APOY 2022 Wildlife competition open for entries!

Round Eight of our Amateur Photographer of the Year is now open for entries! The theme for this round of the competition is Wildlife

We want to see your best animal and wildlife shots in this round of the APOY 2022 competition, and you don’t necessarily need to go far to find inspiration. Whether you find your muse in the local park, a zoo, or the wilds of the Serengeti, research and patience can be the deciding factor between an average shot and an outstanding one.

You might choose to fill the frame with the head of a majestic lion, capture the abstract shapes of a starling murmuration, or show an urban fox in an inner-city context. Wildlife is all around us, so make the most of it and capture it in a way we may not have seen before. Please note, this is not the round for domestic animals and pets.

Your guest judge for Round Eight, Wildlife

Tesni Ward

Your guest judge for Round Eight, Wildlife, is Tesni Ward. Tesni is an award-winning professional wildlife photographer and OM SYSTEM ambassador based on the outskirts of the Peak District. While the majority of her work focuses on British wildlife, she also photographs projects across the world and has aspirations to promote conservation and education through her images. She is also one of the photographers leading our AP Photography Holidays. See more of her work at tesniward.co.uk and on Instagram @tesniward

ENTER AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR ROUND EIGHT HERE

Round Eight, Wildlife, closes Friday 9th September.

This simple and characterful study of a young seal after a sandstorm won Jayne Bond the wildlife category in APOY 2021

Wondering where to start with your wildlife competition entries?

See our guide to wildlife photography here

Best kit for wildlife photography

Featured image: Steve Banner, shortlisted in Natural World round of APOY 2021

Young Amateur Photographer of the Year

We have added a Young Photographer of the Year category to APOY, in order to encourage our up-and-coming snappers. Entrants should be 21 years old or younger by the competition’s final closing date of 4 November 2022. All the categories are the same as for the main competition – simply select the Young APOY option on Photocrowd when you upload your images. This category is free to enter; each category winner receives a £250 voucher, and the overall winner receives a voucher for £500 to spend at MPB.

ENTER YOUNG AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR ROUND EIGHT HERE

Image: Katy Read, third place in Natural World round of Young APOY 2021

Camera Club award

Do you belong to a camera club? You can accumulate points for your society when you enter APOY. After all the ten rounds are complete, the one with the most points will win a voucher for £500 to spend at MPB. The club might want to spend it on gear for use by members, or even run its own in-house competition with the prize going to the most successful photographer. It’s entirely up to the winning group to decide.

See the current leaderboards here: APOY 2022 Leaderboard

What you win

The winner of each round of APOY 2022 receives a £500 voucher to spend on anything at MPB. A pro-quality lens, the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR is an excellent focal length for wildlife photography, and its constant f/2.8 aperture throughout the zoom range means shooting fast-moving subjects or in low light is made easier.

There are four stops of vibration reduction. When used with DX-format cameras, the lens provides a 105-300mm-equivalent focal range. This versatile and robust lens can be found at MPB for £1,679 in like-new condition.

The Fujifilm X-T4 offers 15fps continuous shooting (with mechanical shutter), which makes it a good choice for wildlife photography. Its 5-axis in-body image stabilisation means it can be used handheld with up to 6.5 stops of image stabilisation, making it suitable for a wide range of shooting conditions.

As shown in our review, its AF performance was described as ‘lightning fast and super responsive’, and overall a ‘phenomenally versatile camera’. Find it at MPB for between £1,209 and £1,409, depending on condition.

Fujifilm X-T4 in-hand with 50mm f1 lens, Andy Westlake

Aimed squarely at sports, action and wildlife photographers, the Panasonic Lumix G Vario 100-300mm f/4-5.6 II Power OIS offers a full-frame-equivalent focal range of 200-600mm, while measuring only 126mm long and weighing 520g.

In addition, it has a dust- and splash-proof design, as well as a silent AF motor and excellent AF tracking. It also takes advantage of Panasonic’s Lumix G series camera functionality. Including the addition of Power IOS, which is a 5-axis optical image stabiliser. This versatile lens can be found at MPB starting at £429.

Check out the website at www.mpb.com to take your pick from thousands of items of second-hand gear.