It has been a very difficult couple of years and it’s easy to feel flat and lack inspiration to take photos. One way to get ideas flowing again, and your creative spark back, is to participate in photography competitions. Whether they motivate you to look back over old content, or to head out and shoot fresh pictures, it will help you get that buzz back. There are plenty of competitions out there, so you’re bound to find one which takes your fancy. Here are six suggestions, some of which you can enter now, others which you can add to your diary.
Pink Lady Food Photographer
If you’ve read my How to Photograph: Food blog, you’ll know I’m a massive food lover, so of course I’m going to tell you about the Pink Lady Food Photographer competition. With 24 categories to choose from, the competition covers a vast list of themes. From food politics to wedding food, it’s all about food!
You can enter up to five images for a £30 fee and could win up to £5,000.
If you’re a Stockimo contributor, then they also have an ‘On the Phone’ category, which is £6 per entry, £2 of which is donated to Action Against Hunger.
If you’re a food photographer, you’ll know how prestigious it is to win this competition and have it displayed on your website. The 2022 awards are now open for entries.
Sony World Photography Award – Professional Competition
Sony’s World Photography Professional competition also covers a wide range of topics; architect and design, creative, environment, sports and portraiture are just a few. As the deadline for entries isn’t until the 14th January 2022, you could pick one of the categories and shoot new content for it. Check out our creative collection, climate crisis collection and powerful portraiture collection for inspiration.
The winner will be awarded Sony digital imaging equipment, their image published in a book, as well as $25,000.
Find out more on their website here.
As well as the professional competition, there is also a student competition. It’s free to enter for anyone aged from 18 to 30-years-old studying a full-time photography programme. The 2022 student brief for entries is based around ‘connections’, you can read more here. If you’re one of our student contributors – it’s worth having a look at this one. Entries for the student competition are open, and the deadline is the 30th November 2021.
International Landscape Photographer
As countryside walks became the norm last year, I found a new joy in photographing the outdoors. If you also swapped the gym gear for the walking boots and captured some magnificent landscape shots, you should check out the International Landscape Photographer competition. It started on the 15th August 2021 and the deadline is the 15th November – so you don’t have long!
Winners will see their image included in the International Landscape Photographers book and there is $10,000 in cash for the top three photographs.
Find out more on their website here.
New York Photography Awards
This competition is all about being creative. They want people to express their emotions through their abstractive images. There are nine categories with sub-categories in each, and it’s open to photographers around the globe. You’re sure to have content you can enter.
This year’s theme is ‘Embalm Today, Reminisce Tomorrow’ and you could win up to $3,000 in cash and a New York Awards Ava Statuette.
Find out more on their website here.
Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards
Here’s another one for the animal lovers. Do you have a wildlife shot which makes you laugh every time you look at it? If so, keep an eye out for when the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards starts accepting entries at the beginning of 2022.
Find out more on their website here.
Bird Photographer of the Year
We’ve written before about Bird Photographer of the Year before as our very own Alan Capel has been a judge in previous years.
If animal conservation is close to your heart – and you’re a bird lover – this one is for you. They aim to raise awareness of birds and their conservation needs. They also give money to the charity Birds on the Brink.
Not only does this competition have a great ethos, you’ll also be in with a chance of winning £5,000 cash. The winning images are also published in the annual Bird Photography of the Year book. 2022 entries are yet to open, but make note of it in your diary.
Find out more on their website here.
