Photography Competition

Photography Competition 2021

The 2021 competition is now open for entries on the theme of 'celebrate the seasons'.

The competition celebrates the wildlife and wild places of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. Free to enter, it is for photographs taken anywhere in our three counties and is open to anyone of any age. We are delighted to be supported by Opticron who will provide the top two prizes, and Corporate Members Campkins Cameras who will proved the third place prize. 24 winning images will be chosen in total by an experienced judging panel and published in our 2022 calendar on sale next year.

Prizes

1st Prize: £250 worth of optics from Opticron
2nd Prize: £150 worth of optics from Opticron
3rd Prize: £100 worth of equipment from Campkins Cameras

Theme

Celebrate the seasons

Judges

Opticron: Chris Galvin

Chris has worked for Opticron for over a decade, and will be a familiar face to many in the region. With a wide knowledge of wildlife, equipment and impressive portfolio himself of wildlife and gig photography, Chris has kindly been a judge for several years now.

Ann Miles

An experienced photographer, Ann teaches general and nature photography at university degree level and has had images placed in two of our photography competitions. You can read her blog and visit her website for more information and examples of her work.

Simon Wantling

Many of you will be familiar with the winner of two of our previous photography competitions, though Simon’s stunning work speaks for itself - and he has since become a professional photographer. Whilst his shots of owls have been universally praised, his work covers all sorts of wildlife. You can also catch him on his YouTube channel.

How to enter

The competition is now open for entries. You can submit up to three photographs using our secure online form. Please read the full terms and conditions before submitting your entry.

Closing date

Sunday 2 May 2021, 12 noon

Enter the competition online 

The winners of the 2020 competition

1st Prize: Carl Everitt
2nd Prize: Janice Elliott
3rd Prize: Kevin Pigney

Congratulations also to the following photographers, whose pictures have also been chosen to feature in our 2021 calendar: Warren Bourne, Colin Bradshaw, Mike Harris, Matthew Hazleton, Michael Howard, David Jackson, Ann Miles, David Mills, Gary Norman, Ashley Pead, Guy Pilkington, Martin Swannell, Mark Tyrell, Colin Waite, Mick Watson and Hedley Wright.

Read the full news story

Please note that the stunning 2021 calendar made with the 2020 winning images has now sold out.

Garden and Home Gems Category

In addition to the main competition, we had an additional category for 2020 that was introduced along with our extended deadline, celebrating the wildlife of our homes and gardens while we were all in lockdown. Thank you to everyone who entered photos in this category.

Garden and Home Gems Winner: Dave Wesson

Judges

Simon Wantling

Many of you will be familiar with the winner of our two previous photography competitions, though Simon’s stunning work speaks for itself. Whilst his shots of owls have been universally praised, his work covers all sorts of wildlife. You can also catch him on his YouTube channel.

Sarah Lambert

A highly knowledgeable botanist, ecologist, blogger and photographer, Sarah has been highly acclaimed in photo competitions and is a nature photography workshop and nature tour leader. She is also a dedicated and invaluable to activities of the Peterborough Local Group of the Wildlife Trust BCN.

Opticron: Chris Galvin

Chris has worked for Opticron for over a decade, and will be a familiar face to many in the region. With a wide knowledge of wildlife, equipment and impressive portfolio himself of wildlife and gig photography, Chris has kindly been a judge for several years now.

Fujifilm UK

We will also be receiving judging input from a representative of the competition sponsors Fujifilm UK