This year?s Wanderlust travel photography competition is now open for entries but ? in a change from previous years ? organisers have banned digitally manipulated images.
Doctored images have been barred despite them grabbing honours in previous competitions. ?Our decision is fuelled by the belief that good travel photography is about capturing the moment, not creating it,? said Lyn Hughes, editor of Wanderlust, the travel magazine that organises the annual contest.
Adjustments made to ?optimise? digital images are allowed ? such as altering brightness or contrast ? but techniques such as cropping and combining multiple images are not, say organisers.
The competition is backed by the Independent newspaper and boasts a top prize of £5,000 cash for the winner of the professional category.
Winners of the four amateur categories will scoop a photographic commission to Canada along with a Coolpix S1 digital compact, while runners-up each win a Nikon D50 digital SLR with an 18-55mm lens. The runner-up in the professional category wins £1,000 cash and a Coolpix S1.
There are four categories: People, Wild, Action and Journey. Entries can include ?unmanipulated? digital images, slides and prints. The winners will be announced at the Destinations 2006 travel show at Earl?s Court next year where the best images will be exhibited.
The closing date is 30 November 2005.
The picture (right) was captured on slide film by Paul Franklin, the Face to Face amateur category winner in last year’s competition.
For details visit www.wanderlust.co.uk/photocomp or call 01753 620426.
