- Last Light is a free photography award run by Camstrap, open worldwide to anyone aged 18 or over. A phone counts.
- One category: a photograph where the light is the subject. Taken between 1 August and 15 October 2026.
- Derry Caulfield of Learn How To Photograph judges every entry. Entries close on 15 October.
For about six weeks each autumn the light is the best it will be all year. It is long, low and warm, and then it goes. Last Light is our photography award for that light, and entries are open now. It is free, there is nothing to buy, and any camera counts, including the one in your pocket.
Shop the setup
- Regular price
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€42 - Regular price
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€44 - Sale price
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€42
By choosing the Camstrap strap, you are opting for a high-quality product designed to meet the needs of the most demanding photographers.
- Developed by a physiotherapist to relieve neck and back pain.
- Fast delivery with tracking by the Post Office 🚚
- Can be used as a shoulder strap or hands-free harness
- Regular price
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€36 - Regular price
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€42 - Sale price
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€36
Free shipping included
One category, one question
There is a single category and a single brief: one photograph where the light is the subject, not the thing it fell on. A ridge line caught by the last sun, a street turned gold for ten minutes, a window of light on a kitchen wall. Everything else about the photograph is yours to decide.
The photograph has to be your own work, taken between 1 August and 15 October 2026. Normal development is fine: exposure, contrast, colour, crop, straightening and dust removal. Compositing, adding or removing things, and AI-generated or AI-extended images are not accepted.
Who judges it
Derry Caulfield has been a professional photographer since 1985. She teaches beginners as Learn How To Photograph, in small groups on the Mornington Peninsula in Australia and one to one over video, and her school is the headline sponsor of the award. She is the sole judge and scores every entry herself.
She judges without your name. She sees the photograph, its title and the one line you write about where and when it was taken, but not your name, your email address or any follower count. Accepted entries also appear in the public gallery, credited to you, so this keeps the judging about the photograph rather than about who took it.
Three things are scored, in this order: the light, which counts double, then the moment, then the technique. Her decision is final.
How to enter
- Enter up to three photographs, one file each, up to 4 MB with the longest edge at 3000 px.
- You must be 18 or over. The award is open worldwide.
- It takes about ninety seconds on the entry page.
Buying anything from Camstrap cannot improve your chances, and you keep the copyright of your photograph. The full terms are in the award rules.
The calendar
- Now to 15 October: entries are open.
- 16 to 21 October: Derry judges every entry.
- 22 October: twelve finalists are published in the gallery and a public vote opens for one week.
- 29 October: the winners are announced.
What you can win
There are twelve prizes. The grand prize is the one that is hard to buy: a private one-hour portfolio review with Derry Caulfield over video, where she looks at your work and helps you plan what to shoot next. It comes with a Camstrap field kit: a Nomad backpack, a Trek harness and a Magclip.
The public vote on the twelve finalists decides a People's Choice prize, a Camstrap Trek harness. Each of the other ten finalists receives a Camstrap Magclip and a place in the Last Light gallery.
Why we are doing this
We make harnesses that keep a camera on your body and ready in your hands, so that you still have it with you when the light turns. That moment at the end of the day is the one we build for, so we wanted to see what photographers around the world do with it. Photographers in dozens of countries have already entered.
Go out at the end of the day, look for the light, and enter Last Light before 15 October.
Cover photograph: Connor Scott McManus / Pexels.
