It's something I've known about for years and I've drooled over the images. But I never imagined that I could actually participate. What am I talking about? Landscape Photographer of the Year (LPOTY for short) The UK and probably the World's most prestigious Landscape Competition. Started by Charlie Waite back in 2006 as a means to promote Landscape Photography in the UK, the competition has a prize fund of £20,000. But more importantly for me it is a vehicle which can help photographers gain acceptance in what is an extremely congested field. So, after months of knowing about the 2021 competition, I decide to enter. Reviewing my images I felt I had a good core set worthy of entry and on reviewing the competition rules that fell within the requirements of being taken within 5 years, of not having had major editing work and being truthful to the subject. However after the said months of dithering, there was now literally only 24 hours to deliver the goods.
No panic then! The first part was actually the easiest, creating the set of eight low-res copies to be sent for consideration. Then it got harder. Uploading the images had to be done individually which was not helpful. Then there is a core data set including description and processing notes plus camera info, location etc. Unfortunately, this part did not go smoothly as the software used is dated to put it mildly, and it was getting later (after midnight by now) My plan was to upload four of the eight on the night and the balance next morning before the midday curfew. I had uploaded and completed two when... The website crashed. Oh dear, so reboot & try again. Mmmm this is getting frustrating. Several tries later I got one image partially uploaded when the whole thing died. I guess I wasn't the only one afflicted by the last-minute need to engage. Anyway that was it. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth ensued which was not pretty. Fortunately none was recorded for posterity. So I sent an email enquiring pointedly why the website wasn't up to the job and hit the sack at an ungodly hour. Next morning after about 3 hours sleep my alarm went off and I snapped awake. I immediately went downstairs in my dressing gown and went into battle undaunted once more to tame the beast. To cut a long story short the website was functioning once more and I managed to upload the remaining six images without further trauma. I also had a polite, but uninformed email back from the organisers denying any website issues. No, it was broken and it caused me and potentially lots of others quite a bit of grief. Sort it out please. Anyhow, I have entered my eight images and I am satisfied with them. They are not perfect and I think unlikely to win. I am hoping that one or more will go forward to the next round of judging, but I have modest expectations. Just entering has given me a real sense of achievement, but I am well aware that I have work to be done if I am to reach a truly pro standard. Anyhow, see the images below in a special gallery. Some can also be seen elsewhere on this site and I will be making all of them available to buy as a print, canvas, or on other media.
As ever, thanks for looking, liking or commenting. All feedback is welcome positive or negative. However, please be polite so no abusive, racist, or sexist language please.
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