Only 1 week left to enter photo contest!

Calling Cork photographers! There is only one week left to enter this year’s prestigious Love Your Coast photography competition.

Run by An Taisce’s Clean Coasts Programme, the competition challenges local photographers to capture the beauty, power, and fragility of Ireland’s coastlines.

With entries closing at midnights on 15 May, this is the official final call for the competition which carries an overall prize fund of €5,000 to be awarded amongst category winners.

The categories are Coastal Landscape, People and the Coast, Source to Sea, Wildlife and the Coast, and Underwater. Photographs entered should have been taken within the past 24 months.

This year’s competition encourages photographers to use the annual theme of ‘Impact’ to reflect on both the positive and negative ways our oceans, waterways, and shorelines are shaped by human activities and natural forces, and how these environments, in turn, can impact coastal wildlife, landscapes, and communities.

Speaking ahead of the final call, Bronagh Moore, Clean Coasts Programme Manager, heaped praise upon Ireland’s photographic talent and passion.

She said: “Every year we look forward to seeing the stunning images that are entered into this competition. We have hugely talented photographers in this country and an amazingly diverse coastline as a subject, so it’s an honour to be able to showcase their work and our beautiful coastline through this competition.

“With ‘impact’ as our theme this year, I’m looking forward to seeing the ways in which photographers capture how our actions both positive and negative impact on the coast,” added Ms Moore.

To support participants, Clean Coasts has provided guidelines for photographers to optimise their skills and submissions, which can be viewed via cleancoasts.org.Winners will be celebrated at an awards ceremony held in Dublin in July. The ceremony will bring together shortlisted photographers, ocean advocates, supporters of the Clean Coasts Programme, and special guests to showcase the winning images and highlight the stories behind the lens.

Tim Nuttall of Department of Climate Energy and the Environment, said: “The message of caring for our marine environment along with the high-quality images themselves which showcase the enormous range of marine biodiversity and seascapes is one which we are more than happy to support.”

The Clean Coasts Love Your Coast Photography Competition is supported by the Department of Climate Energy and the Environment and Fáilte Ireland.

Shane Dineen of Fáilte Ireland said: “The rolling waves of the Atlantic Ocean, Irish, and Celtic seas make for endlessly changing sights and when combined with our unpredictable weather provide delight and surprise for locals and visitors alike. The imagery from the photographers each year plays an important role in highlighting the diverse marine wildlife and our maritime heritage on our island. We wish the very best of luck to all entrants as they capture the essence of the Irish coastline.”