Rpoints Photographer of the Year

his year's competition will last for a full year. There will be a number of individual rounds, each with their own theme (see below). Prizes will be awarded for the best three photos in each round. Anyone winning a prize in a round is also invited to enter the final. The pictures will be hosted by Chadwick on an online gallery. After the deadline for each round the gallery will be made public with the address posted here for everyone to view and discuss the pictures. An independent panel of judges will decide the main prizes. They have no photographic training at all (or even ability in some cases), so they won't be looking for technical perfection. The winning pictures will be those that just attract and hold the judges' attention. Colourful, interesting, amusing, unusual, dramatic - stuff like that is probably what you'll need to win.
As well as the judges' prizes, we're also bringing back the "Members Award" for each round. This is simply the opportunity for everyone on Rpoints to vote for their favourite picture. And yes, there will be Rpoints given to the winner of this too, although no invite to the final. There is no need to "register" anywhere (you just need to be an Rpoints member) and there is no entry fee. Just take a picture, host it somewhere and send the link. You can enter one, some, all or none of the rounds (although if you enter none, you probably won't win anything). You won't need a top-end SLR camera. By all means use one if you've got it, but pocket-sized point-and-shoots or phone cameras are just as likely to win. More often than not, the real secret to a good picture is simply being in the right place at the right time. There's a theme for each round, but you can submit anything you like that fits the theme. Portrait, still life, macro, wildlife, landscape, sports, night, wide-angle, underwater, studio, abstract, black and white, tinted, colour, infra-red, whatever - it's all good!

Visit the website for details on how to enter