For the 15th time the Society of German Nature Photographers invites professional and non-professional photographers from all over Europe to join this year's competition.

The competition aims to illustrate the high quality and specific style of European wildlife photography through excellent pictures from Europe and all over the world. It also seeks to promote awareness for nature conservation through the means of photography.

There are nine categories:

• K1 – Birds
• K2 – Mammals
• K3 – Other Animals
• K4 – Plants and Fungi
• K5 – Landscapes
• K6 – The Underwater World
• K7 – Man and Nature
• K8 – Nature's Studio
• K9 – Young Photographers (age groups: up to 14 years and 15-17 years)

A maximum of 20 photographs can be entered in categories K1 - K8; these can be distributed freely across the different categories. Up to 5 photographs can be entered in category K9 - Young Photographers.

Entry fee for categories K1 - K8 is 30 EUR.
There is no entry fee for category K9 - Young Photographers.

Eligibility

The competition is open to professional and amateur photographers resident in Europe.

Prize

The overall winner will receive a prize money of 3,000 EUR. The overall winner will also be invited to the award ceremony (travel expenses, costs for the buffet and accommodation).

The winners of the categories K1 - K8 will receive 800 EUR and the runners-up 500 EUR. The winners of both ages groups in category nine will receive 200 EUR and an invitation to the award ceremony (travel expenses and accommodation; costs include an accompanying adult), and the runners-up will receive 100 EUR.

All successful participants (winners, runners-up, highly commendeds) will receive a free ticket for the International Nature Photography Festival 2015 in Lünen, Germany.