Photography Contests

Photography contests are a chance to challenge yourself, get your work in front of an audience, and see how your images hold up against a community of serious photographers. This section lists active Fstoppers contests, showcases past winners, and gives you everything you need to submit your work and participate in the community vote.
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Enter your Best "Dark" or "Low-Key" images

Welcome to the April Critique the Community!  For this contest/critique, we are doing another abstract theme that should allow more photographers to enter. For this month we want to see your most "dark" or "low key" photographs.

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Submit Your Best "Emotional" Images To Our Critique!

Welcome to the April Critique the Community!  This month's theme is "Emotion" and can be interpreted however you see fit. 

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Submit your best Print Worthy photos

Welcome to the March Critique the Community!  This month we want to see your most "Print Worthy" photographs, and the first place winner will receive a $1000 credit to print their photos through Lumaprints!

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Flash Us With Your Best Strobe Images

Welcome to the February Critique the Community!  This month we are giving away an awesome Profoto Flash Kit, and so it is fitting that the theme is On-Location Flash. For this contest, we want to see your best images featuring flash photograph out on-location!

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Submit Your Most Colorful Images

Welcome to the next Critique the Community Photo Contest! The theme for this contest is "Color", and for the entire month of November, we want to see your best images showcasing vivid and vibrant hues and colors. 

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Submit Your Best Bokeh Images

Welcome to a new Critique The Community! October is here which for many conjures up memories of football, autumn leaves, and of course Halloween. But for this month we want to focus on shallow depth of field and that obsession photographers have with Bokeh.

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Submit Your Most "Clever" Images!

Welcome to a new Critique The Community! September is usually a month for transition and we want to embrace change. For this month we want to see images that required you to think "outside the box" or use a clever approach that lead you to creating an interesting image.

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Submit Your Best "Soft Light" Images!

Today is a new month which means Fstoppers has a new Critique the Community contest! For the month of August, we want to see your best images featuring soft lighting. Anyone can enter up to 3 images with details below!

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Submit Your Best "Abstract" Images!

For the entire month of July, we want to see your best abstract or conceptual photographs! Enter the Fstoppers Critique the Community and show off your best images showcasing a slightly different view of the world. 

The Top Images from GuruShots "Traveling the World" Challenge

Our friends over at GuruShots, hosts of "The World’s Greatest Photo Game,” recently offered a challenge where particpants submitted their best images "Traveling the World." There were thousands of entries and over 27 million votes throughout the contest but the top winners have been chosen. Check out the winner and the the 60 top rated images below.

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Submit Your Best "Outdoor" Images!

Summer time is here which means it's time to see your best outdoor images! For our June contest, we want to see your best images taken outside, and the winner will be rewarded handsomely. 

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Enter and Win $1200 in Aftershoot Prizes

Welcome to the April 2025 Critique the Community Contest!  For this month's contest we want to make it super simple and inclusive by asking for your best portrait images. They can be full length, headshots, single person, multiple people, natural light or lit in the studio.

Sony World Photography Awards Announces Open Competition Winners for 2025

The Sony World Photography Awards has unveiled the 10 category winners and shortlisted photographers for its 2025 Open competition, celebrating the most striking single images captured in 2024. Recognizing the power of a single photograph to tell a compelling story, the competition attracted an astounding 419,000 submissions from over 200 countries and territories.

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Your Most Complicated Photoshoot

Welcome to the February 2025 Critique the Community Contest!  For this contest and critique we wanted to switch up the theme a bit by asking you to submit the most difficult and challenging images you've ever taken.

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Your Best Winter Photographs

Welcome to the first Critique the Community Contest of 2025! Since it is deep winter in the Northern Hemisphere, we decided to make this month's theme "Winter." You can submit any image you've taken that captures cold, winter, or freezing elements.

The Top Images from Gurushots "Mostly White" Contest

GuruShots, host of "The World’s Greatest Photo Game,” has released yet another fantastic challenge. Participants were invited to submit their best photos of "Mostly White." The challenge received thousands of entries and millions of votes. Check out the three winners of the challenge as well as hundreds of top rated images below.

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Enter Your Best Photos from 2024

For the final photography contest of the year, we want to see your best images taken in 2024! There isn't going to be a specific genre for our December contest so anything goes as long as it's one of your favorite or most successful images of the year.

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Enter Your Best Dramatic Photos

For our next photography contest, we want to see your best dramatic photos ever taken! The theme is dramatic but the genre of photography can be anything.

Leica Opens Call for Entries for 2025 Leica Women Foto Project

Leica has officially opened submissions for the sixth edition of the Leica Women Foto Project, an annual photography contest aimed at elevating the voices and work of women photographers. The 2025 theme, "Unity Through Diversity," encourages participants to explore and showcase the power of human connection. The project aligns with Leica's mission to push the boundaries of visual storytelling while supporting diversity and amplifying underrepresented voices.

2024 Natural Landscape Photography Awards: The Winners

Back for its fourth year, the Natural Landscape Photography Awards has announced the 2024 winners. The competition sets itself apart with an emphasis on its golden rule, “the integrity of the subject should be maintained,” setting the standard for landscape photographers with similar approaches to their photography.

Are Photo Competitions Worth It?

In the never-ending struggle to get your work seen by the right people that can help advance your career, contests and competitions are one of the most accessible. But, after all is said and done, are they worth it?

Finals Days In "Unique Lighting" Contest

We are almost 48 hours from the latest Critique the Community photo contest.  The theme for this month's contest is "Unique Lighting" and the prizes include several new products from the lighting company Profoto.

The Best Images from GuruShots "Photogenic Pursuits" Challenge

Have you tried  is the "The World’s Greatest Photo Game" from GuruShots? They offer challenges all the time and allow photographers of every level to submit and participate. Their latest challenge "Photogenic Pursuits," received thousands of entries and millions of votes. You can see the three winners of the challenge as well as hundreds of top rated images below.

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Show Us Your Best Portrait, Win A Full Lighting Kit

Welcome to another Critique the Community contest! Each month, Fstoppers is challenging our community to submit their best photographs for our Critique the Community show, and three lucky winners will win a variety of photography related prizes.  

Last Chance To Enter Our Wedding Photography Critique

Each month this year, Fstoppers is running a genre specific Critique the Community contest with some amazing prizes.  The theme for March is "Weddings," and we are giving away $3,000 in prizes to 3 lucky winners. Oh, and one of the most successful wedding photographers I know, Pye Jirsa, will be guest judging the images. Here are the details!

The Top Images from GuruShots "Tell A Story" Challenge

Our friends over at GuruShots, hosts of "The World’s Greatest Photo Game,” recently offered a challenge where particpants submitted their best images "Tell A Story." There were thousands of entries and millions of votes throughout the contest but the top winners have been selected. See who won as well as the 60 top rated images below.

Student Photography Awards Do Not Cater for All Photography Students

The Sony World Photography Awards, a recognized platform for emerging talents, has come under scrutiny for its age limit policies within its Student award category. There's a growing concern about the fairness of age limits that exclude mature students, with questions raised about imposing an upper age limit of 30 years for participants in the student category.

In a Rapidly Evolving World of AI: This Contest Is More Important Than Ever

This year's Natural Landscape Photography Awards have just been announced, and like previous years, the results are breathtaking. Bigger than just the results themselves, though, is what this contest represents and exemplifies in a world where we have become accustomed to questioning what is real and what isn't.

Win an $18,000 Iceland Voyage and an OM-5 During OM SYSTEM Week

On their second anniversary, from today, the OM Digital Solutions Corporation is celebrating the successful launch of the OM SYSTEM brand with a series of events celebrating that milestone with the beauty of nature. That includes a chance to win an $18,000 voyage around Iceland.

The Best Images from GuruShots "Night Photography" Challenge

If you're a photographer and haven't participated in "The World’s Greatest Photo Game," hosted by GuruShots, you'll want to take a peek at their latest challenge. Participants submitted a wide variety of night photography to their latest challenge. Thousands of people entered and cast millions of votes. See the three winners of the challenge as well as hundreds of top rated images below.

The Best Images from GuruShots "Mostly White" Challenge

Some of the most stunning images have the simplest color schemes, which is why Gurushots "Mostly White" challenge produced some stunning photos. Gurushots hosts "The World’s Greatest Photo Game,” with regular challenges in which they invite participants to submit and rate photos within a certain theme. In this latest challenge, thousands of entries and millions of votes were submitted. Here are the three winners of the challenge as well as the top 60 rated images.

Don't Let Competition Hold Your Photography Back

Would you judge a photography competition? Do you compete with other photographers? Although competition is accepted in photography, it has significant drawbacks that prevent you from succeeding.

2022 Natural Landscape Photography Awards: The Winners

The winners have been announced for the second annual Natural Landscape Photography Awards. This new and refreshing competition exhibits landscape and nature photographers who are committed to maintaining authenticity and realism in their images

The Best Images from GuruShots "Sunny Summer" Challenge

GuruShots, "The World’s Greatest Photo Game,” recently asked photographers to participate in a Summer challenge by submitting their best Sunny Summer photo into a worldwide challenge. With thousands of entries were sent in and millions of votes were cast to select the top images from the challenge. Check out the three winners as well as the 60 top rated images below.