Great Outdoors Photography Competition – Enter Our New Open Photography Competition
Calling all photographers! We’re delighted to announce the launch of the Great Outdoors Photography Competition, a brand-new open photography competition celebrating the beauty, atmosphere and adventure of the natural world.
Whether you specialise in landscape photography, nature photography, wildlife photography, travel photography, outdoor adventure photography or simply love capturing beautiful moments outside, this competition is open to everyone.
And with entries costing just £1 per image, you can enter as many photographs as you like.
📸 Enter the Great Outdoors Photography Competition
The great outdoors provides photographers with an endless variety of subjects, from spectacular mountain landscapes and dramatic coastlines to peaceful countryside, forests, wildlife encounters and fleeting moments of beautiful natural light.
For this photography competition, we’re looking for images that capture what makes the great outdoors so special.
Your photograph could be a sweeping landscape taken during an unforgettable trip, a beautiful view discovered close to home, an encounter with wildlife, an atmospheric seascape or a creative interpretation of the natural world.
There are no restrictions on where your photograph was taken. We want to see your favourite interpretation of the great outdoors.
🌍 What Can You Enter?
The Great Outdoors Photography Competition is deliberately broad, giving photographers plenty of creative freedom.
Entries could include:
- Dramatic landscape photography
- Beautiful countryside and rural photography
- Mountains, valleys and spectacular vistas
- Coastlines and seascape photography
- Forests, woodland and natural environments
- Wildlife encountered outdoors
- Outdoor adventures and activities
- Changing weather and dramatic skies
- Interesting natural details, textures and patterns
- People enjoying the great outdoors
- Travel and exploration photography
- Unexpected moments found in nature
The important thing is that your image communicates something about the beauty, character, atmosphere or adventure of the great outdoors.
You don’t necessarily need an enormous vista or an exotic location. Sometimes the most compelling outdoor photographs are found much closer to home.
A woodland path in beautiful morning light, dramatic clouds over a familiar landscape or a small detail discovered while out walking can all tell a powerful story.
📷 Open to Photographers of All Levels
You don’t have to be a professional photographer to enter.
The competition is open to photographers of all levels, whether you’re an experienced professional, enthusiastic amateur or someone who simply enjoys taking photographs whenever you’re outdoors.
We’re interested in seeing your vision of the natural world.
So, if you have a photograph sitting on your computer, hard drive or camera roll that makes you stop and think “I really love this image”, this could be the perfect opportunity to enter it.
🌅 How to Improve Your Chances of Success
A great outdoor photograph isn’t simply about finding a beautiful location. The way you see and photograph that location can make all the difference.
Make the Most of the Light
Light can completely transform an outdoor photograph.
Early morning and late afternoon can produce beautiful warm light and long shadows, while changing weather can add atmosphere and drama to a scene.
Don’t automatically head home when the weather changes. Storm clouds, mist, rain, fog and breaks in the cloud can create some of the most memorable outdoor photographs.
Think Carefully About Composition
Look beyond the obvious view and consider how you can arrange the elements within your frame.
Strong foregrounds, leading lines, natural frames, interesting viewpoints and carefully considered positioning can help draw the viewer into an image.
Ask yourself what you want the viewer to look at first — and then consider how the composition leads their eye through the photograph.
Show a Sense of Place
A successful outdoor photograph should ideally communicate more than simply what a location looks like.
Try to capture what it felt like to be there.
Weather, light, scale, colour and atmosphere can all help turn an attractive view into an engaging photograph.
Look Beyond the Obvious
The great outdoors isn’t only about huge landscapes.
Look for details, textures, patterns, wildlife, people enjoying the outdoors and unexpected moments.
A close-up of an interesting natural detail can sometimes be just as effective as a sweeping mountain panorama.
Get Creative
Don’t be afraid to experiment.
Try different focal lengths, viewpoints and perspectives. Get low to the ground, look upwards or find an unusual viewpoint.
Consider how your choice of shutter speed, aperture and focal length changes the way the scene is represented.
Post-processing can also help you make the most of the colour, contrast, detail and atmosphere captured in camera.
Ultimately, the best image is the one that communicates your own interpretation of the great outdoors.
🌱 Photography That Celebrates Our Planet
Photography has an incredible ability to make people stop and appreciate the world around them.
As David Attenborough famously said:
“The natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest.”
That idea sits at the heart of this competition.
Through powerful visual storytelling, we hope the Great Outdoors Photography Competition will showcase the incredible variety and beauty of our natural world — and perhaps encourage people to explore, appreciate and protect it.
Another quote from David Attenborough perfectly captures the importance of experiencing nature:
“No one will protect what they don’t care about, and no one will care about what they have never experienced.”
Your photograph could help someone see a familiar landscape, animal or natural environment in an entirely different way.
🏆 Great Outdoors Photography Competition Prizes
There are some great prizes on offer for the top three photographers.
🥇 Overall Winner
The overall winner will receive one year of Free Digital Membership of any of our Societies.
This includes:
- Entry to all of our membership-only competitions
- Unrestricted access to our members’ photography forum
- Access to our members-only Facebook group
- A listing on our photography directory
- The opportunity to work towards qualifications and distinctions through image submissions*
🥈 2nd and 🥉 3rd Place
The photographers finishing in second and third place will each receive six months of Free Digital Membership of any of our Societies, including:
- Entry to all of our membership-only competitions
- Unrestricted access to our members’ photography forum
- Access to our members-only Facebook group
- A listing on our photography directory
- The opportunity to work towards qualifications and distinctions through image submissions*
No cash alternatives will be given.
💷 Enter for Just £1 Per Image
Entry to the Great Outdoors Photography Competition costs just £1 (GBP) per image.
And there’s no limit to the number of photographs you can enter.
That means you can submit a single favourite image or build a larger entry showcasing different aspects of your outdoor photography.
The more images you enter, the more opportunities you have to impress the judges.
Enter the Great Outdoors Photography Competition
Once you have completed the entry form, you will be guided through the payment process for additional images.
📅 Competition Closing Date
The Great Outdoors Photography Competition closes on 30 November 2026.
That gives you plenty of time to look through your existing photography collection, head outdoors with your camera or revisit some of your favourite outdoor images.
Whether you’ve photographed dramatic mountains, beautiful countryside, rugged coastlines, wildlife, forests or simply an unforgettable moment outside, we’d love to see your work.
📋 Great Outdoors Photography Competition Rules
Before entering, please make sure you have read the competition rules.
- Enter as many images as you like.
- The work must be entirely that of the entrant.
- Please state the competition name in the file or ZIP file name.
- Images created under the supervision of an instructor or as a class assignment are not eligible.
- Images submitted must be no larger than 2000 pixels wide.
- All entrants must be able to supply a high-resolution image at 300dpi.
- Images must contain no distinguishing marks.
- Copyright remains with the photographer. The Society recognises that the entrant and author of the photograph retains complete and full ownership of copyright in each submission.
- Entries may be used by The Society for publicity purposes and may be featured in our digital magazine, Professional Imagemaker, as well as other promotional materials.
- The competition closes 30 November 2026.
- The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
🚀 Ready to Enter?
Whether you’re passionate about landscape photography, nature photography, wildlife, travel photography or outdoor photography, the Great Outdoors Photography Competition is your chance to showcase your work.
You don’t need to be a professional. You don’t need to have travelled to the other side of the world.
Just find the photograph that captures your great outdoors.
For just £1 per image, you can enter as many photographs as you like.
So, what are you waiting for? Get outside, find your favourite image and enter the Great Outdoors Photography Competition today!
ENTER THE GREAT OUTDOORS PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION – £1 PER IMAGE
