Photo Competition
brought to you BY Cheltenham Travel Festival AND JRNY MAGAZINE
2025 competition is now open
Introducing the inaugural Cheltenham Travel Festival Photo Competition in conjunction with JRNY Magazine — a brand new travel photography competition open to the Cotswolds residents ONLY.
The Cheltenham Travel Festival Photo Competition is a celebration of our beautiful planet and photography. Spread over four key categories we’re looking for the best travel photographers from the Cotswolds.
The Cheltenham Travel Festival Photo Competition is a unique free-to-enter competition, open to entrants of any level!
CATEGORIES
Travel photography requires a combination of technical skill, creativity, and cultural sensitivity to capture the essence of a location and its people. From iconic landmarks to hidden gems, travel photography has the power to transport viewers to new and exciting destinations, sparking a sense of travel and adventure in all of us.
Here’s what we’re looking for in each of the four competition categories:
LANDSCAPE – Both closer to home (Cotswolds) and further afield, we want to see your take on our incredible and unique planet and/or the place or places you have travelled to, that left you breathless.
PEOPLE – Show us what makes people special; think about their environments and highlight their personalities.
WILDLIFE – The chance to witness extraordinary wildlife is one of the main reasons people travel. Highlight the unique and glorious beauty of nature through your images.
CITIES – There is nothing quite like the vibrancy of a city to add to any great trip. Show us what makes a city special to you.
prizes
- GRAND PRIZE – £500 holiday voucher* from FREEDOM DESTINATIONS + large canvas print of photo + a Barr & Stroud ‘Sahara’ 8×25 binocular, sponsored by CAMPKINS CAMERAS + a one-year free digital subscription to JRNY Travel Magazine + a £50 gift voucher from WEX Photo / Video Cambridge
- ALL three remaining category winners will receive a £250 holiday voucher* from FREEDOM DESTINATIONS + a one-year free digital subscription to JRNY Travel Magazine + a £50 gift voucher from WEX Photo / Video Cambridge
- ALL winners will have their images printed and displayed at the Cambridge Travel Festival Gallery
*Freedom Destination vouchers can only be redeemed against a holiday worth £2,500 or more in value. Vouchers must be redeemed within 12 months of receipt. No cash alternative is available.
JUDGES
Kav Dadfar - JRNY Magazine
Kav is the co-founder of the award-winning JRNY Travel Magazine. As a writer and photographer, over the years his images have appeared in publications around the world including JRNY, Condé Nast, National Geographic, Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, Daily Mail, The Express, The Guardian and many more.
Jordan Banks - JRNY Magazine
Jordan’s career has spanned two decades and includes numerous accolades for his work, including awards from National Geographic, Lonely Planet & TPOTY. Jordan’s work and expeditions have taken him to over 100 countries to cover some of the most diverse regions of the globe. Leading expeditions through Baffin Bay, the High Arctic, Antarctica, South Georgia, Bhutan, Patagonia, the Kumbh Mela, Sea Gypsies of the South China sea, Namibia, Botswana, Uganda, The Jordan Trail and Central America. His images can be seen throughout the world on the covers of books, magazines, billboards and television. Jordan’s career has been the subject of a Sky Arts documentary syndicated worldwide as well as collaborating on film projects with Adobe and LEE filters.
Nori Jemil
Nori Jemil is a multi-award-winning photographer, writer and videographer, who works across a range of travel publications. A co-author for Fodor's Travel, Rough Guides and Lonely Planet, it was her own book with Bradt Guides - The Travel Photographer’s Way - that was shortlisted for an Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award. An expedition photography guide for many years in Chile, Argentina, Iceland and the Arctic, Nori spends time in Western Australia where she has close family ties. A Latin America specialist too, Nori won the best published image of Latin America at the LATA Awards in 2023, as well as Wanderlust's Photo of the Year and the BGTW's Photographer of the Year previously. An experienced public speaker, Nori has presented the National Geographic Traveller (UK) Photography Masterclasses since 2018 and also teaches filmmaking in London.
Owen Howell - Campkins Cameras
Campkins Cameras has been guided by the capable hands of the Howell family for three generations. Today, Owen Howell, born into the business, continues to uphold the values and traditions set by his father, Barry, and grandfather, Tom. As current owner and manager, Owen leads a team of highly skilled and passionate employees, all practising photographers with over 50 years of combined photography experience.
Allan Hale - Cambridge Camera Club
Allan has been a keen photographer since his early teens and following a move to the Cambridge area in 1993, he joined Bassingbourn Photographic Club, which eventually merged with Melbourn Photographic Club. He joined Cambridge Camera Club in 2006, and was a Judge on the EAF list for about 12 years reaching the B list. He attained his LRPS in 2009 and his ARPS in 2014. He has very wide interests in photography including Infrared, Landscapes, Nature, and Flowers.
Penny Reeves - Swavesey Camera Club
Penny is an experienced club photographer and an accredited East Anglian Federation of photographic clubs judge who judges camera club competitions for clubs large and small throughout East Anglia. Her personal photography covers a wide range of subjects from landscape and nature to still life and portraiture.
rules of entry
Please find a short summary of the main rules of the competition. Please read these carefully to ensure that your entry isn’t rejected. See full terms and conditions for details. By entering the competition you are accepting our terms and conditions.
- A maximum of 10 entries is permitted per person
- You must be 18 years of age or over to enter
- We will only accept digital entries (images taken on film must be scanned and submitted digitally)
- All images entered must be your own and you have to have full copyright over the images
- Your images should be saved in jpeg format at 72dpi with a maximum file size of 2mb
- Only minor digital post-processing which does not alter the original image beyond recognition is accepted
- Images must be free of watermarks
- Composites or images created using multiple images are not allowed
- However, stitched panoramas and drone shots will be accepted
- No form of AI images (either partial or fully created images) is eligible for this competition
- You will be required to send the digital negative (RAW file) or original jpeg of the image if shortlisted
- The original images must contain metadata. Images without metadata will be disqualified
- Note: If you encounter any problems submitting your entry form, please contact us via email, telephone or social media
