Epson is sponsoring a new youth photography competition in conjunction with the Irish Photographic Federation. The first Epson Youth Photography Awards are open to all schools and third level institutions throughout Ireland. Daniel Rafferty, Epson Ireland, commented, ‘We are delighted to expand our collaboration with the Irish Photographic Federation. It is very exciting to be involved at the grass roots level of emerging Irish photographic talent and we believe this will prove to be another very successful partnership between Epson and the IPF.’ The school or college with the best portfolio of images will win an Epson Stylus Photo R2400 A3+ eight colour printer and six individual winners will receive an Epson Stylus Photo R360 A4 six colour printer. Closing date for entries is 1st February 2008.

The winners of Tamron’s “Make Your Mark: Landmarks—Natural or Manmade” 2007 Photo Contest have been announced. The contest was open to U.S. residents submitting any original photograph prominently including a natural or manmade landmark that was taken with a Tamron lens. Tracy Arcari of Wheatogue, Connecticut took top honors for her breathtaking picture of The Mittens (pictured), a justly renowned rock formation in Monument Valley, Arizona. The theme for Tamron’s big 2008 Photo Contest is “Wet & Wild,”.

Croydon-based photographer Mark Hughes has been named as the 2007 UK Event Photographer of the Year. His winning Monochrome of motorcyclist Valentino Rossi “getting wet” at the 2007 Donnington meet scooped the 2007 Event Award. The British Professional Photography Awards are the UK’s premier professional photographic ‘Oscars’, showcasing the work of the UK’s most innovative and successful photographers.

The Ricoh GR Digital calendar contest invites Ricoh GR Digital owners to help create a special calendar. Ricoh are looking for photographs that “stir the heart” - submissions do not have to be seasonal images. The winning images will be used to produce a special calendar with one image used for the cover and one for each month. The 13 winners will be announced on November 20th 2007.

Ben Osborne from Shrewsbury has been named Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2007 for his image Elephant creation. When a bull elephant used his trunk to spray himself in the muddy water Ben used a slow shutter speed to capture the low morning light and texture of the mud. 11-year-old Patrick Corning from Surrey was named Shell Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2007 for his picture Monkey Moment. Debbie Sage, Competition Manager said, ‘This year’s winners have gone to great lengths to capture such rare moments in nature. These images are the best in the world and give us all an insight into the beauty, drama and variety of the environment around us.’

John Davies, Jacob Holdt, Esko Männikkö and Fazal Sheikh have been selected for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2008. This annual prize rewards a living photographer, of any nationality, who has made the most significant contribution to the medium of photography in Europe between 1 October 2006 – 30 September 2007. The prize is presented by The Photographers’ Gallery, London, which is also the opening venue for the exhibition.

The “Pricey Ink Stinks” contest is a Brickfish campaign from Kodak that invites entrants to put an end to the pain of expensive ink cartridges by submitting clever ideas for repurposing old printers.  The most creative entry will earn the winner their choice of $1000 cash or a $1000 scholarship. The inspiration for the campaign came from the cost of Kodak’s EASYSHARE AiO replacement ink cartridges, priced at less than half of most competitors at $14.99 MSRP for color and $9.99 MSRP for black.  Entrants in the “Pricey Ink Stinks” campaign are asked to submit a photo, drawing, video or blog of how they would creatively repurpose their old printers if they won the Kodak EASYSHARE 5300 AiO.  The grand prize winner will be selected by Kodak staff from the top 20 highest scoring entries.  The best video, best image, best blog and most viral entries will each win a Kodak EASYSHARE 5300 AiO. Anyone can visit http://www.brickfish.com/Lifestyles/KodakPrinter to check out the contest and enter, or just vote for their favorites.

The Angkor Photography Festival 2007 sees the temples of Angkor become a hub for both famous and passionate photographers from across the world. The Festival covers two genres, “concerned” documentary photography and fine art photography, organizes free workshops for emerging Asian photographers, and runs workshops for street children, amongst other endeavours. The Angkor Photography Festival is held from November 17th - 28th, at Siem Reap in Cambodia.

The World Firefighters Games 2008 photo contest is open to keen photographers of all ages. The competition challenges photographers to create images they think will amuse, inspire and enlighten. There are four different categories - Operational Incidents, Vehicles and Equipment, Previous World Firefighters Games and Heat. There are two age categories (under 16s and over 16s), and submissions are now being accepted, with an entrance fee of £10. The closing date is 12pm on June 1, 2008, with the winners being announced on August 24, 2008.

The Brickfish Photography Shoot Out photo contest is offering a $1000 grand prize. Whether it’s black-and-white or color, a portrait of a pet or a candid photo of children at play, Brickfish want to see it all. Interested shutterbugs can go to http://www.brickfish.com/Lifestyles/PhotographyContest to enter their photograph and to view and vote for their favorite among current entries. The grand-prize winner will be chosen by Brickfish staff and will receive their choice of a $1000 scholarship or $1000 cash. There will also be four Kodak EASYSHARE All-In-One printers given to the most viral entry and three sweepstakes winners.

Website: Brickfish Photography Shoot Out

From November 16 through to December 15 Think Tank Photo are giving away one of their camera bags every day. Enter the “Bag A Day” drawing and yo could win any of the bags available at www.thinktankphoto.com (Note: the only bag not eligible as a prize is the Airport Security roller). There is no purchase necessary and you only need to enter once. If your name isn’t drawn on one day, it is still eligible to be drawn on subsequent days.

Website: Think Tank Photo Prize Draw

You can win a Tamron AF18-250mm Di II All-In-One Zoom Lens as part of Digital Scrapbooking Day, held this year on November 3rd. Triscape created Digital Scrapbooking Day to encourage scrapbookers, photographers, crafters, and genealogists to set aside some time to preserve, document, and archive their memories digitally. You can enter to win the lens at http://www.tamron.com/lenses/digital_scrapbook07.asp , until the contest closes on 12/10/07.

Website: Tamron 18-250mm Lens Prize Draw

The World Photography Awards, sponsored by Sony, is an international showcase of the best images taken by renowned and undiscovered photographers alike. Featuring eleven different categories, both professional and amateur photographers will be invited to enter work to the World Photography Awards from 9th October 2007 until mid-January 2008. The winners will be announced at a black tie awards ceremony in Cannes at the Palais des Festivals on 24th April 2008. The aim of the World Photography Awards is to unearth the images of the future while paying tribute to the visions of the past. “Photography plays a vital role in defining and documenting the world around us”, says Shaun Dorrington, General Manager, Sony Digital Imaging, “and by sponsoring the inaugural World Photography Awards we can support talented photographers across the globe and give them the recognition they deserve.”

Enter National Geographic’s online Daily Dozen contest and you could get your photo published on the magazine’s “Your Shot” page. Images for the Daily Dozen are chosen from photographs submitted to National Geographic by photography enthusiasts from around the world. Go to http://ngm.com/yourshot for details on how to submit a photo. You can also can vote on a gallery of images from the previous week.

The second Young Fashion Photographer of the Year invites budding 16-25 year old fashion photographers from the UK to interpret “Cool Britannia”. A panel of judges will choose the ten best entries whose work will then be displayed at Clothes Show Live 2007. The overall winner will receive £2000 prize money, a one week placement with a top photographer, £1000 worth of Nikon photographic equipment and a VIP lunch at the show for the winner and 3 friends. Clothes Show Live 2007 runs from 7th – 12th December 2007 at the Birmingham NEC.

Photos of a Mute swan, Heron and Shelduck were the unanimous winners of the first ever WWT Nikon Photographic Competition. Linda Wright from Monmouth picked up the top prize for general photography with her Mute swan photo taken at WWT Slimbridge. Judge Chris Packham, said: “Choosing Linda’s photograph was a unanimous decision by the judges, but that’s not to say it wasn’t difficult – the standard of entries was very high. The Mute swan is a common species that’s often thought of as a nuisance. This photograph made this swan look extraordinary, and showed the beauty of this overlooked bird.” The competition received over 3,300 entries from people of all ages across the UK.

2,400 images were submitted by over 400 photographers to the Royal Photographic Society’s International Projected Image Exhibition 2007. The addition of an Open Digital Section resulted in a massive 80% increase in entries. The Exhibition will open at the headquarters of The Society, Fenton House, Bath on 14th October. It will then tour the UK and the Republic of Ireland until March 2008.

16 winning photos from CITY Magazine’s “One City, Many Destinations” travel photography competition have been announced. Konstantino Hatzisarros’s stunning image of two young monks in a Burmese temple was selected as the grand-prize winner. Along with the coveted cover shot for CITY’s Fall Travel issue, Hatzisarros won a Leica M8 professional camera, a trip for two to any W Hotel in North America and a gift certificate to Calumet Photographic.

Win thousands of pounds worth of cash and prizes in the Garden Photographer of the Year 2008 competition. In addition, the winners will have their photos exhibited for four months at The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London. There are five different categories - My Garden, Garden Views, Plant portraits, Life in the Garden and Trees - and you can enter single images or themed portfolios. The closing date for submissions is 31st January 2008.

The winners of the Nikon Photo Contest International 2006-2007 have just been announced, chosen from more than 47,000 photographs. The theme for the 31st contest was “At the heart of the image”. A total of 53 prize winners were selected from 16,000 participants from 135 countries. The contest is held since 1969 and currently staged once every other year.