The Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2027 competition is now open for entries – and for its 63rd year, there is a new category to enter.
Nature photography professionals, amateurs and enthusiasts across the world have until Thursday 3 December to enter their photos across a range of categories to the competition, which is run by the Natural History Museum in London.
One of these is the new category, Positive Action. Photographs in this category should "highlight a conservation success, a moment of connection or an optimistic reflection of change or engagement with the natural world," states a press release on the competition’s website.
As well as this, The Bigger Picture category now combines two environments to highlight the unique role of marine and freshwater environments, Oceans and Wetlands. This has previously been separated into two distinct categories.
The prize pot for the overall winner has also been boosted and now stands at £15,000 (from £10,000).
“It’s so exciting to launch the competition once again to find the very best in wildlife photography,” says Kathy Moran, chair of the competition’s jury panel.
“It’s a great honour to serve on the Wildlife Photographer of the Year jury, particularly with the trust the photographic community shares with us and how we endeavour to hold the competition to the highest standards. I can’t wait to see what this year’s entries will amaze us with.”
Entrants aged 26 years old and under will continue to receive free entry to the competition. The competition will also continue its waived fee for photographers from 114 countries across Africa, southeast Asia, and Central and Southern America that have historically been underrepresented in the competition.
To enter, and to find out more about the entry process, visit the Natural History Museum’s website.
Last week, the winning photographs from the 2026 competition were announced. The overall winning image, titled The Aftermath (as well as 99 other images from competition) can be viewed at an exhibition in the Natural History Museum, London.
Top image: Jack Crockford’s photograph The Art of Flying, which was highly commended in the 15–17 Years category in the 2026 competition. Credit: Jack Crockford/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
