Win big
With so many different competitions to enter, you can be sure there’s one that matches your favourite genre. It’s a great way to challenge yourself, focus your mind and potentially take home some fantastic prizes. Some of the UK’s top competitions can attract tens of thousands of entries, so trying to ensure that your image stands out from the crowd can be tricky. To help increase your chances, we spoke to the judges of some of the world’s biggest competitions, and have compiled the best advice and tips.
Most competitions, owing to the effort involved in the shortlisting and judging process, charge a fee to enter. Therefore, it’s crucial to ensure your image stands a chance of getting to the finals, otherwise you’re simply wasting your money. The following insights may help you decide which of your images are up to the task.
Outdoor Photographer of the Year
Run by the publishers of Outdoor Photography magazine, this competition is dedicated to landscape, wildlife, nature and adventure. The grand prize is the Fjällräven Award, which gives you £3,000 to assemble your dream collection of outdoor adventure kit.
Steve Watkins is the head judge. He explains, ‘In the 2017 competition, it took around 10 extremely intensive days and evenings to go through all the entries. At first, I wonder if the first few images are the best I am going to see, but as the process continues, it gets quicker because it becomes clearer which images are over the bar and which ones aren't going to make it.
‘I've spent a lot of time over the course means it is increasingly easy to spot when a photographer is fully connected to their own emotions, what they are doing when taking the photograph and the subject they are shooting. It's this connection that elevates an image to the highest levels. It's hard to specify what demonstrates that connection, but it is obvious in an image when it's there.' To find out more, see .
