Waterlife photography competition

Our annual member photo competition makes a welcome return, we can’t wait to see what you can do…

As our annual member photo competition returns, we hope you’ll be inspired to show us these watery wonderlands through your eyes.

Every year, our photography contest shows us things we might never see without the eagle eyes, saintly patience and lightning-fast reactions of our entrants. Last year’s competition brought us everything from life and death moments to an otter with a toad on its head.

This year we can’t wait to see more amazing moments of UK’s wetland wildlife that are full of beauty, botany and birdlife that blows in on the wind, follows the sun and changes with the seasons.

The details

• Images must have been taken at a WWT centre between 1 April and 30 November 2023.
• A shortlist of winning and commended shots will be published in the spring 2024 issue of Waterlife.
• The winner will be awarded a pair of Swarovski CL Companion 8x30 binoculars worth £970.
• The winner of the youth category (under 16) will receive a pair of Viking Otter 8x32 binoculars, courtesy of VIKING OPTICAL.

How to enter

• Please submit all entries via email to wwt@thinkpublishing.co.uk as hi-resolution images with a maximum total file size of 20MB. Only entries submitted via this email address will be deemed valid. Entries received via other means cannot be accepted.
• You can submit up to three photos as hi-resolution images via email (preferably if under 6MB in file size). If greater than this we recommend that you either re-size the image/s or send via a file sharing site such as We Transfer or Dropbox.
• Each entry must be submitted under an individual’s name and should be accompanied by details of where and when the photograph was taken. Please share as much detail as you would like about the circumstances of the image.
• Please include your membership card number details to enter.

Who can enter?

• You must be a member of WWT to enter the competition.
• The competition is open to all amateur and professional photographers. Amateur and professional entries will not be judged separately.
• Entrants under the age of 12 years need to have parent or guardian consent to enter.

We’ve also given the rules a tweak to bring them more in line with other professional photo competitions, so please check them out.

Terms and conditions

Our ethics: How to get that winning shot without harming wildlife

We’ve put together the following rules to ensure the photographs you take have the interests of our amazing water life at heart.

• All animals in the environment you are in should be behaving normally, as if you aren’t there. If they’re not, give them space. At no time should you be doing anything to distress or potentially injure an animal, or affect its wider habitat in any way. This very much includes aerial work; animal welfare must be paramount.
• Your images must report on the natural world in a way that is both creative and honest and ethical:
  - entries must not deceive the viewer or attempt to disguise and/or misrepresent the reality of nature;
  - caption information supplied must be complete, true and accurate; and
  - images must not portray, restrained, or manipulated animals, animal models, taxidermy animals, and/or any other animal being exploited for profit.
• You are responsible for ensuring full compliance with any applicable national or international legislation (including in relation to drones) and for securing any relevant permits (which, in the case of human portraits, will include the subject’s permission) and which must be made available to us if we request it.
• Live baiting is not permitted, neither is any means of baiting that may put an animal in danger or adversely affect its behaviour, either directly or through irresponsible habituation. Any other means of attraction, including bird seed or scent, must be declared in the caption.

Full terms and conditions

What you need to know if you enter a photograph:

1) Any image you submit to the Competition must either be:

(i) your original work; or

(ii) submitted by you on behalf of the photographer, in which case you must inform us of the name of the photographer, and on request by us must provide written confirmation from the photographer that you are entitled to act on their behalf and that they fully accept and are bound by these Terms and Conditions themselves.

2) You must either be the sole owner of the copyright in the entry(s) submitted or have secured the written permission of the copyright owner or any joint owners of copyright to submit the entry(s) into the Competition. A copy of any such written permission must be supplied to us on confirmation to you that your image has been shortlisted for an Award.

3) Ownership of the copyright in any entry submitted to the Competition will remain with the copyright owner(s).

4) In consideration for the chance to win an Award for an image you submit to the Competition, you hereby grant to WWT the right to reproduce, publicise and exhibit that image/s in any medium (including, but not limited to, physical copies, electronic copies and on social media) for a period limited to no more than one year to enable it to be judged for an Award by the Jury or a public vote.

5) By entering you confirm that your image(s) do not:

• infringe the copyright or any other personal or property rights of any person; or
• knowingly breach any laws or regulations; or
• entitle anyone to claim any payment from us;
• and anyone appearing in the image has given you their consent, enabling you to let us use the image.

6) We agree that we will only use the image as agreed in 5) above, and that we will compensate you for all and any costs, claims, expenses and liabilities (including, without limitation, legal fees and any sums paid on the advice of Counsel) resulting from any breach by us of this Agreement.

7) WWT will hold your entry and your personal data provided within it for the sole purpose of providing a record of your consent to WWT using your images with the exception of clause 8) below. The data will be kept securely in accordance with the requirements under data protection legislation, including but not limited to the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and the Data Protection Act 2018. The data will not be made available to any third party without your consent.

8) WWT may contact you using the personal data provided to invite you to be interviewed for Waterlife magazine and associated WWT media. You are under no obligation to agree to any request made and WWT is under no obligation to contact you for this reason.

9) The term "any medium" when used in clause 4) shall include but not be limited to any print, book, magazine, WWT’s stakeholders’ communication, digital media, applications or social media channels.