Calling all amateur shutterbugs: Terrain Magazine is now accepting submissions for its seventh annual photo contest highlighting the Midwest outdoors. Categories include Nature, Wildlife, People, Adventure Sports, and Anything Goes. 

Prizes will be given for first, second, and third place in each category — plus one grand prize winner — with the winners featured in our November/December issue. New this year, the top photos will also be displayed at the Gateway Outdoor Expo + Summit in November.

Entries can be sent now through September 1. Below are the full photo contest rules and instructions for submissions, as well as a sampling of photo contest winners from 2023. 

We look forward to seeing what you’ve been up to the past year!

Photo Contest Rules

  • All categories are open to amateurs only. Professional photographers are defined as anyone making more than 10 percent of their income from photography.
  • All photos must be taken within the Terrain Magazine coverage area (i.e., the Midwest) during the past year (September 2023 through August 2024).
  • Submit ONLY unpublished, untouched, hi-resolution images. Digitally manipulated images may be entered in the “Anything Goes” category.
  • You may enter as many photos as you want, but each entry must be included in a separate email.
  • All submission emails must include the name and contact information of the photographer (email and phone number), along with the category and a brief description of when and where the photo was taken.
  • All entries will be judged by the Terrain Magazine staff based on creativity, originality, composition, clarity, quality, and impact. The decisions of judges are final.
  • By sending an entry, you agree that Terrain Media has the right to publish your photo, without compensation, in our November/December 2024 issue and accompanying website/social media posts. (The photographer retains rights to the imagery except where noted above.)
  • Employees of Terrain Media and their families are not eligible.

How to Enter

Please send your entry to brad@terrain-mag.com along with the name and contact information of the photographer (email and phone number), the category, and a brief description of when and where the photo was taken. Write “photo contest” in the subject line.

You may also mail printed entries to Brad Kovach, Terrain Magazine, PO Box 15039, St. Louis, MO 63110.

The deadline for entry is September 1, 2024.

Photo by Branden Johnson.

Photo by John Taylor.

Photo by John Taylor.

Top Image: John Niebling.