Get ready to shine a spotlight on your best photos of 2023! The 500px Global Photography Awards are back for their third edition, offering you an opportunity to showcase your talent and become the next 500px Photographer of the Year. It’s the perfect competition to wrap up the year, and guess what? It’s entirely free to enter! With six captivating categories, the Awards has something for every photographer, from the zealous hobbyist to the seasoned pro. To level the playing field, we’ve introduced Hobbyist and Pro sections, ensuring everyone has an equal shot at claiming the title.
The Hobbyist section is crafted for passionate enthusiasts, students, or anyone who finds joy in photography as a fulfilling hobby.
The Pro section is designed for photographers who make a living from their craft, handle paid assignments, or even run photography-related businesses.
Ready to claim the title of 500px Photographer of the Year and leave your mark on the world of photography? Submit your best photos of 2023 now!
How the 500px Global Photography Awards work this year
Each category will have a Hobbyist and Pro winner and five finalists (12 category winners and 30 finalists total). The title “Photographer of the Year” will be awarded to one Hobbyist winner and one Pro winner, with amazing prizes to be won.
Submit your best photos from 2023 to be part of this global celebration of photography!
The Categories
Landscape
Landscape photography is one of the most diverse genres. There are a plethora of landscapes that can be captured, and each location can be photographed in intriguing ways depending on the time of day or vantage point. Nature is magnificent, and cameras have a special way of articulating that.
Submit your images that capture the spaces within the world—the vast and untouched terrains or environments.
Fine Art
Fine art photography doesn’t hold you back—it’s expressive and full of creative spins on the world around us. Whether by using props or post-production manipulation of colors, grain, or more, imagination is a strong weapon and delivers striking imagery.
Submit your images created as a means of expression, with an undeniable imaginative and aesthetic quality to them.
Technical,
Let’s get technical. That means sharp and in-focus, intentional manipulation of textures, and precise spacing of subjects. When done well, these images often feel easy—but they are the furthest thing from. Achieving a technically perfect image means mastering light, shapes, and more.
Submit your images considering lines, texture, color, size, and depth, resulting in a high-quality depiction of the subject.
Documentary
Documentarians help shape history. They tell the story of the underdog or the hidden narratives, they expose rich cultures and help awaken society to necessary change. The moment documented can be a moment that may be interpreted as simple, but through the lens, it becomes complex.
Submit your images that chronicle the world around us realistically and honestly.
Storytelling
When it comes to storytelling, a common mistake is to overcomplicate the elements within the frame. However, what will make a stand-out image is that the narrative is communicated and drives the audience to want to know more, in as simple a way as possible.
Submit your images that capture a moment, making viewers wonder what came before and what will come next.
Commercial Content
Commercial content allows brands and small businesses to connect with their audiences and is relatable and authentic when done successfully. Images need to stand out, feel genuine, and resonate with viewers as they see themselves reflected in some way.
Submit your images taken to sell, advertise, or market a business, a product, a service, a person, or persons.
The Awards and Prizes
The 2023 500px Global Photography Awards has more than $26,000 in prizes to be won! From cash prizes to stand-out gear from some amazing brands like Hasselblad, Xpozer, Joby, DJI, and Exascend.
Category Winners
Pro:
- Cash prize of $500 US
- Wavo PRO and Wavo AIR from JOBY
The Wavo Pro is the ultimate professional on-camera microphone for creators and filmmakers. It can clean up background noise and LED lights notify you of low battery levels. High-quality modular and secure 2.4Ghz wireless audio transmission with a unique mounting system that adapts to your creativity with up to six hours of battery life. A fast pairing and easy-to-set-up process that works with your smartphone or camera straight out of the box. - 2TB portable SSD from Exascend
Inspired by and purpose-built for taking on outdoor adventures. Its sturdy, IP67-rated alloy allows it to withstand impact, water, and dust, making the SSD an ideal companion for professional filmmakers working in the wild. - 24×36 print of winning photo and mounting system from Xpozer
A razor-sharp, glare-free 24×36 inch print with an ultralight aluminum mounting system that allows you to easily click in and switch any new prints to help you celebrate your special moments. - One-year 500px Pro account
- Global exposure via social media channels and 500px blog
TOTAL PRIZE VALUE OF $1,025 US
Hobbyist:
- Cash prize of $250 US
- Wavo PRO from JOBY
The Wavo Pro is the ultimate professional on-camera microphone for creators and filmmakers. It can clean up background noise and LED lights notify you of low battery levels. - Osmo Mobile 6 from DJI
Osmo Mobile 6 is an intelligent smartphone stabilizer packed with creative features. It’s compact and easily foldable to fit in your palm and launches automatically once unfolded to capture shots at a moment’s notice. - 24×36 print of winning photo and mounting system from Xpozer
A razor-sharp, glare-free 24×36 inch print with an ultralight aluminum mounting system that allows you to easily click in and switch any new prints to help you celebrate your special moments. - One-year 500px Pro account
- Global exposure via social media channels and 500px blog
TOTAL PRIZE VALUE OF $1,025 US
500px Photographer of the Year
Pro:
- Hasselblad X2D 100C medium format digital camera and lens combo
An unrivaled merge of form and function—the X2D 100C establishes itself as Hasselblad’s flagship mirrorless medium format camera. A 100-megapixel CMOS sensor and advancements in image quality, focusing, stabilization, responsiveness, and storage, are built into the iconic Scandinavian design. The X2D 100C combines groundbreaking engineering with a craftsman’s touch. - ‘500px Photographer of the Year’ badge
TOTAL PRIZE VALUE OF $13,000 US
Hobbyist:
- DJI Mavic 3 Pro Fly More Combo
The DJI Mavic 3 Series features next-level imaging performance. Mavic 3 Pro’s triple-camera system ushers in a new era of camera drones by housing three sensors and lenses with different focal lengths. Equipped with a Hasselblad camera and dual tele cameras, Mavic 3 Pro is a triple-camera drone that unlocks new shooting perspectives, allowing you to embrace creative freedom further, capture fascinating scenery, explore photographic storytelling, and make cinematic masterpieces. - ‘500px Photographer of the Year’ badge
TOTAL PRIZE VALUE OF $3,000 US
All category winners and finalists (30) will receive a beautiful 24×36 print of their winning photo and a mounting system from Xpozer.
How to Enter
Review the six categories that you can enter (at no charge to you) for this year’s awards. Once you’ve familiarized yourself with what our editors will be looking for, revisit your archive of images taken in 2023 and cull them with intentionality. You can submit any images that you’ve uploaded to the 500px site since January 2023, or upload new work to your profile to submit.
Please only submit your work to the appropriate skill level to keep the competition fair. Our editors will be using a keen eye and their best judgment to curate, but your honesty when submitting is appreciated.
ENTER THE 500px GLOBAL PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS
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