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WILD Photo Awards continues a year-round programme of monthly photography competitions centred on wild animals and the natural world. The next published deadline is September 14, 2026, with entries currently accepted in two WILD LIFE categories: Animal Portraits and Animal Behaviour. The organiser directs 50% of competition entry income back into prizes, allowing the total amount to change according to participation.
Each monthly contest produces a category winner and runner-up, while judges may also select any number of Highly Commended photographs. Winning and runner-up photographers receive cash awards as well as promotion through the WILD Photo Awards galleries and social channels, and Highly Commended images appear in the online winners’ gallery. Winners and runners-up may also be selected for an interview published on the competition website. For photographers browsing broader online photography contests, the recurring format is notable because a new competition follows the previous one throughout the year.
Entry starts at £12 for one image, with reduced per-image pricing for larger submissions of up to six photographs in a transaction. Entrants must be at least 18, and there is no stated restriction on when an eligible photograph was taken. The contest is aimed specifically at photographs of wild or captive species rather than domestic pets or farm animals, with rules governing image manipulation, ethical field practices and accurate descriptions.
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Prizes
Cash awards are funded directly through entry fees. The organizer states that 50% of the income received from each competition is returned to winning participants, so the final prize pot varies with the number of entries.
- Category winner: receives 35% under the published prize allocation, together with promotion through the WILD Photo Awards galleries and social media channels, including links to the photographer’s website and Instagram account.
- Category runner-up: receives 15% under the published allocation and the same type of gallery and social media promotion.
- Highly Commended: judges may select any number of additional photographs for recognition, with those images displayed in the competition’s online winners’ gallery.
- Additional winner opportunities: winning photographs receive an Instagram feature, while winners and runners-up may be selected for an interview published on the WILD Photo Awards website.
Related Photo Contests
Categories or Themes
The current WILD LIFE competition is divided into two categories, both focused on non-domestic animal subjects and suitable for photographers looking specifically at wildlife photography contests.
- Animal Portraits: photographs should reveal an animal’s character or defining features in a creative way, with the species itself serving as the principal subject.
- Animal Behaviour: photographs should concentrate on the behaviour of a species or its interaction with its environment, presenting those actions in familiar or interesting ways.
Dates and Entry Fees
WILD Photo Awards operates back-to-back monthly competitions throughout the year. For the current round, the website lists the following deadline:
| Key date | Date |
|---|---|
| Next competition deadline | September 14, 2026 |
| Results notification | Within two weeks after the competition closes |
Entry pricing is based on the number of images submitted at one time:
- 1 image: £12
- 2 images: £18
- 3 images: £24
- 4 images: £30
- 5 images: £36
- 6 images: £42
Entrants may submit as many photographs as they wish, and the submission system allows images for different categories to be included in the same form.
How to Enter
Entries are submitted through the WILD Photo Awards website. Photographs must be uploaded as JPEG files at 1920 pixels on the longest side and saved at a minimum quality setting of 8. Watermarks are not permitted. Scans from transparencies or negatives are accepted. Entrants select the number of images they wish to submit, complete the online entry process and pay the corresponding fee.
About the Jury
The organizer states that competitions are judged anonymously by experienced photographers and that judging begins only after the closing date. An appointed judge receives a shortlist and selects the winner and runner-up by considering composition, originality and creativity. The judge may also grant Highly Commended awards. The current official pages reviewed do not identify individual jury members by name.
Why Enter WILD Photo Awards?
The recurring monthly structure is the most distinctive practical feature of this competition. Instead of requiring photographers to plan around one annual deadline, WILD Photo Awards creates repeated opportunities during the year, while photographs that earn Highly Commended status may be submitted again in future rounds. Images that have already won a cash prize in a previous WILD Photo Awards competition, however, cannot be entered again.
For photographers comparing the best photo contests to enter, another relevant point is the combination of anonymous judging and a prize fund linked directly to participation. The award value is therefore not known in advance, but the published formula explains how the fund is generated and distributed. The galleries, social promotion and possible editorial interview provide additional outcomes beyond the cash award, while the narrowly defined Animal Portraits and Animal Behaviour categories keep the current call focused on animal imagery rather than a broad open theme.
Rules and Copyright
We reviewed the official rules of the WILD Photo Awards to summarize the key participation requirements, copyright terms and image usage conditions. Before entering, we recommend checking the complete rules published by the organizer.
Rules
Entrants must be 18 or older. People directly connected with the judges or competition organisers, including partners and family members as defined by the organizer, are not eligible. There is no time limit on when a submitted photograph must have been taken.
Basic adjustments such as exposure, contrast, levels, noise reduction, dust removal, cropping, dodging and burning are permitted when they do not alter the contents of the image. Adding or removing objects, replacing skies and creating composites are prohibited. The rules do not separately state a policy for AI-generated images.
Domestic pets and farm animals are excluded, while photographs of captive species are allowed if their captive status is declared in the description. Live baiting is prohibited. Entrants are responsible for complying with applicable rules relating to drones, protected species and wildlife disturbance, and any captions identifying locations or species must be accurate.
Copyright and Image Usage
Photographers retain copyright in their submissions. At the same time, entering grants WILD Photo Awards a non-exclusive, worldwide and irrevocable license covering all competition entries. The rules allow those images to be used, displayed, published, edited or sublicensed for purposes connected with the competitions, with photographer credit when used.
Winning and Highly Commended photographs may also be used without additional compensation to promote future WILD Photo Awards competitions. Entrants must be the original creators and copyright holders of their photographs and are responsible for securing any required permissions or releases from people appearing in submitted images.
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For more information and to participate in the contest, visit: the official website.
