More than just a point and click

With a few weeks to go, the standard of entries to the ‘Irish Times’ Amateur Photographer of the Year Awards is already impressive. Here’s a selection of submissions and a few tips on how to make the most of your entries

EVEN THOUGH the closing date is more than two weeks away, more than a thousand photographs have already been entered in the inaugural Irish Times Amateur Photographer of the Year Awards. With a prize fund of €4,000 and medals for category winners, the competition is attracting great images from amateur photographers.

As chairman of the judging panel I’ve been given a preview of entries and have made a small selection of just some of the great images that have caught my eye. There is a very strong panel of judges from a variety of photographic backgrounds and I look forward to the vigorous debates that will lead to the winners being announced. Although we come from different disciplines, the judging panel will ultimately be looking for simply great images with impact, creativity and imagination. Here is a small sample of some of the excellent images already entered; we look forward to seeing many more before the closing date on November 3rd. The awards are made possible with support from Canon and are powered by Picturk.

DOS AND DON’TS

Do have a good think about which is the best category to enter each image in.

Do enter at the highest resolution possible: 1,400 pixels at the longest end of the image. Make sure the image you send in is a high-resolution version and not a small copy that you might have resized for emailing to a friend. Also please note, the maximum size you can enter is 1,400 pixels wide and 1,050 pixels high. You can enter smaller photographs. For example, you could enter a photograph that has been cropped to a square. The maximum dimensions you can enter are 1,050 pixels wide and 1,050 pixels high. If you need help resizing a photograph, see iti.ms/Tb7jnEif you are using a PC, and iti.ms/Tb7oHKif you are using a Mac.

DONT’S

Don’t write anything on the front of the images, such as your name. Every image entered or published will be properly credited.

Don’t go mad with Photoshop or any similar digital-manipulation application – the judges will spot overly manipulated images, which (with the exception of the Open and Source Set categories) could be disqualified under the rules. Use darkroom-type techniques to get the best out of your images but know when to stop.

The Irish Times Amateur Photographer of the Year Awards are made possible with support from Canon and are powered by Picturk