The New Scientist Photography Awards 2021 are free to enter to anyone over the age of 18, with a prize of £1,000 for the overall winner.

The competition has three categories: The Natural World, Modern Life and Our Changing Environment. Judges will decide on a shortlist of four images in each category from which they will pick a winner and runner-up. Category winners will then go to a public vote to determine the overall winner of the New Scientist Photography Awards 2021.

The judging panel consists of naturalist and television presenter Chris Packham, award-winning photographer Sue Flood and three members of the New Scientist team: Helen Benians, Timothy Revell and Penny Sarchet.

Flood says: “I’m thrilled to be judging this prestigious competition and can’t wait to see people’s work. What’s going to catch my eye? It could simply be an extraordinary capture of a very ordinary event. Or, on the other hand, it could be an incredible event captured at just the right fraction of a second. Either way, it will be a shot that has something that stops me in my tracks and stands out from the crowd. That’s the wonderful thing – you never know what you’re going to find when you’re judging, but you’ll know the shot when you see it!”

Entries will be accepted until July 31. The shortlist, runners-up and category winners will be announced by September 2. The category winners will then be put to a public vote, with the overall winner announced in October 2021.

To enter and for the full terms and conditions, please visit the New Scientist website.