Wings of Hope Bird Photography Contest

Wings of Hope Bird Photography Contest combines a bird photography competition with a fundraising initiative for medical care. Organized by Knowing Hope Inc., the inaugural contest is open to photographers aged 16 and over and divides entries between novice and advanced participants. Four categories cover birds in flight, portraits, natural behavior and young birds, creating eight category-and-division winners in total. Entries close on September 28, 2026.

Entry starts at $15 for one photograph and rises to $50 for four, with up to ten separate entries allowed per photographer. Winners receive photography-related prizes including equipment and memberships donated by contest sponsors. The judging panel consists of Duade Paton, Marina Scarr and David Lindo, with every photograph scored across four published criteria. For photographers browsing current photography contests, the call has a particularly clear focus: bird imagery is judged separately according to experience level, while entry fees support Knowing Hope’s work providing medical care to vulnerable children in Asia.

Prizes

Eight winners will be selected: one novice and one advanced winner in each of the four categories.

Available prizes include:

• A Cotton Carrier camera harness.
• Vortex binoculars.
• A Delkin CFexpress 128GB Type B memory card.
• A Wimberley Monogimbal Head.
• A Think Tank camera backpack.
• A one-year KelbyOne Pro Membership.

The Knowing Hope Inc does not specify which individual prize will be assigned to each of the eight winners. Each judge will also provide brief comments on the winning selections.

Categories or Themes

The Wings of Hope Bird Photography Contest has four categories, each judged separately in novice and advanced divisions:

• Birds in Flight: Birds taking off, landing, soaring, hovering, diving or otherwise photographed in motion.
• Perched & Portrait: Birds at rest, with emphasis on character, detail, plumage or expression.
• Behavior & Interaction: Natural activities such as feeding, nesting, courting, bathing and interactions between birds.
• Juvenile & Nesting: Chicks, fledglings, eggs, nest building and other aspects of early bird life.

The subject places Wings of Hope firmly within wildlife photography competitions, although its four-category structure focuses exclusively on birds and their behavior.

Dates and Entry Fees

Fees depend on the number of photographs included in each entry:

• 1 photograph: $15.
• 2 photographs: $30.
• 3 photographs: $40.
• 4 photographs: $50.

A photographer may submit up to ten separate entries. Each entry can contain between one and four photographs, which may be distributed across different categories or entered within the same category.

How to Enter

Entries are submitted through EntryThingy. Photographers create or sign into a free account, upload JPG or PNG files, choose a category and either the novice or advanced division, review the submission and pay the applicable fee. Individual files may be up to 50 MB.

The novice division is intended for photographers who have not sold prints, won photography awards or worked professionally. The advanced division covers photographers with professional experience as well as those who have sold work or placed in other photography contests.

About the Jury

The judging panel consists of bird photographer and educator Duade Paton, nature photographer and Florida Master Naturalist Marina Scarr, and British broadcaster, author and “Urban Birder” David Lindo.

Every photograph is scored from 1 to 5 in four areas: technical quality; composition and artistic merit; moment and impact; and overall impression. The published scoring system gives entrants a relatively clear picture of how the final selections will be assessed.

Why Enter Wings of Hope Bird Photography Contest?

The novice and advanced divisions are the most useful structural feature of the Wings of Hope Bird Photography Contest. Instead of placing a new bird photographer directly against entrants with professional experience or previous awards, each category produces a winner at both experience levels. The four subjects also cover different skills, from tracking birds in flight to observing behavior or producing a controlled portrait.

There is also a direct fundraising purpose behind every paid entry. Knowing Hope states that contest fees support medical treatment for children with chronic and catastrophic illnesses in under-resourced communities in Asia. For photographers comparing the best photo competitions, Wings of Hope is therefore distinctive less for a single headline prize than for its combination of specialist bird photography, experience-based divisions, named judges and charitable fundraising.

Rules and Copyright

We reviewed the official rules of the Wings of Hope Bird Photography Contest 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

Photographers must be at least 16 years old and may submit up to ten entries. All photographs must be the entrant’s original work.

AI-generated images are prohibited. Basic photographic adjustments are accepted, but elements cannot be added, removed or substantially altered. Each photograph must be assigned to one of the four categories and entered in the division that best reflects the photographer’s experience.

Copyright and Image Usage

Photographers retain full copyright in their submitted images. Entry grants Knowing Hope permission to use those photographs for promotional and fundraising purposes, with credit to the photographer.

The published information does not specify how long this permission lasts, whether it is exclusive or non-exclusive, or whether third-party sublicensing is permitted.

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For more information and to participate in the contest, visit: the official website.