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2026 APA Awards: Call for Entries

Our Judges will select 46 APA Award Winners this year from 15 categories and one Best of Show.

APA Awards 2026 - we are now accepting entries in our National contest - here are the details:

Our annual competition is open to all photographers at every level, worldwide -- everyone from emerging photographers to established professionals.
Our Judges will select 46 APA Award Winners this year from 15 categories and one Best of Show.
APA members save on each entry.
Winning images are featured in our annual awards publication.
The "Series" is a flat rate for 2-6 images. Entries for the Series are submitted through Picter.

Awards Deadline

The submission deadline is June 29, Noon PDT.

Awards Entry Fees

Early bird special pricing until May 22, 2026 - for APA members on single images

$50: General Public (Non-members)
$15: APA Leader
$15: APA Professional
$15: APA Associate or Supporter
$15: APA Contributor
$15: General Public
$50: Series/flat rate per project (2-6 images)

Not an APA member? Now is a great time to join and earn a nice discount on every image you submit to our annual competition.

SERIES

$50: Series/flat rate per project (2-6 images)

Awards Judges

Coming soon.

Awards Prizes

Coming soon

Awards Fundamentals

Anyone can enter the APA Awards:

APA members receive a discount based on their APA membership level
Images in the 14 categories are assigned an arbitrary ID for "blind" judging
Images in the SERIES include the name and social media links of the photographers
There is no limit on the number of entries you can submit
The same image can be entered in more than one category, but can only win once
An image that has previously won in the APA Awards is not eligible to win again
An image that won previously in any other APA photo competition is eligible
Only images in the "Fresh / New Work" category have a creation date requirement (2026)
The decision of the judges of the competition shall be final and binding
Entry fees are non-refundable
Winners will be notified in August
The winners will be officially announced by September
Winners must supply the hi-rez files to appear in the printed APA Awards book
APA does not accept responsibility for or warrant any product being delivered by a sponsor
Any applicable tax due on the awarding of prizes is the sole responsibility of each winner
Prizes and the APA Awards book are shipped to U.S. addresses only

Image Entry Guidelines

All files must be in JPG format
File size limit: 2 MB
Image size no smaller than 1200 pixels
Images size no longer than 1800 pixels
The color profile is sRGB, image resolution: 72 ppi
Do not include characters (©, ®, •, $, #) in file names as these can corrupt the file
Images must not contain any text that is not part of the image
Winners will be required to provide a high-resolution version for print

Submission Guidelines

APA members log in to apanational.org using your APA credentials.
Non-APA members can enter by creating a guest account.
The system will automatically charge you based on your APA membership level.
You can enter the same image in more than one category by paying the additional fee(s).
Please upload in batches of no more than ten (10) entries at a time, as the site will time out.
Once your transaction is complete, your submission is final.
Log in to your APA account at any time to review your entries.
You may submit additional images until the final deadline.
APA reserves the right to disqualify any winner not providing the required winning photo in the requested file format and size within two weeks of APA’s request via the contact information supplied by the entrant. Replacement winners will be selected at the judge’s discretion.
You will receive an email confirmation upon entering. If you do not receive a confirmation email, you are not in the contest - contact: membershiprep@apanational.org

Top Reasons to Enter

The APA Awards is established as one of the world’s most respected photo contests for professional photographers.

An acclaimed panel of Judges who hire and work with pro photographers will view your work.
All winners appear in a beautifully printed book sent to art buyers and photo editors.
An impressive gallery showcasing the winning images will be viewable online and widely promoted.
Entering is quick, easy, reliable, and secure.
Proceeds help advance APA’s core not-for-profit mission of protecting photographers’ rights, so you can feel good about entering!

Terms

By entering The APA Awards Annual Photo Competition, Entrants:

Warrant that the whole copyright and any other form of intellectual property right in the work is vested in them.
Warrant that they have not in any way assigned, licensed, disposed of, or otherwise encumbered any of their rights which allow them to deal freely with the work and the copyright therein.
Warrant that they have obtained model or property releases from any persons and/or property owners requiring such, featured in their submitted photographs allowing publication in any and all media forms.
Acknowledge that APA relies fully upon the warranties and licenses given by Entrants when submitting their entries for consideration to The APA Awards Annual Photo Competition.
Entrants indemnify and hold APA harmless from any claims, actions, proceedings, costs and expenses arising as a result of any allegation that the relevant Entrant did not own or is not wholly entitled and authorized to allow publication and reproduction of the work by APA.

Reproduction

Entrants retain full copyright to their images and grant no usage to APA other than those granted herein. APA shall not be liable for any loss or damage or exclusion of any entry. It also acknowledges the right of APA and the APA Awards sponsors to use the photographer's likeness and information, as well as the winning images, in exhibitions and promotions, in any and all forms of print, electronic and digital media, and any promotional materials related to the APA Awards Annual Photo Competitions following the Competition winners’ announcement.
Submission of an entry to the competition automatically constitutes the contestant's acceptance of all conditions set forth in the above rules.

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