Want Fame & Glory? Try Your Luck In These 6 Annual Photo Contests
It’s not always easy to come up with new, creative ideas for your photos. Sometimes you need to give yourself an assignment to snap out of the old way of doing things. Submitting your photos to contests not only gives you a specific goal to work towards, you also get feedback on your work from the pros. And if you’re lucky, a prize or two to boot.
These yearly contests will give you plenty of inspiration:
Leica’s Newcomer Award For the past 30 years, the Leica Oskar Barnack Award (for pro photographers only) has honored outstanding photographers from all over the world as the winners of this prestigious contest. This year, they decided to add a new category, the ” Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award”, open to “prospective professional photographers” under the age of 26. To enter, submit a series of max 12 photos depicting “the interaction between man and the environment” on or before March 1. There is no entry fee, and the Newcomer Award is $2,500 Euros, and your work exhibited in Leica’s online gallery.
International Photography Awards You’re sure to find a category that suits your tastes in this contest: there are 8 main and 51 subcategories for amateurs, and 9 main and 63 subcategories for pros. The deadline is March 27, and the cost to enter is $25 for a single image, $50 for a series and $15 for each image after that (for amateurs). A jury picks 21 category winners, and prizes include cash ($10,000 and $5,000), exhibits of your work, Lucie statues, and the winner awarded the “Photographer of the Year” prize will also be featured in (and shoot part of) a Pilsner Urquell documercial in the Czech Republic!
Underwater Photo and Video Competition This competition is open to amateurs only, and if you enjoy diving and snorkeling, it’s definitely one to put on your “submit list”. There are 5 photo categories: Conservation, Majestic, Togetherness, Macro, and Wide Angle, and they are obviously looking for photos taken underwater. And check out the prizes: diving trips to the Solomon Islands, the Cayman Islands, Bonaire, Hawaii, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Honduras, hotel stays and dive packages in several different (exotic) locations, equipment, gift cards and much more. The entry fee is $10/image, and you can enter as many as you like. The Underwater Images competition is a non-profit corporation and all proceeds from this competition go to marine conservation, education, and scholarships, so this is money well spent. The deadline is April 1, but for an additional $5/image, you can enter as late as April 10.
2009 National Wildlife Contest This is the 39th annual photo contest held by National Wildlife Magazine, and they welcome pros, amateurs and youths (13-17). The categories are: Mammals, Birds, Other Wildlife, Backyard Habitats, Connecting People and Nature, Landscapes and Plant Life, and, new for 2009, Global Warming and Wildlife. It’s $15 to enter, and you may submit up to 20 photos before the July 20 deadline. The fee also includes a one-year membership to National Wildlife Federation AND six issues of the magazine, so it’s quite a bargain! Prizes include cash ($1,000 and $5,000), field guides, calendars, and your photo(s) online and in print.
World In Focus National Geographic’s annual competition welcomes both amateurs and professionals, and you can enter your photos (as many as you want) in the following categories: Travel Portraits, Outdoor Scenes, Sense of Place, Spontaneous Moments, and Photo Essay. The deadline is usually in August or September (the date has not been announced for 2009 yet), and the cost to enter is $12/photo for amateurs. Past prizes have included trips to Antarctica and Chile, a cruise aboard the Maine Windjammer, photo workshops in Mexico, cameras and gear. You also get your images displayed on the National Geographic website and a gallery exhibit. I have to admit that competition here is always really stiff, but don’t let that scare you – if you don’t enter, you can’t win!
Islands Magazine’s Annual Photo Contest For those who love to travel, entering this competition, where the best island photo wins, is a must. Not only will you have a great excuse to travel so you can get the shots you need to enter (unless you’re lucky enough to live in an island paradise already), the winners are awarded trips to fabulous locations. We just missed the deadline for 2009 (it was January 31), but that gives you almost a year to work on your submission for 2010. Keep an eye on their website for updates.
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