Photography Competitions

Hi. If you're an amateur or pro photographer who would like to try entering your photographs in competitions, you've come to the right place.

Receive an update every time a new photography contest is added- see options in the column to the right.

Whether you win or not, entering competitions can be a great way to improve your photography skills and to show your talents to a large audience. Take a look at the article: Tips for Winning Photo Contests. Readers have added their own tips in the comments section and you're welcome to add your own.


GIVEAWAY

The Blurb Australia photo book giveaway has now finished - see below for details.



Be sure to click on the "Older Posts" link right at the bottom of the page to see more photo contest opportunities.

Have details of a photography competition that you'd like to pass on?
Email me at: editor (at) photocompetitions (dot) com (dot) au. Please take a look at the Artists Bill of Rights guide for competition organisers first.

Winners of the Blurb Photo Book Giveaway

Congratulations to Mel McD, Allira D, John F, Melissa S and Dionne M who each receive a AUD $50 voucher from Blurb in Australia to make their own photo books.  Allira says she'll be using photos from a recent trip to Italy.

And thanks Blurb Australia for the lovely giveaway!

If you've created a Blurb photo book and you'd like other readers of PhotoCompetitions.com.au to take a look at your completed work, you can create a digital preview for free. Just send your link through to - Editor (at) Photocompetitions (dot) com (dot) au when you're ready.

At Blurb you can not only create your own photo book, but you can also do clever things like turn your Facebook pages or Blog into a book, create your own cookbook or use your Instagram photos to create a gorgeous 7 x7 publication. Take a look at some ideas here. 

Books can be printed with hard or soft covers in a range of styles and sizes.

Blurb also has a bookstore where you can sell your books.

Weather Calendar Photo Competition

Did you know that the weather has its own calendar? The Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society have produced a photographic weather calendar since 1985.

Entries for the 2013 Australian Weather Calendar photo competition are now open for photographers of all nationalities. So if you're considering visiting Australia or its territories, make sure you bring your camera. Look out for great photos of:

• clouds
• thunderstorms
• lightning
• rainbows and
• tornadoes

DEADLINE: 31 March 2012

PRIZES
Winning photographers receive three calendars.

You also get the satisfaction of knowing that your photo (credited with your name) will be admired by thousands of people the world over as weather calendars are distributed throughout Australia and internationally.

NOTE: 

Entries must include Australian landscapes and skies, (also Australian territories).

Copyright remains with the photographer and details of how the image will be used can be found on the Entry Form.

HOW TO ENTER:

1. Your entry needs to be a photographic print, minimum size of 10 x 15 cms and you can send in up to eleven separate photos.
2. Fill in an Entry Form
3. Post to:

Australian Weather Calendar competition

National Meteorological Library
Bureau of Meteorology
GPO Box 1289
MELBOURNE VIC 3001

WEBSITE  http://www.bom.gov.au/calendar/contest/

CLOUDS

And I learned something else after looking at the Bureau of Meteorology website -- there is a Cloud Appreciation Society with over 28,000 members. If you've ever looked up and thought, "Nice clouds today - look an elephant!", have a look at http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/

Bribie Island Sunset

Reader wins Major Prize

David Lazar's photo of Burmese fishermen

Congratulations to David Lazar who is a regular visitor to PhotoCompetitions.com.au.  He has taken out the major prize in the Australian Newspaper's Travel & Indulgence /  Abercrombie & Kent photography competition. You can read about it here.

David's prize, valued at $16,500 is a seven night luxury safari for two with Abercrombie & Kent (luxury tour operator) in Kenya and Tanzania.

See more of David's photos on his photo gallery page.

Burrard-Lucas 2012 Photo Competitions

Esme

The very talented Burrard-Lucas brothers (William & Matthew) run a website called Burrard-Lucas Wildlife Photography which is definitely worth a visit. Take a look at what a lion did to one of their cameras - BeetleCam.

They also run regular photo competitions with some great prizes.  Competitions themes for 2012 are:

• Pets - deadline 31 March 2012
• Landscapes - April to June 2012
• Wildlife - July to September 2012
• Travel - October to December 2012

The grand prize winner receives a Canon 60D camera. They also have a Facebook / Twitter @willbl  competition and you'll find details of how to enter on their main competition page.

Return to main competition listing

Photography Competitions Index

Thank you everyone who sent in photo competitions to list on this site. Here are quick links for you with deadlines.

Check below this post for other photography contests that I've written about in detail.

Burrard-Lucas Pet Photography Contest
First deadline:  31 March 2012

Weather Calendar
Deadline: 31 March 2012

Global Wind Day Photography Competition
Deadline: 6 May 2012

Macquarie Photography Prize
Deadline: 24 May 2012

Botanic Gardens  - International Photography Competition
Closed: 10 December 2011

HostelBookers Surfing Photo Competition
Closed: 19 December 2011

Travel Photography Competition from New Limited
Closed: 30 Dec 2011
Google Photography Prize
Closed: 31 January 2012

Portrait Prize - Queensland Festival of Photography
Closed : 29 February 2012


Ongoing Photography Competitions

Intrepid Travel Photography Competition
Deadline: monthly and 30 June each year

Australian Traveller Magazine Landscape Photography Competition
Deadline: every two months

Your Best Shot from Popular Photography magazine
Deadline: end of each month

PicoPhoto Photo Story monthly Competition (look for the Facebook link)
Deadline: end of each month

Australian Digital Photo of the Day
Deadline: enter any time

Photo Continental Photo Competition
Deadline: end of each month

Magazines with Photo Competitions

Baby Express Photo Competition
Deadline: end of each month

Not quite a photo contest, but an innovative way for Brisbane based photographers to have their work distributed- Papergirl Brisbane

Australian Traveller Magazine Landscape Photo

"Fallen Arch" by Simon Beedle

In each edition of Australian Traveller magazine a double-page, glossy spread is devoted to a reader's winning Australian landscape photo. The winner also receives a great prize.  In the past these have included a Canon 550D SLR camera with a twin lens kit, a Tamron macro lens, and an Olympus Pen camera with a twin lens kit.
Runners-up are also published in the magazine and receive prizes.

To enter, email a low res version of the photo directly to the Editor of the magazine. You can enter multiple images, but attach them to separate emails. If you win, they'll contact you for a high-res image.

I love this magazine, not just for the luscious photography, but also because their reviewers visit hotels/resorts anonymously without receiving special media privileges, so you know you're getting a genuine and honest review.

Deadline:
Magazine is published bi-monthly, so there's a deadline every two months.  The first deadline of 2012 was January 13th.

Prize: varies, but usually camera equipment.

How to Enter:
Email a low-res image plus your name, address, phone number, where and when the shot was taken, equipment used, any post-production notes and why you love the landscape to Australian Traveller's editor, Elisabeth Knowles.

editor@australiantraveller.com

Web:  Australian Traveller

Global Wind Day Photo Competition

Wind Farm - Australia

I've always liked wind farms. They look like majestic kinetic sculptures. We did a road trip over the Australian summer holidays and at one stage followed a line of wind turbines. Night was falling and I snapped an image through the car window, using a Canon point and shoot camera set on 1600 ISO. The result was very grainy and dull...thank goodness for Photoshop!

To celebrate Global Wind Day, the "Wind in Mind" photo competition challenges you to "show the technology as it has never been seen before".

Deadline:  6 May 2012

Open to: photographers worldwide, 18 years and over

Prizes:
Global Winner - €1000 from Amazon
5 Runners Up (one from each continent) - €250 from Amazon
All winners photos will be published and become part of an exhibition

Note:
You can submit a maximum of three photos.  Each photo must be between 1MB and 10MB and at least 2000 pixels wide or high.

Website:  Global Wind Day

Entry: Competition Entry Page

Terms & Conditions here

Your Best Shot Photography Competition

PopPhoto.com, the online site of Popular Photography magazine, runs a monthly Your Best Shot photography competition. There's no particular subject matter they're after. The judges are simply looking for your "most creative and well done work". 

Finalists are featured on the website and each month, the best photo is printed in Popular Photography magazine, which by the way, has a readership of over 2 million. That's pretty good exposure for your photograph. There's also prizes for the top three photographers.

The magazine also runs a monthly Photo Challenge which, in the past, has included: adventure photography, concert photos and images taken at dawn or dusk. You'll find details of the latest photo challenge at the website below.

DEADLINE  end of each month

PRIZES 
1st $300 cash
2nd $200 cash
3rd $100 cash

WEBSITE PopPhoto

Rules: here - take special note of the second sentence under "General Rules" before submitting your photo.

Editor's Note:  Just a bit extra about Popular Photography...I've subscribed to this magazine (from Australia) in the past and if you're wanting to improve your photography, there's plenty to learn each month.  Currently (Feb 2012), Australians can subscribe via the PopPhoto.com website for $31.93 Australian dollars for 12 issues. At $2.66 an issue delivered to your door, that's pretty good value.

In the US, a yearly subscription is $14 and in Canada $22.

Macquarie Photography Prize

Best Live Action winner by Craig Parry

The 2012 Macquarie Photography Prize is open to photographers of any age from any country. Finalists and winners will have their images shown at exhibitions in Sydney, Dubbo and Orange in Australia. Winners also receive cash prizes with the People's Choice winner being able to choose $3,000 worth of camera equipment.

The judge for this year is Craig Parry.

Deadline: 24 May 2012

Categories

• Funny Faces
• Storms
• Architecture
• Arthouse - digitally manipulated images

Open to: Photographers of any age from any country

Prizes
Best in Show - $5000
Each category - $500
People's Choice - Camera equipment to the value of $3,000

Entrance Fee - $5 online

Previous Winning Images

Web:  here

Competition Rules and Terms & Conditions and Entry Form