This delicate image is from Carol's 'Release' series which is concerned with methods by which seeds leaving the dead or dying seedhead to start new life elsewhere.

The concept of letting go can be seen as painful but here Carol shows it as a peaceful meditiative process. Its part of the cylcle of life.

Carol had her own experience of letting go during this shoot. The Rosebay wilowherb is seen as a pernicous weed and she had been trying in vain to organically control it. "Since I have let go of controlling these plants and seeing them as an unwelcome visitor in my meadow, I have begun to appreciate their beauty."

This image was Commended in the Beauty of Plants category of the Garden Photographer of the Year 2013 awards.

Carol was invited to join 3 other women artists in a group show based around their responses to the ideas of Gaia. This resonated with Carol's interest in man and nature in harmony and she is showing several peices including this 3D piece.

The show was held at the 1066 gallery in Battle, Hastings from 6th April to 5th May 2013 and was a Pure Arts production.

Click here for details

Carol had 2 images selected for inclusion in the Association of Photographers group online exhibition 'Elements', which was broadly based on weather.

The show ran from December 2012 to January 2013 and can be viewed via the

AOP website.

The Black and White Spider Awards is the leading international award honoring black and white photography.

This is one of 2 images Carol had shortlisted in the Nature category.

Entitled 'Network', the image illusttrates how Carol's images can represent abstract concepts, especially when depicted in black and white.

Carol is fascinated by natural forms and finding familiar patterns in natures apparent chaos. The amazing structures of umbellifers particularly suggest the interconnectedness of all things.

This show challenges the widely held assumption that a photograph is a piece of the world, which needs to be identified and interpreted before we know how to react to it.

In these pieces an image of nature is juxtaposed with analytical ‘left brain’ information and intuitive ‘right brain‘ meanderings. However, it is only when we transcend language and enter the wordless dimension of ‘no mind’, when the brain’s chatter is silent, that we can connect with the subject and with nature, the matrix which itself connects all things.

‘Paradigm shifts’ is a term that has now entered the language to describe any profound change in our frame of reference.

The show ran from 05 - 25 Mar 2010 at Eleven Spitalfields gallery in London.

View a gallery of Carol Sharp's Paradigm Shifts show.

This image won 2nd place in the Edible Garden category in IGPOTY 2010 -  the International Garden Photographer of the Year competition. But when people were asked to vote for their favourite image, it won the People's Choice.

Carol grew these Purple podded peas from seeds, as part of a self initiated project to promote beautiful and garden worthy heritage vegetable varieties from Garden Organic's Heritage Seed Library, These seeds are being saved for our future biodiversity, they are our heirlooms. Click here to see all 12 images

The Photography Masters Cup International Colour Awards is one of the leading awards honouring excellence in colour photography.

Thousands of photographers enter these prestigious awards, and in October 40,000 viewers from 154 countries attended an online event to see the 4th annual awards ceremony, judged by a prestigious international panel.

This image of Agave americana won an Honourable Mention in the Abstract category.

The Transition series of images symbolize Carol Sharp‘s journey through the literal into abstraction, where she explores our connections with nature on a deeper level.

Oscillating between and co-existing as physical and abstract realities, faded stalks of reed join their ambiguous reflections in the water. This is where they will eventually return and disintegrate, before re-emerging, once again re-enacting their perennial metamorphosis.

Carol exhibited Transition as part of Photomonth in London October 2009. You can view a gallery of the images here.

This delightful shot of a London Plane tree seedhead was one of the final 3 short listed for Single Image of the Year in the Garden Photographers’ Association’s annual awards 2008.

Once again Carol’s image attracted much interest as it had a different approach to the usual imagery. As well as careful framing and selective focus, the choice to present it as a blue duotone emphasizes the freezing weather.

The Black and White Spider Awards is the leading international award honouring excellence in black and white photography. Hundreds of thousands of images are entered so Carol was pleased to get to the final stages. Among 3 images nominated to the shortlist in the Nature category was this dramatic image of an agave from a series called Rhythm. You can view the series here.

The main focus of Carol's work is nature, and where better to be surrounded by a wealth of beautiful subject matter, than at her home in Norfolk.

This subtle black and white image of Honesty gently opening to disperse it's seeds, was one of a set of six short listed for the Norfolk Photographer of the Year competition 2008 and exhibited in the accompanying show.

A delicate blade of grass balances a drop of morning dew, with the aid of a slender rope of silk.

This was one of four images chosen for the semi final of the prestigious worldwide Shell Widlife Photographer of the Year competition, In the Creative Visions of Nature and In Praise of Plants categories.

This dramatic black and white image of the weed Creeping Thistle, caused a stir when shown on the big screen as one of the final 3 short listed for Single Image of the Year in the Garden Photographers’ Association’s annual awards.

These awards are part of the Garden Media Guild’s annual event where the best garden and plant images and journalism are celebrated.

Carol's sumptuous image of the darkest of tulips 'Queen of Night', was chosen out of thousands of images as a finalist in the Plant Portrait category of the International Garden Photographer of the Year competition 2007.

Carol was also commended for her portfolio entry, a series of ferns, and a single close up of a palm frond.

Prints are available as part of the Art on Demand program at 18 of the world's most prestigious museums and galleries including Tate, Natural History Museum, MoMA New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art New York and Smithsonian Institute Washington to name a few.

This striking image of a musk thistle won a Judge’s Choice award at the prestigious 2007 AOP Awards.

The AOP Open is a competition run by the Association of Photographers featuring eclectic images selected from over 1,700 entered by photographers worldwide, of which only seven were selected to receive awards.

Show sponsors Marshall’s high profile garden was designed by Scenic Blue, incorporating a garden room. They chose to furnish this with colourful canvases and floor cushions from Carol’s Vibrant Palette collection.

Many of the TV broadcasts were made from the platform immediately above this room.

Carol exhibits annually at the prestigious GPA International Photographic Competition, one of the UK¹s most respected photography events, showcasing both original and visionary work in its field.

Carols winning image was selected for the front cover of the July/August 2006 Garden Design Journal.

Carol designed an acclaimed stand for displaying her books, ‘From Bud to Seed’ at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2001. She displayed plants beautifully lit behind a wall in which she set large magnifying glasses, giving the audience a chance to look ‘through the lens’.

Carol’s increasing botanical knowledge led to a concept for a series of books in 2001 where she chose 10 top plants that were interesting in all life stages, entitled ‘From Bud to Seed’ - published by Conran Octopus. She photographed each stage in exquisite detail revealing a beauty and character unseen by the naked eye. The books were launched at an exhibition at the Association of Photographers gallery where huge enlargements were made of the shots.

Carol submits annually to the Garden Photographers Association Awards, and has been selected to exhibit every year. In 2004 her image was used on the cover of the awards book and brochure.