The Best Photo Contests to Enter in 2025

World Press Photo Awards

If you want to test your photojournalism skills against others in more than one competition, consider joining the World Press Photo Awards. The contest has been hosted since 1955 and includes some of the most powerful images documenting various events.

Over 4,000 photographers from across the globe enter the competition annually, and you’ll get split into regional and overall winners.

• Deadline: January
• Entry Fees: Free
• Prizes: Regional winners: €1,000 for each of the winners and an additional €10,000 for the World Press Photo of the Year winner. Fujifilm GFX cameras and lenses will be awarded to the World Press Photo of the Year winner and two runners-up

Sony World Photography Awards (Professional)

Sony has two annual World Photography Awards — one for amateur photographers and another for professionals. Despite its name, you don’t need to earn the bulk of your income from the craft to enter the professional photography competition.

You can enter the Sony World Photography Awards as a professional in 10 categories. You’ll need to choose 5-10 pictures and aren’t limited to one genre.

• Deadline: January
• Entry Fees: Free
• Prizes: Overall winner: $25,000 and Sony gear. Category winners: Sony equipment. 2nd/3rd place: A feature at a Sony exhibition, plus a book

Sony World Photography Awards (Open)

Sony’s World Photography Awards differs a little in the open category. The competition is open to everyone; unlike the professional version, you only need to submit one image you like.

Sony’s World Photography Awards Open Competition has several categories, with up to 15 photographers getting shortlisted in each of them. Entry usually closes toward the beginning of each year.

• Deadline: January
• Entry Fees: Free
• Prizes: Overall winner: $5,000 and Sony equipment, book copy, and featuring in an exhibition — plus a trophy. Category winners: Sony equipment, certificate, book copy, and exhibition feature. Shortlisted photographers: Inclusion in book.

NPPA Best of Photojournalism

Every year, the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) hosts the NPPA Best of Photojournalism awards. The competition aims to highlight the best photojournalists on the globe and showcase the importance of this field in the world of reporting.

Like the IPPA, organizers divided the NPPA Best of Photojournalism awards into several categories. These include, but aren’t limited to Politics, Science, and Sports.

In addition to still images, the NPPA hosts awards for the best editors in the field of photojournalism.

• Deadline: January
• Entry Fees: Free for NPPA members, $75 for non-members

Istanbul Photo Awards

The Istanbul Photo Awards is organized and hosted annually by Anadolu Agency. While its name might suggest otherwise, you don’t need to be based in Istanbul to enter the competition.

You can apply for several categories at the Istanbul Photo Awards, including single news, story news, and niches ranging from sports to nature. The competition is primarily geared toward news photographers.

• Deadline: January
• Entry Fees: Free
• Prizes: Single News Category: $6,000, other category winners: $3,000. Runners-up: $1,500. Third place: $1,000.

Amateur Photographer of the Year

If you’re not a professional photographer, you might sometimes find it difficult to gain exposure – especially if you pit your wits against those more seasoned in their field. Luckily, you’ll find several amateur photography awards — such as Amateur Photographer of the Year, which bills itself as “the UK’s most prestigious photography competition for amateur photographers.”

The Amateur Photographer of the Year award is held annually, and you can enter it regardless of your favorite genre. You’ll have the opportunity to enter several rounds throughout the year, each of which has a different theme.

• Deadline: Varies, typically at the end of the year
• Entry Fees: Free (Max of one per round with voucher from Amateur Photographer magazine)
• Prizes: Winner gets £500 voucher for anything on MPB (each round); £1,000 voucher for the overall winner. Second-place gets a £100 voucher. Third-place winner get £50.

The Leica Oskar Barnack Award

Leica’s annual Oskar Barnack Award is one of the most prestigious photography competitions you can enter that’s hosted by a camera supplier. The company has hosted the ceremony each year since 1980, with entrants submitting their images in several categories. The award is named after 35mm photography pioneer Oskar Barnack, inventor of the original Leica camera.

The prize money increased in 2020, and winners will receive a significant range of prizes.

• Deadline: To be determined, typically March
• Entry Fees: Free
• Prizes: Winner: €40,000 and €10,000 worth of Leica equipment. Newcomer Honoree: €10,000 plus Leica equipment. Winners and Shortlisted Nominees: Appearance of their work in an exhibition.

The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

The International Landscape Photographer of the Year Awards will mark its 12th year in 2025 and celebrates a diverse range of approaches to landscape and nature photography.

The top 101 images from each competition are published in an exclusive hardcover book at the conclusion of each year.

• Deadline: Typically autumn
• Entry Fees: $25 per image
• Prizes: There is a $12,500 prize pool. Major prize winners are included in a photo book and receive photography equipment, including NiSi filters.

The World Nature Photography Awards

The annual World Nature Photography Awards is open to amateur and professional photographers from any country. It celebrates and showcases the world’s best nature photographers and images, including landscape and wildlife photos.

• Deadline: The deadline was October last year
• Entry Fees: £30, up to six images
• Prizes: $1,000

Natural Landscape Photography Awards

The Natural Landscape Photography Awards is a relatively new competition that promotes and celebrates landscape photography that preserves the integrity of the subject. The contest places extreme importance on natural, realistic photography and has strict rules to prevent photo manipulation and editing that misrepresents reality. For landscape photographers who value the authenticity of their work, this is a compelling competition.

• Deadline: 2025 entries open in April
• Entry Fees: $17 for one image, up to 18 images for $113. Different entry fees for project category entrants.
• Prizes: The total prize pool for 2025 includes $16,500 in cash ($5,000 for first place), $2,185 in tripods, and $735 in subscription value. Every winning photographer receives a free copy of an annual fine art book.

International Photography Awards’ Lucie Awards

The Lucie Awards is the flagship competition organized by the International Photography Awards. It takes place every year and is open to professional and amateur photographers from various countries across the globe.

To enter the Lucie Awards, you need to finish top of one of the 13 categories in the IPA. You will then have the chance to win Discovery of the Year, and the eventual winner will walk home with the Lucie Awards trophy and an additional cash prize.

• Deadline: Regular deadline is April 30, 2025; final deadline is June 30, 2025
• Entry Fees: $40 (professionals, single image); $30 (amateurs, single image); $20 (students, single image); $65 (professionals, 2-9 images); $55 (amateurs, 2-9 images); $35 (students, 2-9 images). Early entry discounts available until January 31, 2025.
• Prizes: $10,000 for category winners. $5,000 for the Lucie Awards winner, plus a trophy

SPIE International Day of Light

Lighting is the most crucial aspect of good photography, and it only makes sense to celebrate it. That’s precisely what the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE) does with the annual International Day of Light Photo Contest.

This ceremony aims to celebrate the photographers who have managed to tell a powerful story in their images using light. In addition to showing how lighting impacts landscapes and whatnot, you can capture shots related to light technology and more.

• Deadline: September
• Entry Fees: Free
• Prizes: Winner: $2,500. Second place: $1,000. Third place: $500. Technology and science: $750.

Hamdan International Photography Award

The Hamdan International Photography Award, also known as HIPA, was founded in 2011 by the crown prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid bin Mohammed Al Maktoum. It offers the largest cash prizes of any photography competition in the world.

The award “demonstrates the commitment of Dubai to encouraging and supporting art, culture and innovation,” the contest states. “The Award appeals to all talented photographers across the globe, and also nurtures national talent, which will in turn attract international art and cultural attention. The Award highlights how Dubai is fast developing into one of the most artistically conscious and established cities in the world.”

Each award season features a different theme. Themes in recent years have included Nature, Humanity, Water, and Hope.

• Deadline: May 31, 2025
• Entry Fees: Free
• Prizes: $1,000,000 prize pool; $200,000 grand prize, up to $50,000 per category, plus special prizes up to $100,000

Nikon Film and Photo Contest

Every year, Nikon hosts a competition to recognize photographers across the globe. The company has held the contest since 1969. You’re not restricted by either age or category, but Nikon does have a separate competition for photographers aged 25 and below.

For the latest edition, Nikon is giving motion pictures more emphasis, including through additional Short Film categories.

• Deadline: February 17, 2025
• Entry Fees: Free
• Prizes: Winner: 500,000 Japanese Yen (just over $3,700). Excellence Award, Nikon’s Selection Award, and Special Encouragement Award: New Nikon equipment and photo exposure.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The prestigious Natural History Museum in London, UK, hosts the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition every year. The contest sheds light on photographers who have successfully captured the world’s biodiversity in their natural habitats, and the competition has run ever since 1965.

To enter the competition, you must take photos of wildlife that isn’t a pet or farm animal. You can submit a maximum of 25 pictures.

• Deadline: Early December
• Entry Fees: £30 to £35.
• Prizes: Winner: £10,000, plus a certificate and trophy. Category winners: £1,250 and a certificate. Highly commended: Certificate.
  Portfolio Award: £2,500 and a certificate. Photojournalist Award: Same as above. Rising Star Portfolio Award: £1,500 and a certificate.

Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year

This annual competition is open internationally to all ages and skill levels. Entrants may submit up to ten photographs across eight categories, from skyscapes to galaxies. 100 images, including all the winners, runners-up and highly commended entries, from the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition will be displayed in an exhibition at the National Maritime Museum starting in September.

• Deadline: March
• Entry Fees: £10 fee per entrant for the Adult Competition. Entry to the Young Competition and special prizes is free.
• Prizes: £10,000 for the Astronomy Photographer of the Year chosen from the adult competition category winners. £250-£1,500 for each adult competition category winner, and £250 – £1,500 for the young competition winners.