Conditions of Participation

The 28th Glanzlichter competition starts on October 1st, 2025!

Glanzlichter is one of the greatest international nature photography competitions, which has been honoring fascinating, touching and spectacular photographs from around the world since 1999.

Nature photography is more than just capturing landscapes and animals – it is a way of understanding and appreciating our relationship with nature. Founded by Mara Fuhrmann, the competition has been putting emphasis on rewarding responsible and genuine nature photographs for many years. Capturing the beauty of nature and showing impressive moments. In an age in which is nature under increasing pressure, photography is a powerful medium to reflect and reinforce our responsibility towards the planet.

The award-winning images will be honored at the award ceremony at the start of the Naturephotography Days in Fürstenfeldbruck and shown in a high-class exhibition. The exhibition will tour throughout Germany and can be seen at over twenty locations.

All Over Winner

The overall winner from all categories.

Category 1

Magnificent Wilderness | Landscapes

From atmospheric scenes to habitats to intimate landscape photography - ambience and mood invite to an immersive experience in the face of the majesty of nature.

Category 2

The Beauty of Plants and Fungi | Plants and Fungi

Detailed photos of the natural flora. The focus is on shapes, colors and structures of plants and fungi, whether in artistic compositions or classic photography.

Category 3

Nature as Art | Shapes, colors and abstractions

Nature as an artist - detached from the documentary purpose of a photograph, aesthetics, creativity and experimental approach can show completely new perspectives.

Category 4

Artists on Wings | Birds

In flight, looking for food or socializing. In this category, the artists of the air are to be depicted in their natural environment.

Category 5

The World of Mammals | Mammals

The life of mammals - from elephants to small shrews, whether in large herds or as individuals, quiet portraits or actionpacked situations, day or night.

Category 6

Diversity of all other Animals | Other animal species

The diversity of all other animal species ought not be missed. This category provides a space for inhabitants of planet Earth that cannot be assigned to the other categories.

Category 7

Moments in Nature | Special moments of nature

Nature photography shows the treasures of nature, unique encounters and small miracles. We are looking for these very special, impressive moments that have a lasting impact on us.

Category 8

Aerial Views of Nature | Aerial photography by multicopter

Experiencing the world from above. Capturing structures and shapes of the landscape. Here, details and connections become visible that cannot be seen from the ground.

Junior Award

Agegroups: up to 13 years and 14 - 17 years

Young photographers up to the age of 17 can take part in all categories. The Junior Award will be chosen from all of these submissions.

Junior Award

• € 750 for the Junior Award Winner

• Trophy

• Glanzlichter book

• DVF gold medal

• Own photo exhibition by CEWE

All competition highlights receive €50 and a Glanzlichter book.

All award-winning participants are invited to the awards ceremony and the subsequent gala dinner.

Winners who attend will receive a photo book from CEWE featuring all awarded images, with their own image on the cover.

Attending winners will also receive discounted admission to the International Nature Photography Days in Fürstenfeldbruck.

SUBMISSION

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Here you can submit your images from October 1st, 2025. After registration you will be guided through the menu and upload tool. Participation in the competition is only possible online. In exceptional cases, if it is not possible to take part online, please contact the competition management.

Images taken with a digital camera or high-quality scans of slides and negatives are permitted.

A maximum of 30 images - these can be freely distributed among the categories.

Photos that have already been submitted can still be exchanged until the closing date.

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Category 1 - Magnificent Wilderness | Landscapes

Category 2 - The Beauty of Plants and Fungi | Plants & Fungi

Category 3 - Nature as Art | Shapes, colors and abstractions

Category 4 - Artists on Wings | Birds

Category 5 - The World of Mammals | Mammals

Category 6 - Diversity of all other Animals | Other animal species

Category 7 - Moments in Nature | Special moments of nature

Category 8 - Aerial Views of Nature | Aerial photography

Note: The assignment of an image to a category can be changed by the jury.

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The deadline for entries is January 5th, 2026 – 12:00pm (CET).

Submissions received after this deadline will no longer be considered! In exceptional cases, the submission deadline may be extended at short notice.

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ELIGIBILITY

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The competition is open to everyone. Employees of the competition team or the supporting organizations and sponsors as well as their relatives are excluded from participation.

Young photographers up to the age of 17 can take part in all categories. A Junior Award winner and two highlights per age group (up to 13 years | 14 – 17 years) will be chosen from all of these entries.

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FEES

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The entry fee is € 30.

The entry fee for photographers under 18 years old is only € 15.

Payment can be made via bank transfer, credit card, or PayPal.

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GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

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Image size: 1920 pixels

Color space: Adobe RGB or sRGB

High resolution files: must be suitable for a large-format print (80 cm)

Please do not interpolate the file under any circumstances!

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IMAGE EDITING

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When editing images, it is important to ensure that the image is reproduced as naturally as possible. The digital image sometimes requires corrections in tonal value, contrast, saturation and sharpening. These correction values can vary from image to image. Tone value correction, contrast and saturation adjustment, sharpening and image cropping are permitted image processing steps. HDR, focus stacking and panoramas stitched together from multiple images are permitted. Multiple exposures are only permitted if they are created internally in the camera. Only additive and average multiple exposures are permitted. The merged recordings must have been taken at the same place and in close proximity. Further processing steps, digital image manipulation and the use of artificial intelligence are not permitted and will lead to disqualification.

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Note for underwater photography: Spot removal of floating particles is not permitted.

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If digital techniques are applied, they must be indicated in the upload tool.

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After the first pre-selection, the authenticity of the images is examined based on the original RAW image file. These must be submitted following a request from the competition management. RAW files of all formats are permitted as original image files. Only files that originate directly from the camera are considered original JPGs. For scanned slides or negatives, the evaluation is based on the analog originals.

In cases of doubt, the jury will decide whether the image should be excluded.

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OTHER RULES

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Photographs of domestic and farm animals are excluded from the competition. If the photo shows an animal in captivity (zoo, enclosure, game farm) or was taken under controlled conditions, the image must be marked C (= captive).

It goes without saying that applicable nature and animal protection laws and regulations must be adhered to when creating the images. If images are taken using on-site manipulation and/or a lasting negative impact on the environment or questionable practices, they will be excluded from the competition.

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JURY

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The jury is replaced every year. Experienced nature photographers, animal and nature conservationists, biologists and personalities from the photography industry will be looking at the submitted images with their trained eyes and their understanding of photography, nature and the animal world.

First, a pre-selection takes place independently of each other in a digital process by the individual jurors. The jury then comes together to select the final image and discusses it in a direct, personal exchange over a total of three days.

We will introduce the members of the jury shortly.

The jury‘s verdict is final and not subject to appeal.

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COPYRIGHT AND RIGHT TO YOUR OWN IMAGE

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Only your own works will be accepted. The image must not infringe any third party copyrights or personal rights. All rights to the photo must belong to the photographer. The photo must not be blocked by agencies or publishers. When photographing people, approval must be obtained from the person depicted. The competition management assumes no liability for claims from third parties.

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RIGHTS OF USE

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The participants retain the copyright to their images. By participating, participants grant the non-exclusive right to publish and exhibit the award-winning photos as part of the competition and to pass them on to third parties for application purposes (e.g. on social media, on the website, in print media, for press work). No claim to a usage fee can be made for use.

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PRIVACY

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Participants’ personal data will only be used to carry out the competition and will not be passed on to third parties.

When images are published by third parties, the photographer‘s name and country of origin will be provided for copyright purposes.

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LIABILITY

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The competition management assumes no liability for technical problems that occur during upload or submission. The competition management assumes no liability for loss or damage to negatives or slides that are sent in the original. The participants bear the risk.

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FINAL PROVISIONS

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By participating in the competition, participants agree to these conditions. The competition management reserves the right to cancel or change the competition at any time.

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THE ORGANIZERS

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Lisa Marie & Florian Smit
Appelner Straße 3
27432 Basdahl
Germany

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service@glanzlichter.com

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We will contact you as the competition continues using the above email addresses. Please make sure that emails from these addresses do not end up in the spam folder, e.g. by adding them to the address book.

Inquiries can be made at any time in writing to the email addresses listed above.

Please understand that telephone inquiries cannot be answered.

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We look forward to the Glanzlichter of nature photography in 2025!

The competition team