Frequently asked questions

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.

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

All entries are judges based on three criteria:

1. Overall impression & visual impact – does the entry invoke an emotional response?
2. Technical difficulty & execution – does the entry show skill in balance, focus, lighting, exposure?
3. Originality, humour & creativity – is the photographer’s message conveyed through their lens?

The judges will select a winner each month from the entries received during that month, and the winner of the Competition – The Greatest Maasai Mara Photographer of the Year – will be selected from the monthly winners.

It’s really quite simple, please follow the step by step guide.

You can enter as many times as you like, as long as it’s a new image, and subject to the payment of the entry fee with each entry. Repeat entries will not be reconsidered.

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 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.

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
• Daily safari activities in the Mara Triangle, in a private vehicle led by Adam Bannister, one of the competition’s judges
• 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 monthly finalists will also win a set of Remembering Wildlife books courtesy of Margot Raggett and a pair of CL companion 10x42 binoculars courtesy of Swarovski Optik.

The safari is subject to availability at Angama Mara, and valid for travel through 2021. No block out dates apply.

The winning photographer’s guide in the Mara – as submitted in the winning entry – will win a trip to England to watch a Premier League football match in London. The guides of the monthly winners, the finalists in the competition, will each win KSh 10,000.

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 preschools, classrooms and other school infrastructure, and to provide access to water for local communities.

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 counseling for the youth.

Entry fees donated to the Anne K. Taylor Fund will be used to fund anti-poaching patrols and the construction of predator-proof bomas (traditional livestock enclosures) to prevent local livestock from attacks by predators.

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 David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust will be used to fund much needed blood-diagnostic equipment for their mobile Mara veterinary unit, allowing them to immediately and accurately analyze samples in the field.

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 12 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 the Great Migration will only be accepted during the months of June through October (when the Migration is typically in the Mara). Entries of the Great Migration outside of these months will be disqualified and the entry fee forfeited.

Entries open at midnight on the morning of the 1^st of January 2020, and close at midnight on the 31^st of October 2020, Maasai Mara time (UTC + 3). Monthly finalists will be considered only from entries during that month, ie January’s finalist will be selected from entries entered before midnight on the 31^st of January 2020.

The 2020 Photographer of the Year will be announced in November at an event in Nairobi. Details will be confirmed during the course of the year.

The five judges of The Greatest Maasai Mara Photographer of the Year are Art Wolfe, Federico Veronesi, Michael Poliza, Nisha Purushothaman 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 news@thegreatestmaasaimara.com or call us on +254 780 105 100 and we would be glad to help.