Yes, simply tick the box on the second page of the form and your entry will not be displayed on the competition’s website or on our social media platforms without prior consent. Please note however, that if your image is selected as a finalist, your name and photograph will be made public.
Yes, black and white images are allowed. There are no category restrictions, and entries of all subject matter will be accepted: landscape, wildlife, portrait, behavioural, documentary, black & white etc.
Yes, please contact us to make arrangements and be sure to the voucher number on the entry fee page.
No, entries are open to photographers of all skill levels, and aspiring amateurs and young photographers are all encouraged.
All entries are judges based on three criteria:
- Creativity and a fresh perspective of everyday scenes photographed in refreshing ways
- Visual impact & emotional response
- Technical difficulty and execution – does the composition, lighting and background take the image to the next level?
- Please note that while still a factor, action and rarity of the sighting are less important in the judging process
The judges will select 5 finalists each month from the entries received during that month. The overall winner of the competition – The Greatest Maasai Mara Photographer of the Year – will be selected from these monthly finalists.
The judging is ‘blind’ with the panel only seeing the images and the description ‘From Behind the Lens’ when making their selection. The photographer’s name and any other distinguishing information is withheld until they have selected their monthly finalists, at which point the photographer is made public.
Yes, you retain the copyright of the image, but you grant the right to the organizers of the competition to use it in “the marketing, advertising and general promotion of the competition; including worldwide exhibition displays and the publication online or by print” – always being credited by name.
Read the fine print in the T&CS
It’s really quite simple, please fill in the entry form, or contact [email protected] if you have any questions.
You can enter as many times as you like, as long as the image was taken in the prior 24 months, and is subject to the payment of the entry fee with each entry. Repeat entries are permitted provided the image was not a finalist in the prior year.
Each entry is subject to an entry fee, donated in full to the conservation partner of your choice. If paid by credit card, the entry fee is US$20 per image, or KSh 1,000 if paid by M-Pesa.
A basic degree of digital manipulation is allowed, including cropping, sharpening, contrast and colour balance, stitch-panoramas, ‘in camera’ multi-exposure, and black and white conversion.
Nothing should be added or removed, not even small elements, and the image must be faithful to the original capture in terms of elements of the scene.
Composites of montaged images, post-processing filters and other means which manipulate an entry beyond acceptable levels will not be permitted, and the entry will be disqualified and the entry fee forfeited.
The extent of allowable digital manipulation shall be at the Judges’ sole discretion, whose decision in this regard will be final, and guided by whether the image in question accurately and honestly represents the scene – including a comparison of the entry and its original, unedited format, which will be called for if deemed necessary.
No, the Photographer of the Year will only be chosen from the monthly winners. However, a selection of the top performing images on Instagram will be entered into the People’s Choice competition, with a three-night safari for two at Angama Mara awarded to the winner, selected by our Instagram followers.
Yes, entries on behalf of others will not be accepted.
The winner of the competition – The Greatest Maasai Mara Photographer of the Year – will win a cash prize of US$10,000, and an all-expenses-paid 5-night safari for two at the lovely Angama Mara, including:
- Accommodation and all food & beverage, with the exception of French Champagne and reserve wines
- Daily safari activities in the Mara Triangle, in a private vehicle
- Guided walks on the Oloololo escarpment with a Maasai naturalist
- Park fees for daily entry into the Mara Triangle
- Return flights from Nairobi Wilson to Angama Mara’s private airfield
The safari is subject to availability at Angama Mara, and valid for travel in Standard Season 2024.
The winning photographer’s guide in the Mara as well as the People’s Choice winner’s guide – as submitted in the winning entry – will win an all-expenses-paid trip outside of Kenya, destination to be confirmed.
Entries must be in JPEG format (.jpg), free of all visible watermarking, at least 1,200 pixels wide or tall, not greater in size than 10MB, and can be either landscape or portrait.
Your entry fee will be donated to the conservation partner selected during the entry submission process.
Entry fees donated to the Angama Foundation will be used to fund ongoing investment in education, conservation and healthcare in the Maasai Mara.
Entry fees donated to The Maa Trust will be used to support local Maasai children by addressing the root causes of girls dropping out of school, and career counselling for the youth.
Entry fees donated to the Anne K. Taylor Fund will be used to fund anti-poaching patrols as well as to community projects such as school infrastructure and women’s empowerment initiatives.
Entry fees donated to the Mara Elephant Project will be used to fund ranger patrol teams, and purchase much-needed equipment — including new collars to track the movements of over 20 elephants in the region.
Entry fees donated to The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust will be used for its elephant orphan project, as well as anti-poaching and mobile veterinary support units.
Entry fees donated to the Mara Conservancy will be used to support existing operations — including anti-poaching and de-snaring patrols within the Mara Triangle — and increasing the number of game scouts in neighbouring communities.
All entries must have been taken within the last 24 months preceding the date of entry to the competition, and within the Maasai Mara – including the Maasai Mara National Reserve, the Mara Triangle and the Mara Conservancies.
Entries of river crossings from the Great Migration will only be accepted during the months of June through October (when the Migration is typically in the Mara). Entries of river crossings outside of these months will be disqualified and the entry fee forfeited.
Entries open at midnight on the morning of the 1st of January 2024, and close at midnight on the 31st of October 2024, Maasai Mara time (UTC + 3). Monthly finalists will be considered only from entries during that month, ie January’s finalists will be selected from entries entered before midnight on the 31st of January 2024.
The Photographer of the Year will be announced in an Awards Ceremony in December of the year. Details will be confirmed during the course of the year.
The judges of The Greatest Maasai Mara Photographer of the Year are Piper Mackay, Gurcharan Roopra, Federico Veronesi and Adam Bannister. Read more about the judges.
The competition is open to entrants of all ages from all over the world, including employees of all of the competition’s sponsors and conservation partners except:
- Where such contests are prohibited by law; and
- For employees of the Organizer or their immediate relations.
Drop us a line on [email protected] or call us on +254 780 105 100 and we would be glad to help.
