When Is the Deadline?

The 2026 Photography Award deadline is December 1, 2026.

Who Can Enter?

The award is open to photographers of all skill levels who are residents of the United States, except employees of NPRB or their families, members of the NPRB Board of Directors and their immediate families, and members of the NPRB Science Panel or Advisory Panel. Non-US residents and federal employees are welcome to submit, but will not be eligible for a cash award.

What To Enter?

A maximum of 5 images (regardless of category) will be accepted per entrant. One photo story (up to 5 images; 1000 words) may be submitted per entrant. Entrants must select the appropriate image category and submit a photo caption. Images must include seascapes, marine life, and/or how humans connect with waters of the North Pacific Ocean including the Gulf of Alaska, Prince William Sound, Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands, Bering Strait or Chukchi/Beaufort Seas. NPRB is particularly interested in images of people engaging in marine research, diving, fishing, subsistence, and other activities. Include the location and date of the image in your photo caption.

Images of captive animals photographed in zoos and aquariums are prohibited. Entrants must not infringe on the rights of any other photographer or person, or submit images that involve the willful harassment of wildlife or damage to the environment by the photographer. Do not submit photographs of pets or domestic animals. Photographs that were obtained under the auspices of a marine mammal research permit require authorization from the Office of Protected Resources and must include the permit number directly on the photograph.

All photographs should accurately reflect the subject matter and the scene as it appeared. Minor adjustments such as cropping, spot removal, dodging, burning, RAW adjustments, sharpening, contrast, or the digital equivalents are acceptable. Images utilizing AI in any format are not permitted. Camera-made digital images must be in either JPEG or TIFF formats; for TIFF images, compression is acceptable. Images in other formats will not be accepted. Contact admin@nprb.org if you have questions about image format or resolution. Entries must have a resolution of 5 million pixels or greater. Images that do not meet the minimum resolution may or may not be judged at the judging panel’s discretion. Scans of slides or negatives (but not scans of prints) are acceptable. Original or duplicate negatives, slides, or prints are not acceptable.

The photographer will remain responsible for obtaining model releases when necessary. NPRB reserves the right to obtain such model releases from the photographer upon request. The American Society of Professional Photographers provides a simple model release template on their website and useful resources describing when a model release is required. Previously published material for which non-exclusive rights were granted may be entered as long as you still warrant full usage rights. However, upon submission you must disclose when and where the photo previously appeared.

How Are the Awards Judged?

Images will be judged anonymously on originality, technical excellence, composition, overall impact and artistic merit. The judging panel is comprised of professional photographers, graphic designers as well as NPRB staff, board and panel members. NPRB shall determine winner eligibility in its sole and absolute discretion.

Copyright

You retain all copyrights to photographs you submit–including ownership if applicable–but by entering the award submission, entrants explicitly grant to NPRB (including its affiliates and their designees) nonexclusive, worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use each photograph and description (including the entrant’s name, city and state of residence) in any and all media now known or hereafter created, including but not limited to publication in brochures, blogs, websites, public displays and presentations. NPRB has final approval of any language that appears with the photos and will not use images to promote or endorse for-profit third-party products or services.

Legal Conditions

Each entrant is responsible for ensuring that he or she has the right to submit photographs to the award submission per these rules. Your entry to the award submission constitutes your agreement that your photographs may be made available for public use, published in NPRB materials, published or used in websites owned by NPRB and its partners, and used for promotional purposes including, but not limited to, a photo exhibit, film documentaries, education and outreach materials, and presentations, without compensation. NPRB will retain ownership of the portable media for previously mentioned publishing purposes.

By entering, participants agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless NPRB, its respective subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers, employees, attorneys, agents and representatives, from any and all third party liability for any injuries, loss, claim, action, demand or damage of any kind arising from or in connection with the competition (collectively, “Losses”), including without limitation any third party claim for copyright infringement or a violation of an individual’s right to privacy and/or publicity right. The award submission is void where prohibited by law. All federal, state and local taxes, fees and surcharges on awards are the sole responsibility of the award winner. In the event that the selected winner(s) of any prize is/are ineligible or refuses the prize, the prize will be forfeited and NPRB, in its sole discretion, may choose whether to award the prize to another winner.

NPRB is not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by website users or by any equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the photo competition, or by any technical or human error that may occur in the processing of submissions to the photo competition, including but not limited to any misprints or typographical errors. NPRB assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, entries. NPRB is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer equipment, servers, providers, computer on-line systems, software, or failure of email on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website, including injury or damage to participant’s or to any other person’s computer related to or resulting from participating or uploading images or information in the photo award submission.