We define professional photographers as those who sell or publish their work regularly or earn or have earned the majority of their income from their photography. A photographer who does not fit this definition may submit their work as a non-professional.

This contest accepts single image entries and there is no limit on how many single image entries you may submit. We recommend that, for any images that cross categories, you consider entering them into multiple categories. If the same image is entered into multiple categories, each image will be judged as a separate entry and will be considered based on its merits in those individual categories.

Early Bird Deadlines: January 6th - March 12th

Regular Entry Deadlines: March 12th - April 23rd

Extended Entry Deadline: April 23rd - May 28th

We occasionally use submissions to administer and promote the competitions. If we are to use your image, anytime we display your entry, we will credit you as the owner of that image.

AI-generated images are not accepted into any reFocus contest.

You can submit your images to as many reFocus Awards contests as you’d like regardless of whether they have previously been awarded or submitted. reFocus Awards also does not require images to be exclusively entered into our contests.

We do not have any restrictions on where your submitted images may have also appeared. Images that are on your website, have been featured in a publication, or have won other awards are welcome.

Eligibility is not dependent upon having created the artwork during a specific time period.

AI-generated images are not admissible in any reFocus Awards contest. We reserve the right to request proof of the image not being generated by AI as well as for proof of ownership of the original files.

Judging is done blindly in a two-step process in which a select number of entries are nominated for awards in each category via a preliminary round.

In subsequent judging rounds, each judge's rankings are aggregated to determine the category and overall contest winners.

Contacting or lobbying judges is strictly prohibited and may lead to disqualification. Any associated entries belonging to a participant who contacted or lobbied judges will be disqualified.

After judging is completed but before the winners are announced, all entries nominated by the jury will automatically be entered into the People’s Vote Awards where the public will vote on their favorite images within each contest category. The winners of the People's Vote Award will be based on the number of votes received by the general public relative to the other entries in their respective categories.

The opportunity to win this honor is included at no charge and is in addition to competing for the title in your entry’s category as part of your submission. Winners receive a public profile in our Artist Directory, a featured location in our Winner’s Gallery, and other benefits as outlined in each contest page’s Awards & Benefits Chart.

With tens of thousands of people visiting the reFocus Awards website and People’s Vote Award Gallery during the voting period, this unique honor is one of the many ways we aim to increase the chances of our artists, like you, being discovered and getting well-deserved recognition.

Please note that in order to maintain the most positive experience for all nominated artists, the number of votes each entry receives during the public voting period will not be visible.