The Sony company has started a global photo competition, which takes place on the Instagram platform and is dedicated to the art of creating portraits of animals. Works created with Sony α cameras with E and A mounts are accepted.
Who says you can only take portraits with people? The emotions and unique facial expressions of the animals make viewers smile, gasp in admiration or marvel at the animal power contained in the smallest of movements. Traits captured well reveal your inner world, and the eyes are, of course, the main feature of a portrait, and the photographer’s indispensable tool for uncovering images.
New Sony camera’s new eye-based autofocus feature keeps your subject’s eyes in the frame, and gets sharp, clear shots through dynamic tracking. Such technological decision allows to concentrate on a creative component and to be sure that the eyes of a four-legged model in a portrait will be elaborated in details and without a blur.
Main stages and deadlines
The contest runs in several stages: regional and international selections.
As part of the regional stage, the American jury and representatives of Sony Electronics in America and CIS will select the three best works, the authors of which will receive the latest Sony α cameras 1st place – camera α7R III, 2nd place – camera α7 III, 3rd place – camera α6400.
Further the works of the three regional winners will be sent to the International stage of the contest, where representatives of the Sony Corporation Tokyo and the international jury will choose the five best portraits of all the works sent.
The global winners will receive an α9 and a G Master lens from a list of lenses to choose from.
The American phase of the competition takes place from May 15th to July 17th inclusive. The composition of the jury for the American part will be announced later.
May 15 – start of the regional stage of the competition
July 17 – regional closing date for entries
15 – 30 August – selection of winners of American stage of the contest local jury to be announced later
August 30 – announcement of 3 local winners
September – announcement of global winners
Entry conditions
To become a contestant you need:
1 Register on the Sony website here>
2 Subscribe to the Instagram account @sonyphotoAmerica
3 upload your work to your Instagram account and add the three obligatory hashtags: #SonyAlphaAnimalPortrait, #RU and #[camera model in format – #A7RM3].
Read the full competition rules here>
This seems like an exciting contest! I’m curious to know if the #SonyAlphaAnimalPortrait contest is open to both professional photographers and amateurs? Additionally, will there be any specific guidelines or categories for the animal portraits? I’d love to participate and capture some incredible shots of the animal world through the lens of my Sony camera. Can’t wait for more details!