Applications for Bird Photographer of the Year 2021 are open. Bird Photographer of the Year is the leading bird photography competition. It celebrates the world’s best bird photography, whilst supporting conservation efforts through imagery and financial support. The 2021 competition is now open with an £18,000 prize fund.

Prizes

• The Grand Prize Winner will receive a cash prize of £5,000.
• The winner of the Best Portfolio will receive an Olympus E-M1X, 300mm f/4 lens, and a 2x converter (worth £4,000).
• Gold award – Swarovski CL Companion 8×30 binoculars
• Silver award – Tilopa bag with the Essentials Pack upgrade from F-stop Gear
• Bronze award – Zenfolio website subscription

Categories

The Competition has both an adult competition (the ‘Adult Competition’), and a youth competition (the ‘Youth Competition’). Each entry in the Adult Competition may be submitted to one of the following categories:

• Best Portrait
• Birds in the Environment
• Attention to Detail
• Bird Behaviour
• Birds in Flight
• Black and White
• Creative Imagery
• Urban Birds
• Conservation Award
• Portfolio Award.

Who can enter?

• The Adult Competition is open to individuals of 18 years or above on the 15th February 2021.
• The Youth Competition is open to individuals that are aged 17 years or below on the 15th February 2021.

Image Specifications

• Entries must be submitted in JPEG (or JPG) format.
• Raw format files (such as .NEF, .CR2 etc) or, if unavailable, original untouched JPEGs for authentication and forensic purposes. DNG files are not permitted unless this is the native raw output of your camera;
• Full, high-resolution files of the final image;
• An extended caption description; and
• If required by Bird Photographer of the Year for authentication, a range of images taken before and after the particular image in question.

Competition Rules