Entries now closed for Landscape Photographer of The Year

The annual Landscape Photographer of the Year competition, or LPOTY for short, is now in it's 7th year and this year I decided to enter a selection of my images in the various categories which include, Classic View, Urban View, Living the View and Your View. The last category allows a little more digital manipulation of the original image. I did enter one image in 2012 but the chances of it being shortlisted, let alone published in the book, were very slim indeed. This year it was time for a more concerted effort and after some head scratching I selected fifteen photographs to enter. Fourteen are black and white there is just the one colour shot. The maximum number of entries per person is 25.

Here are just two of the photographs I have entered. The first is a shot I took quite recently in Lavant in West Sussex. It's a study of a field of barley with an overhanging branch of a beech tree. This has been entered in the 'Your View' category, although conceivably it could have been entered in 'Classic View'. I was not prepared to risk the latter category, so 'Your View' it was.

The second image is the only colour photograph and it's also the only one which I have entered in the 'Urban View' category. It hardly needs a title as it's a much taken view of St Paul's Cathedral across the River Thames. I can only hope that the wonderful late afternoon light together with the 'iconic' London Bus, sets it apart from some of the other entries. Somehow I don't think it's a strong enough image but who knows?

This is a very well promoted competition. As well as winning images appearing in the book, there is an exhibition of selected photographs at the National Theatre in London, as well as smaller exhibitions which tour the country. The very fact that the competition has now been running a number of years means that it widely known in photographic circles.

It also has a total prize fund of £20,000, with £10,000 going to the lucky winner of the overall competition. So it's definitely worth a go, but given the total number of entries the chances of being selected are pretty small. I will be very pleased if just one of my photographs is shortlisted. At least that will tell me whether or not I am approaching the standard the judges are expecting. Needless to say if I have any success I will be posting an appropriate entry in the weeks and months to come. Complete silence on the subject will tell you I am waiting another year!