Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Amateur Photography Competition 2025
The management teams of the Ring of Gullion, Mournes and Strangford and Lecale AONBs are launching their joint Amateur Photography Competition once again in December 2024.
This popular competition gives people across the three areas a great way to showcase their love of their AONBs through high-quality beautiful photography; we want to inspire everyone to enjoy the AONBs, by encouraging everyone to share their two passions: the beauty of the area and photography!
Our amateur photography competition will open on December 1st 2024! The title for this year’s competition is ‘Magnificent Mourne Gullion Strangford! Our Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty through the seasons.’
The theme is open to individual interpretation. You might choose to photo wildlife (which includes animals and plants), landscapes, or even the weather.
This competition will close on 15th August 2025 at 5pm, and the winning photographs selected by the judging panel will form the ever popular AONB Calendar for 2026.
To view last years winners and finalists, please view the News article below.
Image credit: Evan Boyce
Prizes
Prizes will be awarded to winners of the under and over 18 category winners. A runner-up or second prize will also win a prize in over the 18yrs old category.
Over 18yrs old category
1st prize over 18yrs old – £100 cheque
2nd prize over 18yrs old – £50 cheque
Under 18yrs old category
1st prize under 18 yrs old – £50 cheque
Rules
Annual Photography Competition (see the rules for full list of requirements).
- Entrants can submit up to four photos as an electronic copy (max 10mb) in colour or black and white. Hard copy images cannot be accepted. It is recommended to be at least 1200 pixels on the longest length.
- A high-resolution image with a minimum of 6MB, preferably over 10MB, will be requested if entries are shortlisted and entrants may be disqualified at the judge’s discretion if high resolution images are not provided when requested.
- Entrants must not be professional photographers and, for the purposes of this competition, a professional photographer will be considered to be someone who makes more than half their annual income from the sale of their photographs.
- Pictures of domestic animals (eg pets), animals in captivity and cultivated plants are not eligible.
- Only photos taken in the 3 AONBs will be accepted. You can view the boundary by downloading the maps below.
Please download the rules of entry below, or call the Ring of Gullion/ Strangford and Lecale AONB Officers for more information.
Downloads
Timetable for Competition
- The competition opens for entries on 1st December 2024.
- Closing date is 5pm is 15th August 2025.
- Overall Winners will be announced in September 2025.
- The Calendar featuring all the winners will be available from December 2025.
Categories
There are two age categories for entrants, Over and Under 18 years old.
Submit your entries
This competition is open for entries from the 1st December 2024.
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