and folk law tied into the story”

See gallery below for full images

Winner

Steve Geliot
The Veteran Ash

The judges said:
“It’s fabulous, beautifully shot with an unusual and interesting composition.”
“Loved what he has to say too.”

See gallery below for full images

Rising Stars Winner

Evy Finney-Chokey
Waves in the Wood

See gallery below for full images

What the judges said:

‘All the lovely, imaginative, pictures entered, have given us another way of looking at trees, that’s what I loved about this collection.” Juliet Sargeant

‘Coming from different perspectives they’re all quite conceptually creative. Some of them are quite unexpected, which is inspiring.’ Barnaby Ash and Dru Plumb

‘It is a real treat to see such beautiful and interesting pictures,  each one giving us another way of seeing and appreciating our wonderful trees’ Penny Hudd

‘The quality of submissions is really good this year, people have brought thoughtful interpretation and creativity to the subject, which is fabulous’ James Tulley

Winners gallery

Click on image to enlarge

Paul O’Prey | Dew Pond & Hawthorn | "I love these lone hawthorns by the dewpond on Ditchling Beacon because they give shade to thirsty sheep and rest to wind-weary birds. In blossom time they are alive with bees. Dewponds and May trees are both rich in folklore and magic. This is a mysterious place; the city and the sea far below seem from another world.
Steve Geliot | The Veteran Ash | I love this tree because of the way it frames the soft curves of the escarpment with expressively jagged branches and spiky palmate leaves, and also for the shelter it gives me at night, holding a pocket of warm air around me. You get a kind of call and answer with the wind rushing through the nine young trees at the top, and the gentle susurations of the veteran at the bottom. I am recording its last years as it sadly succumbs to Ash Dieback disease.
Evy Finney-Chokey | Waves in the Wood | I love this tree because it is nature’s climbing frame. Kids queue up so that they can reach the top to be king of the castle. The trunk is soft to the touch with lines like waves. A work of art made by nature. | Aged 12, Blatchington Mill secondary school Cedar of Lebanon, behind Stanmer House

Shortlisted photographs

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Will Flewett | December light on the Downs | I love this tree. Running along the South Downs Way near Truleigh Hill in December this lone tree was silhouetted against themorning sun. I wondered how long it had stood there surviving the wintry blasts.
Marianne Saabye | Middle Street | I am attracted to the physical environs of Shoreham-by-Sea: the building facades, the alleys and the streets as well as the remains of Bungalow Town on Shoreham Beach. My photographs explore the towns physical geography and its trees.
John Weaver | Resilience | I love this wind-shaped little tree: it’s not just surviving, but flourishing as it bravely stands alone atop a coastal hill directly exposed to the year-round strong south westerly winds.
G. Duque Adão | The Fairy Gate | I love this tree because it helps me get in touch with my inner-child. Going through it feels like going through a portal where you can see the fae of the woods and the magic of nature. It makes me take a deep breath and really notice the life in the woods. This tree also reminds me that resilience is not stubbornness but adaptation.
Richard Gifford | Misty Oak | I love this tree because, standing alone this majestic oak captures the calm resilience of the living coast. Framed by the Downs and a single wind turbine, it reflects the balance between nature and renewable energy; rooted in tradition yet facing forward into the future.
Derek Winsor | Survivor | I love this tree because, although flattened by persistent high winds and rough weather over many years in this exposed spot on the South Downs escarpment, this tenacious little tree still clings on to life.
Liz Cook | Our Tree’s Planting Birthday, May 14th 2024 | I love this tree because the community spent two years and raised £3,000 to get it planted. It is loved by everyone as it is the only street tree in the area. :)
Poppy Manley | Tree Teacher | I love this tree because it represents our tree planting project at Queen’s Park primary school. It was planted from seed by children who are now in year 7 when they were in year 3, which means it is the same age as the children that play around it in the reception playground now.
Kay Whitcroft | Magnolia in the churchyard | I love this tree because from a distance it can be seen hanging over the church wall. On this one day I was lucky enough to get into the churchyard and see it in full bloom. This is the most beautiful tree in my neighbourhood.
Arthur Rust-Gray | My Happy Tree | I love this tree because it makes me smile every day on my way to school. I love watching it grow and change. | Aged 6, Stanford Infant School
Buckley Henderson | High in the Sky | Big tree stands so tall, old rope swing moves in the wind – I like swinging high. haiku | Aged 11, Lancing Prep School, Hove
Lily Samuel Settimi | The Light in Between | I love these trees because of the contrast between the yellowy orange light and the brown of the tree and the orange leaves on top of the ground. They have a sense of mystery and stillness. | Aged 18, BHASVIC