Hasselblad has announced the ten winners of its Hasselblad Master Award for 2008. More than 1,700 entries to the contest, which covers ten separate categories of photography. The ten winners each receive a framed diploma and the free use of a Hasselblad H3DII DSLR camera system for four months. Details of the Hasselblad Master Awards 2009 will be announced on the Hasselblad website in February 2008.

The deadline for entry to the Royal Photographic Society’s 151st International Print Exhibition is 14th March 2008. This year’s exhibition sees the introduction of the Allen & Overy Awards, with a total prize fund of £18,000. The overall winner will receive a prize of £10,000 and a Gold Society Medal. The prize winners will be announced on 12th June 2008.

A photo of an anti-Bush demonstration has won first prize in Woophy’s 3rd international photo contest. The winning photograph by Gabriel Rojas from Bogotá, Colombia, was chosen from more than 3,000 entries. The jury praised the picture by Rojas for its powerful contrast between the police vehicle on the foreground and the vulnerable demonstrator in the back. The winner received an Olympus E-410 SLR camera.

The Rainforest Alliance ‘Picture Sustainability Photo Contest’, sponsored by Fujifilm, aims to raise awareness around issues of sustainability and conservation. Open to residents of the USA, the winner and a guest will receive a trip to the Galapagos Islands. Also part of the prize package is a mysterious Fujifilm FinePix SLR-style professional model digital camera, that is worth approximately $800 and will be announced at PMA at the end of this month. To qualify, photos must be submitted to http://www.raphotocontest.org/ by March 15, 2008.

The total prize pot of cash and vouchers for the International Garden Photographer of the Year 2008 competition is more than £25,000. “The prize fund of more than £10,000 cash recognises flower and garden photography as the equal of landscape, travel and natural history photography, which already have their own competitions.” said Andrew Lawson, Judge and Director of the Garden Photographer of the Year. Entries close on 31st January 2008 and participants can enter single images or themed portfolios in five different categories. The top 100 winning and commended images will be shown at a purpose-built outdoor exhibition in Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, London from May to September 2008.

Leica is now inviting entries to its “Leica Oskar Barnack Award“ and “Leica European Publishers Award for Photography” photo competitions. The annual Leica Oskar Barnack Award is given to the photographer whose sure powers of observation most vividly express man’s relationship to his environment. The “Leica European Publishers Award for Photography” contest is one of the most prestigious photo book prizes in Europe. The deadline for the Oskar Barnack Award is January 31st 2008, and for the European Publishers Award March 21st 2008.

CIWEM’s Environmental Photographer of the Year Competition invites you to to raise awareness of environmental and social issues. The contest is open to all professional and amateur, national and international photographers working with digital and traditional photography. This year’s categories are Changing Climates; A World of Difference; Quality of Life; and The Natural World. The competition is organized by CIWEM (The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management) and is open until July 31st 2008.

Carl Zeiss have just launched a photo contest looking for interesting photos from the past year. The use of a lens from Carl Zeiss is obligatory for participation in the contest. All winning photos will be published on the Carl Zeiss website. The Carl Ziess contest will end on 7th January 2008.

10-year-old Alex Worthington from Lancaster has won the RSPCA Young Photographer Award 2007. Talking about his winning shot, Alex Worthington said: “For this picture I used all the zoom of the Olympus SP500.  This let me get very close and it makes an unusual picture. I was able to take several pictures, but I think this one is the best because the chameleon is looking at me, the contrast of colours is good and your view is drawn to the eye.” Alex wins a photoshoot with the RSPCA, plus a top of the range Olympus camera.

Wang Feng from China has beaten over 74,000 entrants to win the Sony Ericsson World View 2007 cameraphone photo contest. Commenting on Wang’s image, judge David Viggers said: ‘It’s a very high quality, sharp and well framed image, which blends a sense of humour with technical ability. It’s a simple, spontaneous moment captured on a camera phone to produce a visually striking, unusual image.” Merran Wrigley, Head of External Relations at Sony Ericsson, said: “Camera phone photography is being taken more and more seriously as the quality of images improve to that comparable with stand alone digital cameras. People are now using their camera phone to capture spontaneous moments that occur when they probably wouldn’t have their traditional camera.” Wang Feng has won a once in a life time photography trip for two.

The winners of Tamron’s “An Emotional Appeal” 2007 photo competition have been announced. “Mixed Emotions” by Lance Taylor was chosen as the Grand Prize Picture and wins a Tamron AF 18-250mm lens for a picture of his wife Jacqueline and 3-year old daughter Jillian at a beach near Corolla, North Carolina. Tamron has also just announced the “An Emotional Appeal” 2008 Photo Contest - the deadline for entries is 11/30/08.

UK magazine Amateur Photographer are giving away a rare Leica model O replica kit worth over £2,000 in its Christmas issue. The model O is a replica of the Prototype 2 camera, of which only 20 were made in 1923. The limited-edition kit was put together by Leica Camera AG to mark the 125-year anniversary of the death of Leica inventor Oskar Barnack. To enter the prize draw readers must collect four special tokens from AP issues. The closing date for the competition is Friday, 1 February 2008.

The Royal Photographic Society has launched a new youth photography competition called IRIS-25, aimed at young people under the age of 25. IRIS-25 aims to prmote the growth of Digital Audio Visual photography among young people. “The production of AV sequences involves many skills useful in modern life, and can benefit the workers and leaders of tomorrow, teaching them to communicate, not only visually but also verbally; to look, listen and understand; and to express their ideas creatively with skill and sensitivity.” commented Maureen Albright, Organiser. The deadline for entries is 21st April 2008.

As part of the Sony Alpha Unseen Britain campaign Sony is inviting photographers to submit eye-catching images of Britain. Pictures submitted will be entered into a competition to receive a new Sony Alpha 700 (?700) Digital SLR camera and full kit. The closing date for entries is January 4 2008. In addition renowned photographer and climber Mike Robertson will be scaling Spinnaker Tower (Portsmouth), Blackpool Tower, Newport Transporter Bridge, Snowhill Plaza (Birmingham) and a London site armed with the Sony Alpha 700. Paul Genge from Sony says: “Through combining the advanced technology of the new Sony Alpha 700 (?700) D-SLR camera with Mike’s expertise, skill and daring attitude, we aim to capture views of Britain that have not been shared with the public before.  We want individuals to be inspired and think about photography with a different perspective and encourage them to enter our competition.”

London-based photographer Cat Vinton has become the first female overall winner of the international Travel Photographer of the Year competition. Cat’s beautiful panoramic images of the snowy Norwegian landscape and evocative shots of a Nomadic family won her the opportunity to photograph the Dalai Lama in India. Amateur and professional photographers from 51 countries competed for the £50,000+ prize package. The winning images can be seen at www.tpoty.com, and will be on display at the Exposure Gallery in London.

The inaugural “Photographers of Tomorrow” student photo contest from Olympus USA has a top prize of a $5,000 scholarship plus Olympus E-3 Digital SLR Camera with lenses and accessories. Starting January 14th 2008, students will submit their best work captured with the Olympus E-3 digital SLR. The winning images will be announced in April 2008. “The Olympus competition is our way of helping the next generation of professional photographers and photojournalists to showcase their work nationally, as the winning submissions will be visible on the Olympus Web site,” said John Knaur, senior marketing manager, Digital SLR at Olympus Imaging America Inc.

Michal Honkys from Thames Valley University is the winner of this year’s Nikon Discovery Awards competition. Michal received a £5000 cash prize, £1800 worth of Nikon equipment and national exposure of his work. Chris Hoare, Nikon’s professional business manager said: “The first Discovery Awards competition has been a great success, we are really pleased with the efforts of each of the students and colleges involved in the competition and have had great feedback from the tutors. The winners were all extremely deserving and will no doubt go on to be industry’s finest.”

The LG Video Media Talent Award wants to find the UK’s up-and-coming new talent in both video production and presenting. Two training internships are up for grabs – one for a video presenter and the other for a video production assistant. Both categories require entrants to illustrate, in visual form, what they think style is. The two winners will receive a six month internship with Shiny Media, including an all expense paid assignment to the 2008 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and an LG Viewty cameraphone. Hurry - the competition closes on 14 December 2007.

Professional photographers can now upload their entries to the 2008 World Press Photo Contest online. Photographers can register until 4 January to access the site. The deadline for uploading entries is 10 January 2008. Single pictures as well as photo stories/portfolios are accepted in ten categories. The first prize winners in each category will receive a cash prize of 1,500 Euro, the premier award, the World Press Photo of the Year, carries a cash prize of 10,000 Euro.

Beating off competition from over 200 entries, ten finalists have the chance of being crowned Young Fashion Photographer of the Year at Clothes Show Live 2007. The overall winner will receive a set of fantastic prizes including £2000 worth of prize money, £1000 worth of Nikon photographic equipment, £1000 donated to her college art department plus an internship with leading Fashion Photographer Will Whipple. “I cannot believe I am part of such an amazing event like the Clothes Show Live. I’m so excited that my photograph is be to mounted at the show and that key industry figures will be looking at my work!” commented finalist Joanna Briggs, 19 from Stafford College (entry pictured). The judging panel will announce the winner at 1pm, Tuesday 11th December 2007.