Entry rules

ENTRY

  • 5MB upload limit per image. 
  • All submissions must be photographs (accepted file types: JPEG, PNG or TIFF).
  • Each set of images should be accompanied by 1 document with all image captions (Microsoft Word). Captions can be as long/short as the entrant wishes.
  • Entrants can enter UP TO 10 images into each category, bar the Ocean Portfolio Award, into which 10 images MUST be entered.
  • Images that have already won 1st place (overall) in an established international award prior to April 1, 2025 should NOT be entered. This does not include Ocean Portfolio submissions, which can include award-winning images.
  • All entries must be received by 23:59 (GMT) on June 30, 2025.
  • An entry fee of £10 is charged for each category entered.
  • Entrants who ONLY nominate a photographer in the FFF Award, and do not enter any other category, do not need to pay an entry fee. Nominations in the FFF Award are free.
  • All submissions must have been created by the photographer entering.
  • Entrants can enter as many categories as they wish.
  • Post-processing of images is acceptable.
  • Images that have placed 2nd or lower in an international competition CAN be entered.
  • Images should be free of watermarks.
  • Manipulation of the natural world is NOT acceptable. All entrants confirm that all images were taken naturally, without interference with wildlife.
  • Entrants into the Young Ocean Photographer of the Year must be 25 years of age or under at the time of their submission. There are no age restrictions on all other categories.

CATEGORIES

  • The following categories will be awarded:
    1. The Ocean Photographer of the Year (overall winner)
    2. The Ocean Conservation Photographer of the Year (Hope)
    3. The Ocean Conservation Photographer of the Year (Impact)
    4. The Ocean Adventure Photographer of the Year
    5. Ocean Wildlife Photographer of the Year
    6. Ocean Fine Art Photographer of the Year
    7. The Human Connection Award: People and Planet Ocean
    8. The Ocean Portfolio Award
    9. The Young Ocean Photographer of the Year
    10. The Female Fifty Fathoms Award
  • Submissions for Awards 2 to 10 will be welcomed. Award 1 will be chosen from submissions into the other nine categories.
  • The Competition reserves the right to award images in a category they were not originally submitted in. This will happen at the discretion of the judges for images they feel are particularly suited to an alternative category.

QUERIES

If you have any queries relating to the Ocean Photographer of the Year, please email info@ocean.photo.

For the full Ocean Photographer of the Year T&C’s, click here.