Take a view is divided into two main sections, the Landscape Photographer of the Year Award and the Young Landscape Photographer of the Year Award, the latter being for those who are 16 and under on the closing date of 12th July 2008. To enter your images, you have to use the image uploader on the website and the payment of entry fees is by credit/debit card. This does mean that the fees for anyone aged 16 and under must be paid by a parent or guardian and payment is seen as granting permission for an entry to be made.

There are four categories within each of the two sections and up to 15 images per person may be entered across the categories.

The minimum requirement for three of the categories (Classic view, Living the view and Your view) is that the image must have been taken using a camera with a sufficiently high resolution to allow the image to be reproduced at A4 size or above (at 300 ppi). We recommend that you use a camera of 4 mega pixels or more. There is also a category for images taken on a camera phone. This is called ‘Phone view’ and images for this must have been taken on a camera phone of 1 mega pixel or more.

NB Please ensure that your camera is on its highest-quality setting.

You can also submit images that have been scanned from film or negative to all categories apart from ‘Phone view’

All images must have been taken in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel islands.

You may already have the images that you want to enter in your files. This is fine, as long as they have been taken within the five years immediately prior to the closing date. Images that won the accolade of appearing in the first Take a view book or those that have won other national competitions are not eligible.

Images submitted will be completely anonymous when they are viewed by the judges. They will not have captions at this stage and so the winning image will be selected solely on its visual interest and impact.

When choosing images for entry, there are key factors that need to be considered:

1. Focus. The image should be sharp unless blur is an intentional effect. Winning and commended entries will be printed in a book and displayed as large prints at an exhibition at the National Theatre, so it is critical that the quality is as high as possible. Please use the best possible camera that you can. The requirements given for camera quality are MINIMUM requirements, and the larger the file size you can supply if your image is short-listed, the better. However, this will not change your chance of winning. As long as your image meets the minimum spec, it has an equal chance, but a larger file will mean that your image can be printed at a larger size.
   
   
2. Light. The use of light is key to a good landscape and the most important thing is that the light is appropriate to the image. There are many different types of ‘good’ light; storm light, early morning light, even flat light can be perfect, depending on the subject.
   
   
3. Composition. When editing your images for entry, make sure that you stand back from them and view them as a whole. Is there a tree growing out of the back of a sheep? Is the whole thing on a slant? Would it have been better if you’d moved a few feet to the left? Or held the camera nearer to the ground? There are a lot of factors that contribute to the overall composition of an image, but it should be very obvious when everything has come together and looks right.
   
   
4. Emotion. This is a tricky one, as it is a very personal thing and hard to define. A good photograph will include some of the emotion that the photographer was feeling at the time it was taken and a strong emotion, whether good or bad, can lift a picture above the ordinary.

It is also a very good idea to seek a few opinions on the images you wish to enter. It can be difficult to assess your own work and be objective as there are always other factors that interfere – it may have been a particularly hard shot to get, you may have waited three days in a rainy camper van – but that does not necessarily make it good, so an opinion from someone who was not there when the picture was taken is invaluable.

When you have selected your pictures, digital adjustments, including High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging techniques, are allowed.  The integrity of the image must be maintained and the making of physical changes to the landscape is not permitted. It must be possible to go to the location of the image and see the view exactly as it appears – so no subtraction or addition of trees or fences.

Black & white and panoramic images are allowed.

Your next decision is to choose a category for each image you wish to enter. There are four categories, as described below. If you are not sure which to choose, you can select a slide show to see examples. (These examples are to help with subject choice only and may not have been taken on an appropriate camera). You can enter the same image in more than one category.

		Classic view We are looking for an image that captures the beauty and variety of the UK landscape. A big view, a view down a valley or along a cliff-side path; a view that looks to the distance; maybe showing the drama of our seasons. Recognisable and memorable; a true classic. All entries must have been taken using a camera with a sufficiently high resolution to allow the image to be reproduced at A4 size or above (at 300 ppi) or scanned from film. We recommend that you use a camera of 4 mega pixels or more. See examples
*Exciting prize for 2008 from Visit Wales - More details		Living the view This is a category for images of people interacting with the outdoors – working or playing in the UK landscape. Possible subjects include mountain bikers, kite boarders, walkers, shepherds or even your best friend biting into a sandwich - as long as your picture shows people within their outdoor environment. No close-up portraits please. All entries must have been taken using a camera with a sufficiently high resolution to allow the image to be reproduced at A4 size or above (at 300 ppi) or scanned from film. We recommend that you use a camera of 4 mega pixels or more. See examples
		Your view What does the UK landscape mean to you? A stream rushing over pebbles, a foggy day in the Peak District, fish & chips on a deserted beach, you and your friends on your first big summit. Pretty much anything goes, as long as it is in the UK and in the outdoors. Use your imagination, as you have the scope for a very conceptual and personal approach. All entries must have been taken using a camera with a sufficiently high resolution to allow the image to be reproduced at A4 size or above (at 300 ppi) or scanned from film. We recommend that you use a camera of 4 mega pixels or more. See examples
		Phone view All images submitted to this category must be taken on a camera phone of 1 mega pixel or more. Other than that, the brief is the same as Your view. Be spontaneous when you are out and about. A key advantage of the camera phone is that it is always with you, so there is plenty of chance to capture the unexpected. We are not able to accept entries directly from phones this year, so images should be downloaded to your computer and entered via the web site. See examples

For your initial submission we require jpegs with 800 pixels along the longest edge at 72 ppi.  This means that your images will need to be resized before being uploaded, as the files from your camera or your scans will be too big. The upload page will warn you if you are trying to enter images that exceed the maximum size allowed.

Your images should then be renamed. If your name is Joe Bloggs and you are entering eight images, then please name them bloggsj01.jpg to bloggsj08.jpg (with no spaces, capital letters or unusual characters). If you decide to enter more images at a later date, you should start the numbering from bloggsj09.jpg

Please make sure that you keep copies of the resized image and, more importantly, that you keep the original, high-resolution image safe. Once we have a shortlist of potential winners, we will contact you for this file just after the closing date of the competition.




Finally, we wanted to give you a bit more information about the entry fees. We have tried to make them as flexible as possible, but that gives you a few options.

If you have an image that you want to enter now, but you know that you will have eight more to enter before the end of the competition, then you have the option of selecting ‘I would like to enter up to 10 images’ and paying the fee for this, rather than entering them all individually. Once you have paid for a set number of images, you are given a unique login and you can go back in to your account at any time before the closing date to add images to your entry, up to the total paid for. This also means that if your upload goes wrong for some reason, you can go back in and try again. This may help to save you money, but please be aware that if you pay for 15 images, for example, and then only upload 9 by the closing date, no refund will be payable. Although you can add images to your account at a later date, you cannot delete or change images that have already been uploaded. Entering the same image into 2 categories will use 2 of your upload spaces.

If you pay for and submit five images but then decide to submit a further five images as a new transaction at a later date, you will have to pay the full ‘five image’ fee for this second transaction, rather than paying the difference between the ‘five image’ and ‘ten image’ fees. ie. You will pay £15 + £15, rather than the ‘ten image’ discounted fee of £20.

Adult entry fees

Up to 1 image:          £7.00
Up to 5 images:        £15.00
Up to 10 images:      £20.00
Up to 15 images:      £25.00

Youth entry fees (16 & under on 12th July 2008)

Up to 15 images:     flat rate of £2.00