The 2010 international Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) awards are now open for entries. To be more precise, print entries are now being accepted for the 2010 awards, and online image submissions can be made from July 1. TPOTY 2010 features three portfolio categories for amateur and professional photographers aged 19 and over. The category titles are Encounters, Amazing Places and World in Motion. In addition to portfolio winners, awards will be given for the best individual images in each of these categories. The overall winner of TPOTY 2010 will be the entrant who is judged to have submitted the strongest two portfolios. Also, there are two single image categories - One Shot (theme: Adventures), which is for experienced amateurs and professional photographers, and First Shot (theme: Festival of Colour), which is aimed at adult beginners. The New Talent award (theme: Sell It!) is for aspiring professional photographers, and the Young Travel Photographer of the Year is divided into two age groups for the first time - 14 and under and 15-18.  Each portfolio category costs £15 per entry, One Shot and First Shot cost £10 to enter, and New Talent £20. Young TPOTY is free to enter. Entries close on October 9th 2010 and the results will be announced in December.

TPOTY Press Release

TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2010 OPENS FOR ENTRIES

Challenging categories, great prizes, and new awards and support for young and emerging photographers

The 2010 international Travel Photographer of the Year awards (TPOTY) are now open for entry. Open to amateur and professional photographers from across the globe, TPOTY 2010 sees new categories, new sponsors and new judges, a great range of photographic and travel prizes, and a special focus on young and emerging talent.

“We are very excited about this year’s awards,” said TPOTY founder, Chris Coe. “The 2010 categories have been designed to challenge entrants’ creativity and to offer something for all levels of photographic experience. Whether you’ve only recently started taking images, or have been working as a pro photographer for many years, there will be a TPOTY category for you.

“We know that entrants really appreciate not just the excellent prizes that TPOTY always offers, the prestige of winning a TPOTY title and the international exposure that comes with it, but also the challenge of editing their work and the opportunity to have their images judged by well-respected experts. This year we have one of our strongest-ever judging panels and, with our partnership with Young Photographers Alliance, can ensure that the New Talent, Emerging Talent and Young TPOTY winners receive invaluable guidance to further develop their skills.”

Sponsors, partners and prizes

Genesis Imaging and Young Photographers Alliance (YPA) have joined Adobe Systems, Intrepid Travel, LEE Filters, Lexar Media, Photo Iconic, Plastic Sandwich and Wacom in supporting the awards which have become a firm favourite with travelling photographers worldwide - the 2009 awards received entries from over 70 countries.

The 2010 prize package includes trips to South East Asia, Botswana, India and Nepal with Intrepid Travel, TPOTY cash bursaries, Adobe® Photoshop® CS5 and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom® software, a Wacom Cintiq 12WX interactive pen display and Intuos4 and Bamboo Fun pen tablets, the latest Lexar® Professional CompactFlash® memory cards and card readers, LEE filters, customised leather portfolio books from Plastic Sandwich, fine art Giclée exhibition prints from Genesis Imaging and copies of the latest TPOTY book, Journey Three. Prizes for new and emerging photographers include Young Photographers Alliance portfolio reviews and places on the YPA mentoring programme, the chance of representation from Axiom Photographic Agency, and Photo Iconic photography tuition and image critiques.

Judges

TPOTY 2010 will be judged by a panel of imaging experts from the UK, USA, Germany, Sri Lanka and New Zealand, including travel and wildlife photographer Steve Bloom; Caroline Metcalfe, Director of Photography for Conde Nast Traveller; Sophie Batterbury, Picture Editor of Independent on Sunday and Foto8: Mary Robert, Head of Photography for American International University; Simon Bainbridge, Editor of British Journal of Photography; Andrew James, Editor of Practical Photography; Manfred Zollner, Editor of Fotomagazin (Germany); Debbie Ireland, former head of the AA Photo Library;  Erin Moroney, head of Axiom Photographic Agency; Marni Brownlees, Art Buyer for interactive marketing agency Dare Digital; travel photographer and publisher Juliet Coombe; photographer and TV cameraman Jeremy Hoare; landscape and panoramic photographer Nick Meers; wildlife photographer Chris Weston, digital imaging expert Terry Steeley of Iridius and TPOTY founder, travel photographer Chris Coe.

Awards and categories

TPOTY 2010 features three portfolio categories for amateur and professional photographers aged 19 and over. The category titles are Encounters, Amazing Places and World in Motion. In addition to portfolio winners, awards will be given for the best individual images in each of these categories. The overall winner of TPOTY 2010 - the Travel Photographer of the Year 2010 - will be the entrant who is judged to have submitted the strongest two portfolios.

There are two single image categories - One Shot (theme: Adventures), which is for experienced amateurs and professional photographers, and First Shot (theme: Festival of Colour), which is aimed at adult beginners.

The New Talent award (theme: Sell It!) is for aspiring professional photographers, and the Young Travel Photographer of the Year is divided into two age groups for the first time - 14 and under and 15-18. Entrants in New Talent and Young TPOTY will also be eligible for the YPA Emerging Talent award.

Deadlines and entry fees

Print entries are now being accepted for the 2010 awards, and online image submissions can be made from July 1. Each portfolio category costs £15 per entry, One Shot and First Shot cost £10 to enter, and New Talent £20. Young TPOTY is free to enter. Entries close on October 9th 2010 and the results will be announced in December.

All the previous winners of the TPOTY awards can be seen in the Winners’ Gallery on www.tpoty.com, and in the ‘Journey’ series of books from Travel Photographer. The most recent of these, Journey Three, was published in March, and contains the winning images from the 2007, 2008 and 2009 awards. Priced £25, it is available at bookshops and from www.tpoty.com.

Awards, categories and prizes in detail

Overall Winner

The Travel Photographer of the Year 2010 will be the entrant who is judged to have submitted the best two portfolios in the Encounters, Amazing Places or World in Motion categories. Their prize is a £1,000 TPOTY cash bursary, an Intrepid Travel trip to Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, Adobe Creative Suite® 5 software, a Lexar Professional 300x 32GB CompactFlash card and Lexar Professional Dual-Slot Card Reader, and a customised leather portfolio case from Plastic Sandwich.

New Talent Award

The theme of the 2010 New Talent award is Sell It! This category is designed to help an amateur or semi-professional kick-start a career in photography, and challenges them to create their own travel advertisement in a portfolio of four images. The New Talent winner will journey to India and Nepal with Intrepid Travel, receive Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom software, a Young Photographers Alliance portfolio review and feedback, a Lexar Professional 300x 16GB CompactFlash card and Lexar Professional Dual-Slot Card Reader, and a customised leather portfolio case from Plastic Sandwich. They will also be offered representation by Axiom, England’s premier travel photographic agency.

The runner-up in this category receives a Lexar Professional 300x 8GB CompactFlash card and a YPA portfolio review, while the High Commended entrant receives a TPOTY Journey portfolio book and a Photo Iconic image critique session, and the Commended entrant receives a Photo Iconic critique session.

Young Travel Photographer of the Year

The 2010 Young TPOTY category is themed ‘Big World, Small World’. This year the upper age limit has been extended to 18 and the award is split into two age groups. Entrants aged 14 and under submit a portfolio of images which show a place or country both in close up and in wider views. Entrants aged 15-18 have a choice of two themes - People or Environment - which they must depict in close up and wider view.

The Young Travel Photographer of the Year will be chosen from the winners of these two age groups, and will receive Adobe Photoshop CS5 & Adobe Photoshop Lightroom software, Lexar Professional 300x 16GB CompactFlash card and Lexar Professional Dual-SlotCard Reader, a Wacom Bamboo Fun Pen & Touch tablet, and a YPA portfolio review and feedback. The winner of the under 14 age group and the winners of the People and Environment categories of the age 15-18 section each receive Adobe Photoshop Lightroom software, a Photo Iconic image critique session and a Lexar Professional 300x 8GB CompactFlash card, while the runners-up receive Adobe Lightroom and a Photo Iconic critique session.

Young Photographers Alliance Emerging Talent Award

This award will be given by the judges to the most interesting entry from a photographer, aged 25 years and under, in either the New Talent or Young Travel Photographer of the Year categories. The winner receives a place on the YPA mentoring programme and feedback sessions and will be offered representation by Axiom.

Portfolio Categories

The winner of the Encounters portfolio category receives a £500 TPOTY cash bursary, Adobe Photoshop CS5 & Adobe Photoshop Lightroom software, a Wacom Intuos 4 Medium pen tablet and Lexar Professional 300x 16GB CompactFlash card and Lexar Professional Dual-Slot Card Reader.

The winner of the Amazing Places portfolio category receives a £500 TPOTY cash bursary, Adobe Photoshop CS5 & Adobe Photoshop Lightroom software, a Wacom Intuos 4 Wireless pen tablet and Lexar Professional 300x 16GB CompactFlash card and Lexar Professional Dual-Slot Card Reader. 

And the winner of the World in Motion portfolio category receives a Wacom Cintiq 12WX interactive pen display, a £500 TPOTY cash bursary, Adobe Photoshop CS5 & Adobe Photoshop Lightroom software, and Lexar Professional 300x 16GB CompactFlash card and Lexar Professional Dual-Slot Card Reader. 

Runners-up in each of these portfolio categories will win £250 worth of Lee Filters, a Lexar Professional 300x 8GB CompactFlash card, and a Photo Iconic critique session. Highly Commended entrants will win a TPOTY Journey portfolio book and a Photo Iconic critique, while Commended entrants receive a Photo Iconic critique.

Best Single Image in a Portfolio Award

The judges will also choose an image in each of the three portfolio categories which they feel deserves the award of Best Single Image in that category. Each winning entrant receives Adobe Photoshop Lightroom software and an impressive 24” x 20” Giclée exhibition print from Genesis Imaging. In addition, the Judges will select one of these three images as the Judges’ Choice, and that entrant will also receive a customised Plastic Sandwich leather portfolio book

Single Image Categories

The One Shot category (theme: Adventures) is open to amateur and professional photographers aged 19 and over. The winner will join Intrepid Travel on an adventurous 10-day overland trip across Botswana and receive Adobe Photoshop CS5 & Adobe Photoshop Lightroom software plus a Lexar Professional 300x 16GB CompactFlash card and Lexar Professional Dual-Slot Card Reader. The runner-up receives a Lexar Professional 300x 8GB CompactFlash card, and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. The Highly Commended entrant will win a TPOTY Journey portfolio book and a Photo Iconic critique, while the Commended entrant wins a Photo Iconic critique.

Finally, the First Shot category (Festival of Colour) is for photographers aged 19 and over who have only recently taken up photography and who shoot with a compact camera or basic SLR (film or digital) - even a mobile phone! Two winners from this category will receive a place on a Photo Iconic photography course plus Adobe Photoshop Lightroom software. Three runners-up win a place on a Photo Iconic course, and five Commended entrants receive a Photo Iconic image critique session.

Full details of the awards can be found on www.tpoty.com.

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