Photography education and entertainment site PhoozL has announced its first paid-entry photo contest: ‘Show the Song: Spirit of the ‘60s.’ The competition challenges entrants to interpret 1960s classic rock song titles through their photography.  The contest is open for submissions now until 24 March 2013 to all logged-in members of Phoozl.com, amateur to pro, 18+, worldwide. The entry fee is $5 and you may submit up to five photographs. Entries will be judged by Elliott Landy, the official photographer of the 1969 Woodstock Festival. For more information, visit the website below.

Chromasia has announced a new architectural photography competition. Sponsored by Goodman Business Parks, the competition runs until 25th February, with the main prize being a Sony NEX-5R compact system camera. To enter, upload your picture to any Web server, making sure it’s publicly viewable, and tweet the direct URL via Twitter including @chromasia and #GoodmanComp. For more information, visit the website below.

Website: Chromasia

The winners of the 2012 World Press Photo awards have been announced. The overall winner is Paul Hansen for his image of a group of Palestinian men carrying the bodies of two children killed in an Israeli missile strike (above). The photograph was taken on 20 November 2012 in Gaza City and appeared in the Swedish newspaper Dages Nyheter. The jury gave prizes in nine themed categories to 54 photographers of 32 nationalities from: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Jordan, Malaysia, the Palestinian Territories, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, USA, and Vietnam. You can view the winning photographs at the website below.

Nikon has issued the final call for entries for the 2012-2013 Nikon Photo Contest, open until 28th February 2013. Held since 1969, the Nikon Photo Contest (NPC), formally known as the Nikon Photo Contest International (NPCI), was created with the goal of “contributing to the development of photographic culture by providing a venue of communication among photographers from around the world, be they professionals or amateurs.” For this year’s contest, Nikon is seeking entries in four categories including single photo, composite photo, video and Motion Snapshot. To submit your work, visit the Nikon Photo Contest 2012-2013 website and complete the entry form.

The winners of the 2012 Outdoor Photographer of the Year competition have been revealed. David Baker has been announced as the overall winner for his stunning image of his local beach in Southbourne, Dorset (above). David was presented with his award and £1000 prize on the PhotoBox stage at The Outdoors Show, while the category winners (Robert McBride, Scott Grubb, Björn Billing, Joshua Holko and Gergory van den Top) each received a £250 voucher from Wex Photographic.

The Guild of Photographers (GoP) - the fastest-growing photographic association in the UK - has announced the recipients of its Photographer of the Year awards. Tracy Willis has been awarded the Guild’s overall ‘Photographer of the Year’ 2012 title in addition to winning the ‘Photographer of the Year’ in the ‘People’ category. The ‘Wedding’ category winner is Beverley Foster, while Mark Tomlinson has been declared the best photographer in the ‘Open’ category. The Guild’s ‘All-Round Photographer of the Year’ title (ie the person with the highest combined score from any two categories) was won by Charlotte Bellamy.

The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) has issued a call for submissions of photographs portraying Superstorm Sandy’s impact on the region. The museum invites both novice and professional photographers to submit images depicting the stages of preparation, destruction and rebuilding for a juried exhibition that will open in April, to coincide with the six-month anniversary of the storm. Consideration will particularly be paid to before and after images of the same subject, highlighting the dramatic effect of the storm. The deadline for entries is 11:59pm, 3 March 2013. For more information detailing submission requirements, visit the website below.

VinylPlus has announced that a new photo contest has been launched on its Sustainable Thinking Platform. Running until 30 April 2013, the competition is open to young adults around the world, aged 18-30. All entries must address the question, “Smart, sustainable and inclusive growth for Europe and beyond. How do we make it happen?” Each participant may submit up to 3 pictures. The winner will be awarded with an Apple iPad mini tablet. You can enter the contest through the website below.

Website: Sustainable Thinking

The 4th annual Photocrati Fund competition is now open for entries. The Photocrati Fund offers a $5,000 grant to one photographer each year to undertake an environmental or humanitarian photography project. At the completion of the project, the grant winner’s images will be displayed as a photo essay on Photocrati.com. Applications for the 2013 Photocrati Fund competition will be accepted through 30th April (11:59pm Mountain Time). To apply, submit a one-page project statement (including a rough budget) and biography, along with a link to an online portfolio of 20-30 themed images to: fund@photocrati.com.  For complete Photocrati Fund rules and guidelines, visit the website below.

The World Photography Organisation (WPO) today revealed the shortlists for the Professional, Open and Youth categories of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards. Photographers returning to the awards include: Javier Arcenillas (Spain); Robin Hammond (New Zealand) and Paolo Pellegrin (Italy).  Exciting up-and-coming photographers new to the awards include Ed Kashi (USA) and Andrea Gjestvang (Norway). Catherine Chermayeff, Director of Special Projects at Magnum Photos and chairwoman of the Honorary Jury, commented: “What an invigorating three days - which resulted in lively and passionate debates. I think we, the jurors, all began this process and felt overwhelmed. I am delighted to say that by day three, each group proudly presented and argued for our respective shortlists and found surprising strength in the shortlist submissions across all categories.” The work of all the shortlisted photographers will be exhibited at Somerset House, London, from 26 April – 12 May as part of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition.

Photo Video West has just announced the World Cup of Photography photo contest. The competition, which runs from until 31 March 2013, is open to professional and amateur photographers from any country worldwide. Participants have the option to compete in the Professional or Amateur division for the Grand Prize, a cash award of $1,000, Tamron 18-270 PZD lens and Adobe Master Collections.  Category winners will also be selected for each category including children, portrait, wedding, wildlife, landscape, still life, artistic, silhouette, and underwater.  First place winners for each category win a copy of Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Photoshop. Early Bird (ends 1 March 2013) entry fees are $25 (Professional) or $20 (Amateur) per single photograph. After that date, entry fees will be $35 and $30 per image, respectively.

The winners of the 5th Annual International Loupe Awards have just been unveiled. The 2012 International Loupe Awards Open Image of the Year is by Andreas Smetana of New South Wales, Australia, who has won a cash prize of $15,000 and a place on the upcoming Creative Asia Vietnam & China Photography Tour. The 2012 International Loupe Awards Amateur Image of the Year is by Suellen Cook (see picture above).

The 2013 Fotoura International Street Photography Awards competition is now open for entries. Open to photographers all over the world, the awardsl include Open and Student categories and are centred around the theme, “Hometown.” Entrants may upload between 5 and 8 images to the competition’s website, and the deadline for entries is 12 February 2013. The entry fee is £30 (£15 for students), with all entrants receiving a £30 voucher to print their own Blurb book. The winners and a selection of the best entries to this competition will be shown in an exhibition in central London in Spring 2013. The first prize winner will receive £2000 cash, an exhibition of their work in London, a camera and £100 book publishing voucher. As always, we suggest that you read the rules before entering your work.

Competition: Win a Sony NEX-7KB and Accessories

Buy John Lewis Travel Insurance from £37 for your chance to win a Sony NEX-7KB and accessories with a combined value of £1,000.

Travel insurance ensures that you won’t lose out if you have to cancel or cut short your trip and gives you confidence in knowing that your personal belongings are protected – including replacement or if they’re lost, stolen or damaged. And wherever you’re heading on holiday, it’s easy to find the right protection for your trip.

The prize is the well-received Sony NEX-7KB Compact System Camera with 18-55mm Lens, a Sony LCSBBFB Camera Case for NEX Compact System Cameras, and an Integral Ultima SDHC Class 10 Memory Card, 16GB + 8GB, with a combined value of approximately £1,000.

Annual cover starts from £37 so head over to John Lewis Travel Insurance for your chance to win.

This promotion closes on 31st January 2013.

To celebrate the launch of its Niko Camera Bag line, Chrome is calling for entries from street photographers everywhere for its Streets of Chrome photo contest, which runs from 22 January – 14th February 2013. Finalists will be chosen by Chrome’s panel of expert judges - including legendary street photographers Rickey Powell, Tod Seelie and Ken Goto -, and the winner will be determined by open voting on streetsofchrome.com from 7th-14th February. The grand prize is a Fujifilm X-Pro1 compact-system camera with a Fujifilm X-Pro1 35mm f/1.4 lens and a Chrome Niko Camera Backpack.

This month we’re giving away 3 copies of Cyberlink Power Director Ultimate 11!

The lucky winners are Christopher Powell, Sergio Garcia, and Edward Mackiewicz. Congratulations!

Cyberlink is pleased to offer 3 lucky Photography Blog readers the chance to win the new Power Director Ultimate 11, the perfect software for enhancing photos and videos.

Power Director Ultimate 11 is award-winning software designed for Photo-Enthusiasts. It combines powerful pro-level features and intuitive functionality in a complete post-production video editing solution. It can be easily installed on a home PC allowing photographers of all abilities the chance to edit their masterpieces. From the novice shooting family movies on a smartphone up to a professional making a music video or a short film with high-end digital equipment Power Director Ultimate allows them to truly create. It can import over 50 different RAW formats onto the timeline and create 4k/2k quality photo slideshows, the slideshows can then be burnt to CD/DVD and Blu-ray for sharing with friends and enjoying for years to come. Power Director Ultimate is award-winning software that is 38% faster than the previous version.

This month we’re giving away a Capdase mKeeper camera backpack!

The lucky winner is Keith Pollard. Congratulations!

The Capdase mKeeper is a ultra portable sling style back pack which allows you to get instant access for your SLR camera and any accessories. You can simply swing it around and you’re ready to shoot. The unique sling design means that you can swivel the back round to your front to gain instant access to your camera, rather than having to take the backpack off and removing your camera, saving you time and making sure you’re ready for that perfect shot.

The mKeeper features a large compartment which easily houses any lenses, flash, or any other accessories which you need to carry around with you. The compartment features a zipper which ensures that all of your accessories are protected when they’re not in use.

Sponsor LoveCases also sell iPod Touch 5G cases.

ONE, a 3 million-strong global advocacy organization that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease, and iStockphoto have launched the “ONE Thing We Agree On” contest. Hosted on Zooppa.com, the contest will run through 26 February 2013. It is a challenge for creative minds to develop a video or print piece that showcases rivals uniting to fight issues such as poverty, famine and disease. Videos must be short and the message conveyed in three minutes or less. Twelve winners in total – six video winners and six print winners – will share $20,000 dollars and 35,000 free credits from iStockphoto. Winners will also be featured at ONE’s live events, on its website and social media platforms.

Scottish pet photographer Paul Walker scooped up the coveted Photographer of the Year 2012 title at The Societies’ Convention Awards Dinner in London on Saturday 12th January. In addition to receiving his trophy Paul also walked away with a VIP trip to The Societies’ 2014 Convention, set to take place in the Hilton London Metropole hotel in January next year. Paul commented, “Shocked, delighted, speechless, in that order.  I’m going to buy the dog a juicy bone for at least paying attention for that split second - most have selective hearing!”

Talenthouse has announced a new Creative Challenge for photographers. City Academy, a London-based performing and creative arts academy, is inviting aspiring photographers to submit their best images portraying the creative arts. One winner will be selected by the team at City Academy and will receive £500 along with a year’s worth of courses. They will also gain exposure on the academy’s website, blog and Facebook page. The deadline for entries is 5 February 2013.

Website: Talenthouse