Been there photo competition, September: green

One of the green means of transportation in Africa. A bike leaning against a green school wall, belonging to one of the participants in a water pump maintenance training programme that took place in Itoculo district, Nampula Province, Mozambique this July Photograph: Hana Buresova A big green bug in northern Laos Photograph: James Melville A green bach near Fox river on the west coast of South Island, New Zealand, stands precipitously on a vegetated cliff top. It blends perfectly into the surroundings, in an attempt to meld the architectural colours with nature Photograph: Fiona Coyle Image taken in April 2010 of view along Champs-Élysées looking towards Place de la Concorde, Paris Photograph: Donna Cumming I took this photo of runner beans in Las Ramblas market in Barcelona - probably the most amazing food market I've been to. So much care is taken to present the food Photograph: Richard Whittington Fihalhohi, the Maldives Photograph: Natalie McKean Wallpaper in a cafe in Madrid. I thought the colouring and patterning of the wallpaper, and the contrasting lamp shade, exressed a visual style that you wouldn't normally associate with Spain Photograph: Graeme Maughan I took this photo in Hyde Park, in this year's Serpentine Gallery Pavilion. The red part is the inside of the pavilion, shot thanks to a mirrored door left ajar. The green is a reflection of trees in the pavilion's outside walls. I liked the word 'green' on a red surface, and reddish reflections on green trees Photograph: Slawek kozdras Photograph: Action images Taken in January in Islas del Rosario, Colombia Photograph: Mhairi Aitken It was pure serendipity that this lady in the Mekong Delta happened to be wearing an outfit the exact same colour as her family's bulging banana tree. Or was it? Photograph: Benjamin Arthur A young lynx hides behind green leaves Photograph: Matthias Burkhalter 'Devil's bath' at Wai-O-tapu, south of Rotorua, New Zealand. The intense green of the water is due to a mix of ferrous salts and sulphur Photograph: Claudio Piombetti Insect in the undergrowth, green on green. Taken this September near Blagaj in Bosnia and Herzegovina in an area now cleared of landmines Photograph: Chrissy Hammond The sulphur in Costa Rica's Irazú volcano has turned the crater lake bright green - so it looks like something out of a Bond movie Photograph: Tim Jones The market at Hue, Vietnam, on a typically torrential September day Photograph: Nick Board The greenest of birds, he spends his time posing for backpackers among statues at a hostel in Lima, Peru Photograph: Stephanie Webster A close-up photo of a rice paddy with modern buildings in the background, taken in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan Photograph: Steve Smith Photograph: Steve Smith/Action images A school teacher shuts up for the day in a Muslim neighbourhood in southern Vietnam Photograph: Jamie lafferty Towels hanging in Venice Photograph: Anthony Craddock Taken in Marrakesh museum on an August day of more than 45C, this image reflects my relief at encountering cool, tranquil green, a colour not commonly associated with Morocco Photograph: Lindsey Moore Tiny specks in a realm of green. Hikers on the top of Morne Nicholls, en route to the Boiling Lake in Dominica's Morne Trois Pitons national park, a Unesco world heritage site Photograph: Paul Crask Fern impression, Uppark, Sussex Photograph: Chris Mole Graeme Fordham: I caught this image at the side of the road between Dahab and Sharm in the Sinai Peninsular, Egypt, after heavy rains last winter. They were the heaviest rains in many years and released lush green life from seeds lying dormant in the ground. The searing heat soon dried the ground but the shoots flourished from beneath it, creating this unusual spectacle Natalie Mayer, judge: This is a nicely observed scene - a plant triumphing in apparent environmental adversity. It might have added interest if the photographer had widened the aperture to dramatically decrease the depth of field - F2.8 or below, with the focus held on the greenery, would really have given this shot added pop. Sometimes, having the whole photo in focus can make it look a bit snap-shot like. Narrowing the range of focus draws the viewer's eye to the important elements of the shot and helps us quickly make sense of the photographer's vision Photograph: Graeme Fordham Nicholas Lam: Ladybird living in the green Natalie Mayer, judge: This image is technically perfect, and takes advantage of a nice wide aperture, as mentioned in the previous comment. It's beautifully sharp, with the focus precisely in the right place - doesn't your eye just go to exactly the right area of the photograph as soon as you look at it? That is the benefit of using depth of field cleverly. Obviously this one also has the 'pop' of great colour contrast on its side too. An excellent runner up, thank you! Photograph: Nicholas Lam The winning photo by Jason Pemberton: Cycling out of Pokhara in Nepal I spotted these farmers carrying feed through the intensely green rice paddies Natalie Mayer, judge: This is a really nicely balanced composition, and it certainly takes in the theme of green, so for me it is the outstanding winner this month. The photographer has included just enough to make the shot interesting to look at - if that fella hadn't been at the front, providing us with some detail, or if any distracting elements had been included around the edges, then the composition wouldn't have worked nearly so well. Well done! Photograph: Jason Pemberton