1) Entrants: Entry is open to anyone except those directly involved in the organisation and judging. Amateur and professional photographers may enter the three Portfolio and the One Shot categories. First Shot is for amateur photographers only. Young Travel Photographer of the Year is for photographers aged 16 and under. The other categories are all for photographers aged 17 and over.

2) Equipment: Entries shot on either film or digital cameras are eligible for all categories, apart from First Shot. First Shot is for images shot on mobile phones, compact digital cameras and basic DSLRs only. Images shot on mobile phones will not be accepted for any other categories. A basic DSLR is defined as the entry level model of a manufacturers product range. Image metadata will be checked to ensure compliance with First Shot entry criteria.

3) Closing date and entry address: Entries close on September 9th 2008. Print entries will only be accepted if they are postmarked on or before this date, and must arrive no later than 7 days after the closing date. Entries should be sent to: 20 Yew Tree Courtyard, Framlingham Road, Earl Soham, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP13 7SG, England. Online entries will stop at 12.00hrs (UK time) on Sep 10th 2008 to allow for differences in international time zones.

4) Entry fees: The entry fee for each portfolio category is £15. The entry fee for One Shot and First Shot is £10 per category, and Young TPOTY is free to enter.

5) Quantity of entries: Entrants may enter any categories that they are eligible for, and may enter as many times as they wish.

6) Multiple entries: If you enter the same Portfolio category, One Shot or First Shot category more than once , please pay a further entry fee – for each additional category and entry submitted. Please clearly indicate on your entry form how many times you have entered each category.

7) Awards and categories: There are three Portfolio categories, a One Shot category, a First Shot category, a Travel Photographer of the Year award and a Young Travel Photographer of the Year award. Entrants who submit two or more portfolios, each in a different Portfolio category, will be eligible for the Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) award. Where entrants submit more than two portfolios, the judges will consider each entrant’s best two portfolios when selecting the overall winner.

8) Young Travel Photographer of the Year: Entrants aged 16 years or under compete for the Young Travel Photographer of the Year award. This award will be decided on the best single portfolio. Entrants in this age group must clearly mark the appropriate box on the entry form. Their entry form must be signed by a parent/guardian.

9) First Shot: This category is a separate award and is judged on a single image. However you may enter up to two images for the entry fee. This new award is open to amateur photographers aged 17 and above. It is a category for less experienced photographers only; for single images shot on basic DSLRs, compact digital cameras or mobile phones. Photographers who have sold any of their images, had their images published, or have previously won a photography competition, are not eligible for this award.

10) Eligible images: Images that have won a single image prize in another national or international photographic competition are not eligible for One Shot or First Shot. However, these images are still eligible as part of a portfolio. Portfolios that have won a prize in another national or international photographic competition are not eligible. Age of images Some images are timeless so entry is not restricted to images shot only within the past few years. However the judges will be looking for contemporary images so you should not enter outdated images - if an image depicts part of a city, for example, it should show a contemporary skyline, including any recently built major landmarks in the part you are photographing.

11) Image copyright: The entrant must be the sole author and owner of the copyright of all images entered. It is the legal responsibility of the entrant, and not the organisers, to ensure that they comply with these ownership and copyright requirements, and own the rights to reproduction of their images. Entries that do not fulfill these criteria will be deemed ineligible and disqualified. Where this is discovered after the prize has been awarded, the prize must be returned or refunded by the entrant. Entrants agree to fully indemnify Travel Photographer of the Year Ltd and its sponsors and employees in respect of all royalties, fees and any other monies owing to any person by reason of the entrant breaching any of the foregoing.

12) TPOTY, reproduction rights & your copyright: TPOTY does not make any claim whatsoever on the copyright of YOUR images. The copyright will, at all times, be respected by TPOTY and retained by the photographer. Where an image or images are reproduced by TPOTY, the photographer will be credited. The organisers and sponsors reserve the right to free reproduction and exhibition of entered images in all media, but only in connection with these awards. A selection of the winning and other best images will be reproduced in TPOTY portfolio books. These books are currently produced every two years and cover two years of competition entries. For compilation books exceeding this period TPOTY will seek the permission and agreement from all selected photographers before inclusion of their image(s). We do not claim unlimited licence for TPOTY or its sponsors to reproduce your images outside of the terms set out above. Where image reproduction is unrelated to the awards then permission and a fee will be agreed with the photographer in advance.

13) Digital manipulation of images: Images taken with either a digital or a film camera will be accepted. You may use digital manipulation to optimise an image but you are not permitted to add or remove key elements of the composition. Composite or montage images, from more than one original image, are not eligible. Images created by multiple exposure in camera are permitted. Entrants of prize-winning images may be required to produce the original image before the prize is awarded.

14) CD/DVD: Entrants who wish their entries to be considered for the TPOTY books should include a CD or DVD of high-resolution copies of their images with the entry. No competition entries will be accepted on CD or DVD only. Entrants submitting images via online entry who wish their images to be considered for the next TPOTY book should mail in a CD or DVD of high resolution copies of their images with a covering note.

15) Portfolio categories: A portfolio must comprise four images. Portfolios with more or less than four images will be disqualified. An image cannot be entered in more than one portfolio, but a portfolio image may also be entered in One Shot.

16) One Shot: This is judged on a single image. However you may enter up to two images for the entry fee.

17) Online entry: Photographers may submit their images online through the online entry system. For the Portfolio, One Shot and Young TPOTY categories, the original images must be high enough resolution to be printed at 30cm x 25cm (3600 pixels along longest length) at 300dpi. Images taken on a camera phone will not be accepted for these categories. When you submit them online you will need to resize to a smaller size, as shown below.The minimum requirement for First Shot is that you have used a mobile phone camera of at least 1 megapixel, or a basic digital camera (with the phone or camera on its highest image quality setting). Scanned images - if you have shot your images on film or transparency and then scanned them, you can still upload them for any category except First Shot. Please re-size as shown below. Resizing images for upload Please resize your images to 800 pixels along the longest edge, at 72 dpi, then save as jpegs. Uploaded images should be no bigger than 2Mb in size. Important - when resizing your images, do not save over the original image! Naming images After resizing, please name your upload files with your initial and surname, plus the category name and image number. For example: jdoe_life1.jpg. Uploading images For each image you submit, you will need to submit an image title and an image caption. The title should be a brief description - e.g. ‘Children walking to school’ or ‘Beach sunset’. The caption should consist of the location of the shot, including town or village (if appropriate), and country. If the image shows an event such as a festival, please also include the title of that event in the caption. And if the image shows an animal/bird/fish/plant (as the main focus of the shot), please name the species.

18) Print size: Prints up to a maximum size of A4 (21 x 30 cm) or 8" x 12" will be accepted. Please do not submit prints larger than these dimensions. Prints produced on an inkjet or similar printer are acceptable provided that they are of high quality.

19) Print labeling: All prints must carry the entrant’s name, address and a caption. Prints should be labeled on the back. Please do not put personal information on the front as all entries are judged anonymously.

20) Transparencies or negatives: These will NOT be accepted but may be required for reproduction of print entries in the event that they win a prize, receive a commendation or are selected for exhibition and/or book reproduction.

21) Packaging print entries: Each portfolio must be sealed in a separate envelope. The portfolio category, entrant’s name and address and a brief caption identifying the location of each image must be written on the envelope. Please do not mix portfolios within the same sealed envelope as such entries will be disqualified.

22) Payment of entry fees: Entry fees must be paid in pounds sterling (£) only. Print entry fees must be paid by cheque (drawn from a UK bank), postal order or international money order (for overseas entries), made payable to Travel Photographer of the Year Ltd, or online through our Paypal entry fee payment page. Online image submissions will be paid for during the online entry process.

23) Submitting print entries: Each entry must consist of a completed entry form, the appropriate entry fee and the images sorted by category. One cheque or money order can be used to cover the total entry fee for multiple entries. Where online payment is made through the competition website, the payment reference must be attached to the entry form. All sealed envelopes should be mailed in one package.

24) Liability: All prints are submitted at the photographer’s own risk. The organisers cannot accept liability for any loss of or damage occurring to any entries, whether this occurs in transit or while in the keeping of the organisers, although every care will be taken.

25) Return of prints: Prints will only be returned if accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope of an appropriate size. One return envelope may be supplied for multiple entries provided that it is large enough. Prints will be returned as soon as possible after the judging is complete and the winners have been notified - and by the end of March 2009 at the latest. Prize winning entries may be retained for a short period after the announcement of the results to facilitate reproduction for exhibition and the TPOTY book.

26) Judging: All judges will be appointed by the organisers. The winners will be determined by the judges and the organisers in accordance with the competition rules. Their decision is final on all matters relating to the competition, and organisers will not enter into any correspondence regarding the judging or organisation of the competition. The judging will take place in during October and November 2008.

27) Prizes: The organisers reserve the right to change the prizes to a comparable alternative due to unforeseen circumstances and any changes will be posted on the competition website. Prizes are not transferable and no cash equivalent will be offered. The prizes are the responsibility of the competition sponsors.

28) Travel prizes: The travel offered as prizes in this competition may have some restriction on dates of travel due to fixed departure dates, availability of flights or accommodation. All travel is to and from the UK. Prize winners are responsible for their own travel costs to and from their country of residence to the UK in order to take their winning trips. The winners will be expected to pay any additional expenses associated with their trip, such as travel insurance, spending money, meals, local taxes, park entry fees and local travel etc., and any changes in the itinerary additional to those made by the organisers or which are not already included in the prize package. Full details can be obtained from the organisers. Travel on all prize trips must commence before the 31st July 2009 unless otherwise specified by the organisers. Failure to do so may result in loss of the prize.

29) Quality of entries: If the quality of entries fall below the required standard, the organisers reserve the right not to award a prize/prizes.

30) Winners: A full list of winners will be published on www.tpoty.com in November 2008. All prize winners must agree to their success being publicised by the organisers and/or sponsors.

31) Winners’ publicity: All prizewinners will agree to take part in publicity about the awards after the results are announced.

32) Competition rights: All rights to the Travel Photographer of the Year competition and the contents of this website (not to entrants’ images) are copyrighted and owned by the organisers,Travel Photographer of the Year Ltd.

33) The rules: The information given in these rules is correct, but Travel Photographer of the Year Ltd. reserves the right to change any of them without prior notice. The revised rules will be posted in this section of the website, and it is the entrants’ responsibility to review this section. By signing their entry form, or completing online entry, entrants will confirm that they have read and agreed to be bound by the rules of the competition. Any breach of these Rules by an entrant will void their entry. If a breach has occurred, but is discovered after the award of a prize, then the organisers may request the return of that prize.

34) Governing Law: The rules of Travel Photographer of the Year and the relationship between Travel Photographer of the Year Ltd. and its entrants shall be governed by English law. Any dispute may be decided by the English courts or those of any other part of the United Kingdom.

All images © photographers as credited. No reproduction in any media without permission