ENTRY INFO

ABOUT WILDERNESS PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 

Great Walks' Wilderness Photographer of the Year, presented by Mountain Designs, is looking for breathtaking images of the Great Outdoors.

Now in its fourth year, the competition is open to Australian and New Zealand photographers and offers a prize pool of more than $19,500, including $5,000 cash and $14,500 in prizes.

Images can be captured in wilderness areas anywhere around the world and the best images, including Winners, Runners-up and the Top 10 in each category will be featured in Great Walks magazine (February-March 2025), and at www.greatwalks.com.au

WHO CAN ENTER?

Wilderness Photographer of the Year is open to citizens and residents of Australia and New Zealand. A resident is defined as a person who has lived in Australia or New Zealand for at least six months at the time of entering this competition.

Check the Terms and Conditions for more information.

WHAT IS WILDERNESS?

For the purposes of this competition wilderness is defined as a natural environment that has not been significantly modified by human activity. However, images that show the effects of human impact on the natural environment may be entered in the competition, in the context of illustrating the fragility or resilience of the natural world.

ELIGIBLE IMAGES

Images must have been captured on or after 1 January 2022. Images must also be single capture (not a composite of several images). As this is a photography competition, you may not use Artificial Intelligence to create or enhance an image. There are also strict rules around image editing. Check the Terms and Conditions for more details. 

PREPARING YOUR IMAGES FOR ENTRY

Images must be saved in the JPEG or PNG format, and should be at least 2,500 pixels on the longest edge. Overall file size must be less than 5MB. Do not add watermarks, branding or text to your images.

THE CATEGORIES

There are three categories in Wilderness Photographer of the Year: Places, People and Nature.

PLACES: We're looking for your best landscape photos of wilderness areas. Think sweeping panoramas and dramatic horizons, spectacular coastlines and photogenic mountains.

PEOPLE: In this category we want to see photos of people experiencing wilderness areas. If there's one or more people in the frame, this is the category for you.

NATURE: Focus on flora and fauna. Think kangaroos and wallabies, birds, wildflowers and beetles, mushroom, orchids and much more. From the micro to the macro!

If you're unsure which category to enter, send us an email at photocomp@greatwalks.com.au

PRICING

$30 per entry

All prices in Australian dollars and include GST.

DEADLINES

Entries close 11.59pm AEDT, Sunday 27 October 2024.

IMAGE EDITING

In post-production you can adjust 'photographic' variables such as exposure, contrast, colour, noise and sharpness. Lens and perspective corrections, cropping and black-and-white conversions are also allowed.

Composite images are not allowed. Cloning to remove distractions or add new elements is not allowed. 

Competition organisers reserve the right to disqualify an image if they feel it lacks authenticity due to over-manipulation.

JUDGES

Wilderness Photographer of the Year will be judged by leading outdoor and wilderness photographers. Judges will be announced soon. Find out more about the judges here.

PRIZES

Winners and Runners-up will share in a  prize pool valued at $19,500, including $5,000 cash. Find out more about the prizes here.

RECOGNITION

Winners and Runners-up will be revealed in Great Walks magazine (February-March 2025 issue), as well as on greatwalks.com.au and Great Walks' Facebook page.

Top 10 images in each category will also be showcased in Great Walks magazine (February-March 2025 issue) along with a selection of judges' comments.

Also in February, Winners, Runners-up, Top 10, Top 20, Highly Commended, and Commended photographers will be notified via email with a certificate confirming their placing in the competition.

NEED HELP?

If you need help uploading your entry send us an e-mail explaining the problem and we'll do our best to fix it for you.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

You can find the full terms and conditions for Great Walks Wilderness Photographer of the Year 2024 here.

CONTACT US

E-mail us at photocomp@greatwalks.com.au