Entries for the coveted Astrophotography Prize are now open, with entries due to close on Sunday, September 1. Judging will take place on September 13-14, 2024.
2023 Astrophotography Prize finalist Chuck Vaughn and his depiction of nebula surrounding the three stars of Orion's belt (Mintaka, Alnilam, and Alnitak).
With an incredible team of international judges and some fantastic prizes up for grabs, including a Stellarvue SVX102T Telescope, the Astrophotography Prize is a tremendous opportunity to become a better astrophotographer and to learn from some of the world’s best imagers.
Competition Director Andy Campbell, an award-winning grand master astrophotographer, believes winning the Astrophotography Prize can be a significant milestone in your astrophotography journey.
“It’s something that will be remembered and recognised in the future. It becomes part of your legacy as an astrophotographer, a testament to your dedication, creativity, and talent. This legacy can inspire others and contribute to the field’s development,” Andy added.
Andy also believes that the unique competition, which features Deep Space, Solar System, Astro Landscape and Remote Imaging categories, is one of the only competitions in the world that offers invaluable feedback on your image.
“The crux of it is people want to become better astrophotographers. This competition helps them in their journey,” Andy said.
“With most competitions, you submit your image and think it’s reasonable, but then you don’t win and receive any feedback. How does that help anyone? It doesn’t,” Andy continued.
“That’s where this competition is so different. All the images are pre-judged online. In each category, there are up to three experts in the field of astrophotography. We also have a well-known astrophysicist and a couple of award-winning landscape astrophotographers on the Judging team,” Andy added.
Galaxy NGC 6744 by 2023 Astrophotography Prize finalist: Rick Jiang.
Andy says that with over 100 APODs (NASA: Astronomy Photo of the Day) between them, the Astrophotography Prize has assembled a unique, powerhouse judging team of world-renowned and highly awarded specialist astronomers.
This year, the judges are Christopher Go (Philippines), Marcel Drechsler (Germany), Wolfgang Promper (Austria), Dr. Tanya Hill (Australia), Diego Colonnello (Australia), Marco Lorenzi (Singapore), Bray Falls (USA), Rogelio Bernal Andreo (USA), Ari Rex (Australia), Peter Eastway (Australia) and Lloyd Smith (USA) with Andy Campbell (Aus: Director), and Robyn Campbell (Aus: Co-Ordinator) chairing the judging.
“All of them are award-winning, and some have even made their discoveries in astronomy. These judges are world-class,” Andy continued.
Andy says that when images are submitted to the Astrophotography Prize, every image is scored and averaged out of a hundred.
“If you have one judge scoring your image out of 90, one judge at 80, and one at 70, the principal score of the image would be 80. The top 25 from each category are then re-judged online,” Andy said.
“It’s here that the judges will write feedback to those entrants who requested it, and I’ve got to tell you, the feedback they produce is extraordinary. We’re talking 3 to 5 paragraphs of gold advice for astrophotographers.
“They provide summaries along the lines of Your image is nice, and if you did this, and adjusted this, and cropped it this way, and perhaps considered this, and thought about this, and composed this, it would be even better,” Andy continued.
Andy says providing feedback is a serious commitment.
“They’re spending about 15 minutes per image writing severe feedback. Last Year, Mike Sidonio (Aus) and Marcel Drechsler (Germany) spent about three to four days providing feedback to 434 entries,” Andy added.
Andy said that the judges debate and summarise the reasons for their scores during the live broadcast, which this year will take place on September 13-14. These debates are both highly educational and entertaining!
“Astrophotography is an extraordinary hobby, and it’s hard. When you think about it, we’re shooting something so far away you can’t see it, in the dark, and from a moving platform,” Andy explained.
“Space is there for everyone. It doesn’t matter where you live or what you believe in. Astronomy compels you to look up and ask yourself those big questions.”
The winners will be announced two days after judging on 13-14 September 2024. The Astrophotographer of the Year will win a Stellarvue SVX102T Telescope. Significant category winners’ prizes are also up for grabs from Sidereal Trading, Deep Sky West, and QSI.
You can keep up to date with the Astrophotography Prize by visiting https://astrophotographyprize.com/home.
The Astrophotography Prize also includes a Astro Landscape category. This is ann entry from 2023 finalist Baillie Farley.
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