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Brief
The holiday season is almost upon us, which means it’s time for Stir-up Sunday, sentimental TV adverts, and the Amateur Photographer Christmas cover contest, which is being hosted by Photocrowd.
Here is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have your work featured on the front cover of the world's no1 weekly photography magazine over Christmas!
You are free to interpret the theme in any way you choose: naturally we are happy to see shots of baubles, trees and lights, but we also want pictures that show the creative potential of the season in general, so feel free to submit winter landscapes, indoor portraits, frosty flora and fauna etc.
If you think you already have something on file, great, if not try and shoot something specifically for the competition (see 'The brief in detail' tab for our insider tips).
Prizes include a front cover placement on Amateur Photographer's 2018 Christmas special, a Billingham Hadley pro bag and a subscription to Amateur Photographer up for grabs!
The brief in detail
Tips for cover success
Shoot portrait-format pictures. While it’s not unheard of for us to use a section of a landscape-format image, your chances are improved by sticking to the upright orientation.
Make eye contact. If you’re submitting a portrait, ensure good eye contact, preferably with the subject looking into the lens. Make sure the eyes are pin-sharp.
Provide plenty of options. Try various angles and subject placements, with the focal point to the left, right and centre, to give the art director lots of options when it comes to placing the cover lines.
Don’t crop too tightly. Leave lots of space for the magazine ‘furniture’ - masthead, cover lines, bubbles and graphic devices. Busy images with lots of detail are generally unsuitable as they make superimposed text hard to read.
Prize details
A front cover placement on Amateur Photographer's 2018 Christmas Special, a Billingham Hadley Pro bag, and a subscription to Amateur Photographer up for grabs!
The overall winner (as judged by the AP team) will see their picture grace the cover of the AP Christmas Special issue (22-29 December). They will also receive Billingham Hadley One bag worth £265, courtesy of Billingham (www.billingham.co.uk). The Billingham Hadley One is precision-engineered from rugged, weather-proof material (Billingham Canvas or FibreNyte) and accommodates a mid-sized DSLR body and lens, or a compact system camera kit. Its removable padded insert provides optimum protection, and a bespoke padded interior laptop sleeve holds a 13in laptop or tablet securely in place. The Hadley One’s strong top handle with reinforced leather grip allows it to be grabbed quickly on the go, while the durable luggage strap enables the bag to be hooked safely over a trolley suitcase handle. Handmade in England and designed to last a lifetime, each bag carries its own individual serial number. The winner can choose from six classic colour combinations.
A second winner (as awarded by the public vote via Photocrowd), will receive a one-year subscription to AP. If the standard of entries is deemed high enough, the winner(s) and a selection of commended entries will also appear inside a future issue of the magazine.
How it works
Every photo submitted will be available for the crowd to rate once the submissions period has ended. You can see all the images uploaded to a contest, but will need to rate them to see how they’re ranked once the rating period begins.
Some contests on Photocrowd also have a judge. After the submission period closes the judge chooses their favourite images and writes some image reviews. The crowd and judge results will be announced on the same day.
- Entries closed
- 25 November 2018
- Rating
- 25 November 2018 to 3 December 2018
- Winners announced
- 3 December 2018
For a more detailed explanation of how rating works, see our FAQs