Capturing Ecology 2026

Showcasing the wonders of the natural world

Submit

Every year ecologists and wildlife photographers from around the world showcase the most important and surprising stories about ecology in our renowned photography prize.

Judged by our expert panel of highly respected wildlife photographers, ecologists and subject experts the competition aims to celebrate the diversity and complexity of nature and the ecosystems that sustain us.

Open to all, our prize is free to enter for members of the BES. Entry is waived for all entrants from who are a citizen of, or reside in a Global South country. We actively encourage young photographers too, with competition entry being open to under 18s.

We also partner with several organisations for each category and welcome competition sponsors who can support our ongoing efforts to advance ecology around the world. Get in touch if your organisation would like to be involved.

Prizes:

All submissions will be judged by our panel of award-winning wildlife photographers and respected ecologists. Prizes will be awarded as follows:

Overall winner: £750 and 12 months BES membership
Selected by the panel from all submitted photos.

Category winner: £120
Selected by the panel from all submitted photos, excluding the overall winner. An individual may win a maximum of 2 categories.

Eligibility:

Entries must be made via the official entry form. You may submit a maximum of 8 images. No image can be used in 2 categories. We reserve the right to move your photograph to a different category if it has not been submitted to the relevant category. The BES does not accept responsibility for loss, damage or delay to entries, however caused.

Copyrights & Usage Rights:

You must be the sole owner of the copyright of the photograph(s) submitted or have secured written permission of the copyright owner or any joint owners of the copyright. A copy of such permissions must be supplied when requested.

Theme:

Environmental Nature Wildlife Landscape Multi-categories Seascapes Underwater