Unified Color Technologies today announced the third cycle winners of its “Unified Color True Vision HDR Photo Contest”. Ryan Gardner finished first in the Architecture category, while Alex Benison has been announced winner in Landscape / Nature and Freestyle. Both of them received photography kits including Nikon D90 Kit with 18-105mm VR lens, a Lowepro Slingshot 202 AW case, a Gitzo carbon fiber tripod and a Lexar Professional Class 10 8GB memory card.

Under the theme “Electric Vision”, the 7th edition of the BMW-Paris Photo Prize worth €12,000, has been awarded to contemporary Hungarian artist Gábor ?sz. Entitled “Permanent Daylight,” the winning work is part of a series he made in a caravan which he turned into a camera obscura and parked next to a cluster of agricultural greenhouses. The image was made over four successive nights during which the light emanating from these strange, almost unearthly structures slowly reacted with the photosensitive material.Said Michel Frizot, photography historian and member of the 2010 jury: “The originality of Gábor ?sz’s practice is unlike certain standards of today, owing to the fact that he works slowly and without pomposity. His image seems to us to be totally in tune with the theme “Electric vision.”

G-Technology by Hitachi has officially announced the overall winner of its ‘Driven Creativity’ Competition. Iain Weir’s entry, titled “The Henley Swim”, convinced the jury with its theme - a misty, early morning gathering of swimmers set to embark on a journey down the Henley-on-Thames river - as well as its composition and the power of its creativity. The winner was revealed at the launch of an exciting gallery exhibition of all shortlisted competition entrants - held on November 16th at The Brick Lane Gallery, East London. The guest list-only evening launch bought together shortlisted and winning entrants, jury panel members, the audio, music, film and technology press, G-Technology representatives and its customers, to network and to admire all of the showcased creativity. The public can now visit the exhibition for free (open from 1pm-6pm everyday, until November 22nd, 2010).

The results of Burrard Lucas Photography’s wildlife photography contest have been announced. The winner is the above photograph, entitled “Last Run of the Day”, by Stephen Powles. Runners-up include “Hidden” by Gilbert Woolley and “Spider with Newly Hatched Babies” by Bhabani Prosad Mondal. You can view these entries and a number of highly recommended images at the website below.

Website: Burrard Lucas Blog

The US National Park Service (NPS) has announced the winners of its 2010 National Historic Landmark (NHL) Photo Contest. The winning photograph, entitled “Mount Rainier in the Morning”, has been captured by Matthew Bell of Lost Delta Photography, Olympia, Washington. “The selection of this year’s winner took some exciting outside-the-box thinking,” said NPS Director Jonathan Jarvis. “When we look at the winning image, we see the natural world instead of one of the many historic buildings on the list of NHLs. Managed—not made—by humans, Mount Rainier National Park represents a landmark in conservation history.”

The Fujifilm Student Awards 2011 is now open for entries. The theme for this year’s Award is ‘Senses’ with students being briefed to capture an image that encapsulates at least one of the five senses - sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. All images must be taken on Fujifilm Professional film and submitted via the contest website. Entry is free and students can enter as many photographs as they wish. The closing date for entries is 28 February 2011.

Website: Fujifilm Student Awards

James Clews has been named the Express Insurance photographer of the year. “My photograph was taken at Hawkstone Park in Shropshire for the British series and captures the renowned motocross rider Mike Brown,” James said. “The idea of the shot was to give the rider a better sense of speed and bring out the colours. I used a panning shot which is a great technique in photographing this sport.” James’ winning prize is £250 worth of KTM motorcycle gear plus an exclusive one-to-one photography lesson with professional photographer Ray Archer.

FotoWeek DC has announced a mobile phone photography competition called “Picture the Potomac”. The contest, which runs from now until midnight 12th November, aims to highlight awareness of Washington’s ever-changing waterway and to challenge the creativity of both professional and amateur photographers of all ages. Images must be captured on a mobile phone camera and submitted to the contest registration site at the cost of $3.99 per upload. The grand prize will consist of $500 in cash, plus a FolioLink Pro Account, and a professional portfolio website valued at $1500.

National Geographic is calling photographers from around the world to participate in their 2010 Photo Contest. The winner will have their picture published in worldwide editions of National Geographic magazine. They will also win a trip to Washington D.C. to participate in the annual National Geographic Seminar in January, as well as a cash prize of $10,000. Entries are accepted across three categories: People, Places, and Nature. Each entry has a fee of $15, but there is no limit on the number of entries per entrant. The competition ends on 30th November, and the winner will be announced in December.

Website: National Geographic Competition

DivePhotoGuide.com and Wetpixel.com have announced the sixth Our World Underwater and DEEP Indonesia competitions. The series is held in association with two leading scuba diving expos on opposite sides of the world, simultaneously - Our World Underwater, one of the largest diving expos in the US, and DEEP Indonesia, the first and only scuba diving and watersports expo in Indonesia. Prizes include nearly 40 trips to some of the best dive resorts and live aboards in the world, underwater photo and video equipment, and scuba diving gear. In addition, this year the Best of Show winner will receive $1,000 cash to go along with his or her dive trip. The submission deadline is 17 January 2011. Entry fees apply.

Wood’s 100 Old Navy Rum has launched a nationwide search for photos of life on board over the Christmas period, offering entrants the chance to win £500 worth of gardening and power tools. In addition to the winning prize, the first 3 runners up and the first 3 entries will win a bottle of Wood’s 100 Old Navy Rum. Open to Uk residents, the competition runs until 5th December. As always, we recommend that you read the terms and conditions (found in the press release below) before entering your work.

Burrard-Lucas Photography has launched a new travel photography contest. They are looking for your most interesting and striking travel photographs. You are not limited to any subject matter in particular; travel photography can portray many things such as an area’s people, cultures, customs, history or landscape. The submission deadline is 5 January 2011. Entry is free, and prizes to be won include a Canon EOS 7D digital SLR camera, a Lensbaby Composer and a SmugMug Pro account.

The prestigious title of Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year has been awarded to Hungarian photographer Bence Máté from Pusztaszer for his image, A marvel of ants (above). Bence’s winning photograph is taken from a portfolio that won the competition’s Erik Hosking Award. Speaking about Bence’s impressive portfolio, Chair of the judging panel, Mark Carwardine says, “These six strong images show a range of subjects and styles. The photographer is clearly a master of his craft with an artist’s eye”.

G-Technology by Hitachi has officially announced the winners and runners-up of its Driven Creativity Competition 2010. The professional photography category winner is The Henley Swim by Iain Weir; showing the misty, early morning gathering of swimmers set to embark on a journey down the Henley-on-Thames river. The runner-up is Fight in a blizzard by: Richard Costin, capturing a glimpse of Golden and White Tailed eagles during a stunning, intense snowstorm (see picture above). The winner of the amateur photography category is Eternal by Patty Palmtree.

The Master Photographers Association has announced the two winners of the 2010 Kodak Wedding and Portrait Awards. Lindsey Brooker scooped the title of “Kodak Portrait Photographer of the Year”, while John Parris has been named Kodak Wedding Photographer of the Year. The subject of each winning photograph receives £1,000 and a Kodak digital camera, and the winning photographers are presented with a trophy and certificate to display in their studios.

‘A Single Drop of Water’ is a photo contest organised by Statement Arts, a non-profit organisation. Designed “to celebrate, and document the journey of water” and to raise awareness about the importance of this precious resource and its scarcity in many communities, the photography competition serves two main purposes: to gather images for the curriculum of an arts based environmental awareness and education programme, and to generate revenue from the entry fees in order to help offset the programming. There are six categories including A Single Drop of Water, Water in our Daily Lives, Water Scapes, Clean Water Initiative, Under 25, Peoples’ Choice. The winning entries will be exhibited in New York City, and the winners will receive a total of $3,500 in prize money and prizes donated by Calumet. The entry fee is $25 for most adults and $15 for those aged 25 or younger. Those entering their work before 7th November will benefit from a $10 discount off the entry fee. The final submission deadline is 15th December.

Cazenove+loyd has teamed up with Leica UK to launch a new Travel Photographer of the Year competition for 2011. Each month from January to December 2011, photographers will be asked to submit up to five photographs taken in one of cazenove+loyd’s three areas of expertise – Africa+Indian Ocean, South+South East Asia and Central+South America. The 12 winning entries, one from each month, will be shown at an exhibition in Central London in early 2012.  The cazenove+loyd Leica Travel Photographer of the Year will be announced at the opening of the exhibition and will win a Leica X1 digital camera and accessories, plus a Leica X1 Akademie Workshop at Leica’s facility in Mayfair. Entries for January 2011’s monthly prize can be uploaded now on cazenove+loyd’s re-designed website.

Website: cazenove+loyd

The Environmental Photographer of the Year 2010 exhibition will open on 25th October, just a month before the Cancún climate-change conference. The overall winner of the 2010 competition is an aerial photograph titled “Flight of the Rays” by Florian Schulz, which shows a congregation of Munkiana devil rays in Baja California Sur. Bulgarian Radoslav Radoslavov Valkov has gained the title of the Young Environmental Photographer of the Year with his macro photograph of a fly. Hungary’s Bence Máté has been announced winner of The Natural World category for his image, “Fly to Eye” (see above). The winning images will be exhibited at The Air Gallery, Dover Street, Mayfair, W1S 4NE on 25th - 30th October 2010. Admission is free. A Blurb photo book of the winning images from the 2010 competition is available for purchase.

Zagat has just announced its first-ever photo contest. Photographers are invited to take a picture of anything that says “ZAGAT” - for example, a restaurant sign -, and upload the photo to the Zagat Photos website until 10th November. Every entrant will get a 90-day membership to Zagat.com, while the winner will also receive an “ultimate getaway” for two at Wynn Las Vegas including airfare up to $800, two nights in a Parlour Suite, meals and more.

The Master Photographers Association (MPA) has announced the winners of the 2010 Master Photographer of the Year Awards. Michael Dearden has been named the UK Master Photographer of the Year 2010, and he also finished first in the Contemporary Wedding category. The Overseas Master Photographer of the Year title went to Ryan Wong Teck Yan of Singapore. Click through for the winning images.