CIWEM’s Environmental Photographer of the Year is an international showcase for the very best in environmental photography, honouring amateur and professional photographers who use their ability to raise awareness of environmental and social issues.

EPOTY encourages images of places and people that are benefitting from a changing climate, or vulnerable ecosystems and communities that are struggling with the effects. Images examine the relationship between economic development, environmental degradation and social inequity, celebrate innovations helping us achieve environmental improvements, examine lifestyles, cultural traditions, spiritual activities and racial prejudices, and celebrate the incredible variety and beauty that exists within our natural environment.

Categories:

* Mott MacDonald’s Changing Climates
* Innovation in the Environment (New Category for 2010)
* The Natural World
* The Underwater World (New Category for 2010)
* Quality of Life
* A View From the Western World (New Category for 2010)
* Young Environmental Photographer of the Year – Under 16
* Young Environmental Photographer of the Year – Under 21

Prize fund: £3,500

Each picture must be assigned to only one of the categories above but you may enter more than one picture into a category. There is a maximum of seven images per entrant.

Judging criteria:

* Impact – does it illustrate immediate, subtle or resonant messages?
* Creativity – is it unusual, thoughtful, beautiful, subversive or ironic?
* Originality – is the subject treated differently, and is the subject matter new?
* Composition – consider the perspective, balance, clarity of meaning and focus of statement
* Technical Quality – consider clarity, focus, lighting, exposure, and colour

All entries should be jpegs over 2MB. Your image must be of good enough resolution that it can be printed at the minimum size of approximately A3 (or the equivalent ratio of your image), meaning we require an image to be at 300dpi.

* Copyright: Photographers retain the copyright of any image entered into the Environmental Photographer of the Year.
* Eligibility: Open to all professional and amateur, national and international photographers of all ages working with digital and film photography.
* Entry fee: Free
* Entry deadline: 31 July 2010