Local online photography hub, “The Sussex Photography Project” has launched its new annual photography competition and exhibition “My Sussex”. Sussex Photography Project co-founder, Simon Courcha says: “Through the site and the ‘My Sussex’ competition and exhibition we aim to encourage and feature some great local photography. Thanks to the support of our sponsors RedBox Cameras, competition entry is free and we are delighted to be able to stage an exhibition of the best entries as part of the inaugural Crowborough Arts Festival.” The first prize is a Ricoh CX3 digital compact camera, while the second prize winner will win a place on a creative photography course provided by UK Photo Courses. Third prize is a range of photographic papers provided by Online Papers. Open to amateur and professional photographers alike, the competition is open for submissions until 2nd September 2010.

Website: My Sussex

International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY) is reminding interested photographers that the submission deadline for its summer seasonal competition is 31st August. The summer seasonal competition is part of IGPOTY’s new format – ‘4 Seasons’ – four seasonal competitions, based on specific themes, which allows photographers to win cash prizes throughout the year as well as gain judging points that can help them win the overall IGPOTY title. The theme for the summer seasonal competition is ‘Insect Beauties’. IGPOTY is looking for originality and images that reveal the secret life of micro-creatures in gardens from around the world. As always, we recommend that you read the rules before entering your work. Note that entry fees apply.

Website: IGPOTY

Duckrabbit Digital has announced the winners of its inaugural Portfolio Project contest, naming ten photographers from across the U.S.A. the best of a large submission pool. Duckrabbit Digital is an artisan black-and-white printer, providing high-quality prints to photographers and artists from all over the world. The 2010 Portfolio Project was the first in what the printer plans to be an annual series of competitions meant to encourage the creation and visibility of black-and-white art. The call for artists produced an unexpectedly large response, with submitting artists from almost every US state, as well as from Canada and Europe. The ten winners include Erin Goldberger (for “South of France” - reproduced above), Craig Blankenhorn, Lucas Cotterman, Vivienne Maricevic, Guillermo Martin, Michael Knapstein, Allan Ayres, Yu-Chen Chiu, Arlo Valera and Danielle Baudassi. You will be able to buy limited-edition prints of the ten winning works via Duckrabbit Digital’s website in the coming weeks (the photo above can already be ordered).

Kolo is running a monthly photo contest, with August’s theme being Nature. The submission deadline for this month’s competition is 31 August, and each entrant may submit up to ten photographs. The winners will be announced on 10 September. Note that participating photographers will grant Kolo a non-exclusive, fully-paid and royalty-free, worldwide licence to publish any of their photos submitted to the competition.

Website: Kolo Photo Contest

Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) is introducing a new award this year. TPOTY has teamed up with the Young Photographers Alliance to offer a new Young Photographer Alliance Award in order to help people passionate about photography to get a good grounding which will enable them to pursue photography as a career. Additionally, the existing Young Travel Photographer of the Year (Young TPOTY) competition - themed ‘Big World, Small World’ in 2010 - has been divided into two age groups, 14 and under, and 15-18, with prizes for each group. Finally, the TPOTY judges will give a special award to one young photographer. This award will be given to the most interesting entry from a photographer aged 25 years and under who has entered either the New Talent or Young Travel Photographer of the Year categories. As part of their prize, the winner will be mentored by an experienced professional photographer through a place on the YPA mentoring programme. Entry for Young TPOTY is completely free.  Images can be uploaded at www.tpoty.com.

Datacolor has just announced the winners of its Real New York photography competition. Hundreds of photographers participated, submitting entries that captured the pulse of the city, from the bustle of Manhattan to the calm of Central Park. The contest’s first and second place winners, Richard Brown of Seattle, Washington and Tom Duggan of New York, New York were selected for their photos entitled, “Up with Color” and “Fishing.”  Mr. Brown, the contest’s first runner up, received a Lensbaby Composer, while second runner up Mr. Duggan was awarded a $250 gift certificate to B&H.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) has issued the last call for entries to its 2010 Young Photographer Awards. Hundreds of entries have already poured in, but there is still time to put your snaps in the frame to win prizes - provided you are a UK citizen under 19. The winner will receive £1,000 worth of Olympus camera kit as well as a photography break courtesy of Natures Images. Danny Green, who runs Natures Images along with Mark Sisson, will join the overall winner and pass on some of his expertise during the annual deer rut in Bradgate Park, Leicestershire. The closing date for YPA entries is Monday, 6 September.

Website: Young Photographer Awards

Heathrow Express has launched a competition to find the best family holiday photograph. The company has teamed up with Luxury Family Hotels to give away a weekend away in the UK to the carefully chosen winner and his/her family. To enter all participants have to do is submit one of their holiday photographs along with a title, their name and telephone number and some details on where and when the picture was taken. Photographs must be submitted to [email protected] by 30th September at 11:59pm. The competition is open to participants worldwide, aged 18 or over on the closing date.

The Photography.Book.Now competition, presented by Blurb, today opened voting for the People’s Choice Award. Anyone may visit the Photography.Book.Now Bookstore and vote for their favourite photography book through 20th August. There will be one People’s Choice Award winner in each category – Editorial, Fine Art, and Photography Portfolio.

Website: Photography.Book.Now

Color Confidence has announced the launch of its inaugural ‘Push Your Creativity’ Awards. The Color Confidence ‘Push Your Creativity’ Awards are open to all creative professionals, including designers, illustrators and photographers of all levels, from student to professional, and invites submissions in any medium with the only proviso being that the work is creative and original. The winning entrants will be published as part of Color Confidence’s 2011 Graphic Supplies catalogue in the form of the cover and the section divider pages. The deadline for submissions is 5pm on Friday 22nd October 2010.

Website: Color Confidence Awards

TNT Magazine’s annual travel writing photography competition is back. The awards are judged by TNT’s specialist panel, including Lonely Planet’s Tom Hall, and are highly regarded within the independent travel market. Readers Choice Awards are also given for both the writing and photography categories with online voting. You have until 16 August 2010 to submit your work. Winners of the photography categories; People and Places, The Natural World, Your London and Readers Choice will each receive an Olympus E-PL1 mirrorless system camera (pictured) with retro camera bag.

Website: TNT Travel Writing & Photography Awards

A Panasonic TZ10 is up for grabs at PicStop - all you need to do is submit a winning image to their current photography contest. You have until 30th September to enter your work. The winner will be picked at random by PicStop and notified by telephone or email. Do note that this competition is open to 18+ legal residents of the United Kingdom and Ireland only. Terms & conditions apply.

Website: PicStop Competition

The winners of the Student Focus Competition for the Sony World Photography Awards 2010 have been announced. Victoria Ines Dobaño and Rodrigo Terren Toro’s winning images, entitled Villa Epecuen, depict the overwhelming power of water. The students’ challenge was to produce a series of six photographs that explored the notion of ‘Power’. The 2011 Student Focus competition has now been launched.

Express Insurance and world renowned photographer Ray Archer have teamed up to launch a new online competition in search of the best UK motocross photography. The theme of ‘Motocross’ encompasses every element of the sport, photography submitted could include a picture of a static bike, a shot of a professional rider in action or even a creative photo of a pair of gloves. Budding photographers should log onto Facebook and become a fan of Express Insurance UK. The closing date for entries into the competition is Sunday 10th October 2010. The first prize on offer is £250 worth of KTM Gear and an exclusive one-to-one photography lesson with Archer. The runner-up will receive a Flip HD Video Camera and a pair of tickets to a round of their choice at the 2011 Maxxis Motocross championships. Third prize is a pair of tickets to a round of their choice at the 2011 championship.

The Silver Eye Center for Photography has announced Fellowship 2010, an international photo competition. Now in its 11th year, the competition is open to all photographers, not just Silver Eye members. A $3,500 award and is open to all eligible photographers, while a $1,500 is open only to Pennsylvania residents (who may apply in both catagories). The juror of the competition is Deborah Klochko, Executive Director of the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, California (see picture above). Entries must be postmarked or delivered on or before Friday, 27 August 2010 at 6 p.m. EST.

Website: Silver Eye

FotoWeek DC, the premier photography festival in Washington, DC announces the launch of its third annual International Awards Competition. Images are judged in 12 different categories, with cash prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place for each category. There is also the Spirit of Washington Award, which honors the photograph that best captures the essence of the US capital and includes a top prize of $5,000. The competition is open to all photographers, both amateurs and professionals. Entry fees apply, but there is an early bird discount for work submitted before 31 July. The final deadline for submission is 20 September 2010.

Website: FotoWeek DC 2010 Festival

Corel’s Quest for the Best Creativity Challenge is looking to discover and showcase some of the extraordinary and inspiring work made in Corel software every day. “As we celebrate our 25th birthday, it’s the perfect time to shine a spotlight on the talent and skills of our community as we thank them for their loyalty and longstanding support,” said Nick Davies, Senior Vice President, Corporate Marketing at Corel. To enter, design your creation in one of Corel’s products and upload your entry to the website below, or simply visit the website and pick your favourite submissions.  The contest is now open in the US, UK, Canada and Germany. Deadline for participation is 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time on 31st August 2010.

Website: Corel Quest for the Best

If you have any photos of New York that go beyond showcasing the usual tourist hotspots, now’s the time to enter them in Datacolor’s ‘Real New York’ photography competition. The submitted photographs should illustrate iconic images that speak what the real New York is through its sights, textures, spirit, and more. The grand prize winner of the ‘Real New York’ photo contest will be awarded a trip to the renowned Photokina trade show taking place September 21-26, 2010 in Cologne, Germany.  The first and second runner-ups will receive a Lensbaby Composer and a $250.00 B&H gift card, respectively. The submission deadline is Saturday, 24th July.

Website: ‘Real New York’ Photo Contest

The 2010 savewater! awards - Australia’s largest water photography competition - has opened its photographic category internationally for the first time, giving budding photographers around the world a chance to enter the competition. With water conservation imagery as the key focus, the savewater! awards photo contest provides a unique platform for photographers to creatively demonstrate the importance of water and its impact on our future. Images can be submitted in three sub-categories; Junior students (up to 12 years olds), senior students (13-17 year olds) and an open category. Prizes on offer include digital cameras and iPod Shuffles. To enter, simply take a photo that captures the importance of water and conserving it for the future, then upload it to the website below. The submission deadline is 5pm AEST on 9th August 2010.

Website: Savewater! Awards

Lensbaby is teaming up with Kevin Kubota of Kubota Image Tools to create a Kubota Creative Tools Pak specifically for Lensbaby images. Lensbaby is also announcing The Kubota Contest, a new photo contest for photographers making the best use of Lensbaby Optics. All Lensbaby photographers are being asked to submit two unedited photos taken with any Lensbaby lens - Composer, Muse and Control Freak - and any of Lensbaby’s six optics - Double Glass, Single Glass, Plastic, Fisheye, Soft Focus and Pinhole/Zone Plate -, by 5pm EST, 6 August 2010 for a chance to win Lensbaby and Kubota Bucks as well as their own copy of the new Kubota Creative Tools, The Lensbaby Pak. The winning images will be announced on 3 September 2010.

Website: The Kubota Contest