I've entered a lot of competitions over the years. I've been selected three times for Wildlife Photographer of the Year, into the final 100 images from around 60,000 entries, and placed in Bird Photographer of the Year, the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, British Wildlife Photography Awards, Travel Photographer of the Year, and a dozen others. I've also had plenty of rejections. Here's what I've learned.
"You need a strong image, a compelling story, and a bit of luck. All three. Not two out of three."
The tips
1Enter one great image, not ten good ones
Most competitions allow multiple entries. The temptation is to submit everything you're proud of. Don't. Judges see thousands of images and a weak entry in your batch can colour how they view the strong one. Be ruthless. If you're not certain an image deserves to be there, it doesn't.
2The image has to work at thumbnail size
In the early rounds of most major competitions, judges are looking at a lot of images quickly. Your image has to stop someone scrolling. Strong graphic composition, a clear subject, and impact at small size matter more than technical perfection at 100%. Print it at 5cm and see if it still works.
3Read the category descriptions carefully
Judges mark you against the brief. An image of an animal doing something interesting may be perfect for a behaviour category and wrong for a portrait category, or vice versa. Don't assume. Read what they're asking for and enter accordingly. A wrongly categorised image is a wasted entry.
4Your caption is part of the entry
At WPY level, every finalist image has a story attached. The caption tells the judges what they're looking at, why it matters, and what it took to get it. Write it like a journalist, lead with the most interesting thing, be specific about species, location and behaviour, and don't pad it out. A tight, well-written caption makes a good image better.
5Conservation context counts
The major competitions, WPY in particular, are run by conservation organisations. They're not just looking for beautiful images; they're looking for images that say something about the natural world. An image that makes someone care about a species or a habitat has an edge over an image that's simply technically accomplished.
6Behaviour beats beauty
A technically imperfect image of an animal doing something extraordinary will beat a technically perfect portrait almost every time in a serious competition. Behaviour is harder to get, harder to predict, and more interesting to look at. Spend time in the field rather than at the editing desk.
7Enter competitions that suit your work
There are hundreds of competitions. Some are primarily about technical image quality; some about storytelling; some about humour; some about conservation. Match what you shoot to where you enter. I've had more success in competitions where the judging criteria align with how I work, in the field, over long periods, on specific projects, than in competitions that reward post-processing or studio technique.
8Think long-term
My three WPY selections came from projects I'd worked on for years, the vultures in the Pantanal, the orangutan in Borneo, the storm off the Hebrides. None of them were single-day images. The competitions that matter reward depth of access and commitment to a subject. Build projects, not just portfolios.
9Expect rejection and enter anyway
WPY receives around 60,000 entries and selects 100. The maths are brutal. You will be rejected far more often than you are selected, and that's true even for working professionals. Don't use rejection as information about whether your photography is good, use it as information about whether a specific image works for a specific competition. Keep entering.
10Check the ethics rules before you enter
Every major competition has a code of conduct around how images were taken, captive animals, bait, disturbance, post-processing limits. Read them carefully. Images are increasingly scrutinised and disqualifications happen. More importantly, the rules exist for good reasons. Wild photography should be about wild animals.