Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2027 opens for entries on Monday 19 October 2026 at 10:30 GMT and closes on Thursday 3 December 2026 at 11:30 GMT, in the morning. Adults pay a one-off £35 for up to 25 photographs; the fee is waived for the Young competition, for entrants aged 18 to 26 on the closing date and for residents of the countries the rules list. AI-generated images and AI-added content are banned, and a photograph shortlisted for the final round must be backed by its RAW file or original untouched JPEGs. The Natural History Museum in London runs the competition; everything below comes from its rules and competition page.
Key dates
| Stage | Date |
|---|---|
| Entries open | Monday 19 October 2026, 10:30 GMT |
| Entries close | Thursday 3 December 2026, 11:30 GMT |
| First-round results | Friday 22 January 2027 |
| Final decision | Friday 12 March 2027 |
The rules put the deadline this way: “Entries must be received by 11.30 GMT on the morning of Thursday 3 December 2026”.
The fee
“A one-off non-refundable entry fee of £35 is required from each entrant” (rule 3(2)), and one entrant can submit “a maximum of twenty five (25) photographs in total”, whichever categories they are in. The competition page says the fee “is only payable through the entry portal with card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or Revolut”.
Entry is free for:
- the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition;
- entrants aged 18 to 26 on 3 December 2026;
- residents of the countries listed in the rules, who must provide evidence of residency on request.
Who can enter
“The Adult Competition is open to anyone aged 18 or over on Thursday 3 December 2026”, except people involved in its organisation or judging (and their partners and family) and employees of the Natural History Museum Trading Company Limited, the Trustees of the Natural History Museum or, if known during the entry period, the Official Sponsor(s). The Young competition is for photographers aged 17 and under, in three age groups: 10 and under, 11 to 14, and 15 to 17.
The 16 adult categories
Rule 3(5) lists them:
- Animals in their Environment
- Animal Portraits
- Behaviour: Amphibians and Reptiles
- Behaviour: Birds
- Behaviour: Invertebrates
- Behaviour: Mammals
- Plants and Fungi
- Under Water
- Urban Wildlife
- Natural Artistry
- Oceans and Wetlands: The Bigger Picture
- Positive Action
- Photojournalism
- Photojournalist Story Award: a story of six to ten photographs, up to two stories per entrant
- Rising Star Award, for ages 18 to 26: six to ten photographs, one portfolio per entrant
- Portfolio Award, for ages 27 and over: six to ten photographs, one portfolio per entrant
What the rules rule out
- Old photographs: “Photographs must have been shot within the past five years. The capture date must be after October 2021 and evidenced on request.”
- Baiting: “Photography involving any interference, or baiting (including luring with food/feeders, scent, sound) is not eligible.”
- AI and added content: rule 5(7) lists what is not permitted, including “AI generated photographs or images”, “adding, moving or removing objects, animals or parts of animals, plants, people” and “any post processing method that adds new image content to the photograph via AI algorithms or by manual intervention.”
Rule 5(6) allows adjustments that do not “deceive the viewer or misrepresent the reality of nature, or what was originally captured by the camera”: among them tone and contrast, cropping, sharpening, noise reduction, HDR, stitched panoramas and focus stacking. In-camera multiple exposures are accepted in Natural Artistry only.
The RAW check. Rule 5(4): “If your photograph is shortlisted for the Final Round judging, you will be required to provide” its “RAW files (e.g. .ARW, CR2/3, .NEF, .ORF, .PEF), or original untouched JPEGs (with a range of ‘before’ and ‘after’ original untouched JPEG files)”. DNG files count only if DNG is the camera’s native RAW format.
The file you enter is a JPEG at 1,920 pixels along its longest side, in Adobe RGB (1998), with no borders, watermarks or signatures, and a caption of up to 2,500 characters.
The licence
You keep the copyright: “Ownership of the copyright in any entry submitted to the Competition and other images or footage you send to us will remain with the copyright owner(s).” Every entry may be reproduced, publicised and exhibited in any medium, social media included, so that it can be judged or put to a public vote.
The wider licence applies to photographs that win an award and to “any other images or footage you send to us when you enter or afterward”. For those, rule 8 grants the Museum’s trading company, the charity and organisations acting for them rights that include exhibiting the photograph in the competition’s exhibitions and their touring versions, using it in any medium to promote the competition, and sub-licensing it to the press and the sponsors: the rules include the right to “sublicence the Official Sponsor(s) to use the photograph, images and footage to promote and celebrate the Competition or WPY Exhibition”. The licence runs from “the date you are notified of your Award” for “a period of five (5) years”, and seven years for the print and publication rights. Merchandise needs the photographer’s permission and a separate licence, and the photographer is credited.
The record for Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2027 keeps these terms and links the rules. Contests that are open now and ban AI-generated images are in this list, and every contest open now is on the open-contests page. The other deadlines in the same weeks are in photo contest deadlines for November and December 2026.
Questions
When does Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2027 open?
On Monday 19 October 2026 at 10:30 GMT, according to the Natural History Museum’s competition page.
What is the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2027 deadline?
Entries must be received by 11:30 GMT on Thursday 3 December 2026, which is in the morning, not at midnight.
How much does it cost to enter Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2027?
£35 per adult entrant, paid once, for up to 25 photographs. The fee is waived for the Young competition, for entrants aged 18 to 26 on 3 December 2026 and for residents of the countries the rules list.
Does Wildlife Photographer of the Year allow AI or editing?
AI-generated images and any AI-added content are banned. Adjustments such as noise reduction, sharpening, HDR and focus stacking are allowed if they do not misrepresent what the camera captured.
What rights does the Natural History Museum take?
You keep the copyright. Award-winning photographs are licensed for five years from the date you are notified of your award, including sub-licensing to the press and the sponsors; the print and publication rights in the Portfolio and Highlights books run for seven years.
Sources
- Wildlife Photographer of the Year rules, checked 13 October 2026
- Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition page, checked 13 October 2026
- Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year rules, checked 13 October 2026
The age groups of the Young competition come from rule 3(3) of the Young rules, and the entry file format from rules 5(3) and 5(8) of the adult rules.