2026 ISAP Image Competition

Entry Deadline: March 2026, 11 PM Central Time

Competition Date: April 8, 2026, 10 AM Central Time

Entry Fees: $15/members; $20/non-members

Number of Entries Allowed: A maximum of five in a category. No overall limit on entries beyond the category limit of five.

Entry Size: Files must be sized so the longest dimension is 4000 pixels. Each file must contain an embedded color profile of either sRGB or AdobeRGB 1998 and be saved at a JPEG quality setting of 10.

Image Eligibility:

Images must be the creative work of the entrant.
All processing, manipulation, or rendering must be done by the entrant or under his or her direct supervision. In the Artist Category, the maker must do all processing, manipulation, artwork, or rendering.
The entrant’s name should not appear anywhere in or on the face of the entry.
No entry will be eligible if it has been made under the supervision of an instructor or as a class assignment. All images submitted must be self-directed.
Entries of the same subject will be allowed if the images are entirely different concepts.
Images that have merited or medaled at Professional Photographers of America’s
International Photographic Competition or at a previous ISAP image competition are not eligible to be entered. Images that have merited through PPA’s Merit Image Review are eligible for entry.
The Image Competition Committee decision about entry eligibility is final.

Judging: Entries will be judged on PPA’s Twelve Elements of a Merit Image.

Questions: The image competition co-chairs are Ellen Zangla and Danica Barreau. Please address any questions to them:

Ellen Zangla, ellen@ellenzanglaphotography.com
Danica Barreau, danica@pouka.com

Submission Categories

Featuring the 2025 category winners

Animal Antics

Humorous animal actions, reactions, etc. that are unplanned and uncontrived. Painting, cloning, healing, patching, remove, content-aware fill, generative fill without text, liquify, or similar tools are permitted. AI-generated art using text is not permitted.

Animals and Humans

Photos of people and animals with the intent to show the relationship between them. Painting, cloning, healing, patching, remove, content-aware fill, generative fill without text, liquify, or similar tools are permitted. AI-generated art using text is not permitted.

Animals — Natural

For all animals other than wildlife (see Wildlife — Natural description below). Minor adjustments to crop, rotate, selective dodge and burn, reduce noise, sharpen, adjust color/black-and-white, or apply grain are allowed. Minor cleaning jobs to remove sensor dust or chromatic aberration are allowed. Removing lights, stands, leashes, or assistants is allowed as long as what they are replaced with does not change the original reality of the image. Photo stitching, focus stacking, and multi-exposure are allowed if it is shot at the same time and in the same place as a consecutive sequence, seconds or minutes apart. It is NOT allowed to remove, delete, add or move elements. The original capture image (in RAW or JPEG) must be uploaded with the entry.

Artist

Your entry must start with a photo that you have the rights to use. It can be a photo you took, a client took, is a stock photo, etc. Other than that, anything goes as long as you do all the work. This includes, but is not limited to, painting, freehand drawing, and text-generated AI. Include guide images ONLY for the photographs you started with, whether or not you took those photos yourself.

Cats

Portraits of domestic cats, indoors or outdoors. Cats younger than seven months old should be entered in the Puppy and Kittens Category. Painting, cloning, healing, patching, remove, content-aware fill, generative fill without text, liquify, or similar tools are permitted. AI-generated art using text is not permitted.

Dogs In Action

Dogs running, jumping, swimming, etc. Painting, cloning, healing, patching, remove, content-aware fill, generative fill without text, liquify, or similar tools are permitted. AI-generated art using text is not permitted.

Dogs Indoors

Portraits of dogs, whether in your studio, a client’s home, or any other indoor location. Dogs younger than seven months old should be entered in the Puppy and Kittens Category. Painting, cloning, healing, patching, remove, content-aware fill, generative fill without text, liquify, or similar tools are permitted. AI-generated art using text is not permitted.

Dogs Outdoors

Portraits of dogs at any outdoor location. Dogs younger than seven months old should be entered in the Puppy and Kittens Category. Painting, cloning, healing, patching, remove, content-aware fill, generative fill without text, liquify, or similar tools are permitted. AI-generated art using text is not permitted.

Equine and Farm Animals

Horses and other farm animals, such as cows, chickens, sheep, etc. Painting, cloning, healing, patching, remove, content-aware fill, generative fill without text, liquify, or similar tools are permitted. AI-generated art using text is not permitted. Wild horses should be entered in either the Wildlife and Zoo Animals — Illustrative Category or the Wildlife — Natural Category (depending on the editing; see their rules below).

Other Domestic Animals

Gerbils, rabbits, lizards, etc. Must be pets, not wildlife or wild animals. Painting, cloning, healing, patching, remove, content-aware fill, generative fill without text, liquify, or similar tools are permitted. AI-generated art using text is not permitted.

Puppies and Kittens

Dogs and cats six months of age or younger. Every animal in the photo must meet that age requirement. Painting, cloning, healing, patching, remove, content-aware fill, generative fill without text, liquify, or similar tools are permitted. AI-generated art using text is not permitted.

Sporting Animals (Reportage/Documentary)

Images that illustrate an actual public or non-public animal sporting event, such as conformation, agility, barrel racing, rodeo, dock diving, etc. ONLY basic color and brightness adjustments including black and white conversion, cropping, dodging, and burning in are allowed. Noise reduction and sensor dust removal are allowed. Only single-capture images will be accepted. Composite and multiple-exposure or in-camera file stacked images will not be accepted. The originally captured image (in RAW or JPEG) must be uploaded with the entry.

Wildlife — Illustrative

Wildlife/wild animals in captivity and/or under a person’s direction should be entered into this category. Wildlife that doesn’t meet the editing rules for “Wildlife — Natural” also should be entered into this category. Painting, cloning, healing, patching, remove, content-aware fill, generative fill without text, liquify, or similar tools are permitted. AI-generated art using text is not permitted.

Wildlife — Natural

Images must depict actual wildlife in a natural habitat. Baiting to attract, control, or manipulate wildlife is not permitted. Minor adjustments to crop, rotate, selective dodge and burn, reduce noise, sharpen, adjust color/black-and-white, or apply grain are allowed. Minor cleaning jobs to remove sensor dust or chromatic aberration are allowed. Photo stitching, focus stacking, and multi-exposure are allowed if it is shot at the same time and in the same place as a consecutive sequence, seconds or minutes apart. It is NOT allowed to add, delete, or move elements by cloning, healing, patching, content-aware fill, liquify, or similar tools. The original capture image (in RAW or JPEG) must be uploaded with the entry.

Awards

Category Winners: After the judging is complete on April 2, judges will choose a category winner from the top ten scoring meriting images (and ties) in each category. Awarded a trophy.

Best in Show: Judges will choose “Best in Show” from the category winners. Awarded a trophy.

Judge’s Choice Awards: Each judge will choose his or her favorite image from among all the entries. Awarded a ribbon.

ISAP Animal Photographer of the Year: This award is intended to show versatility and is awarded to the animal photographer showing excellence in at least five categories. Entrants must merit at least one image in five different categories. The case (of five) total will decide the winner. In the event of a tie, the case median determines the winner. If an entrant merits more than one image in a category, the highest scoring image in the category will be used. If an entrant merits in more than five categories, the five highest scoring images will be used, with no more than one coming from each category. You must be an ISAP member to receive this award. Awarded a trophy.

CPP Award: Provided by PPA and awarded to the highest scoring entry by a member in good standing with PPA and who is a current CPP. In the case of a tie, the judges will select a winner.

Wednesday, April 29, 2026 - 7:00pm Central Time

Awards Ceremony and Trophies

The awards ceremony will take place virtually on April 29, 2026, at 7 PM Central Time. Trophies will be mailed to the category winners within two weeks of the competition. Domestic shipping is included in the award. International winners are responsible for paying shipping costs for their awards.

Still have questions?

The image competition co-chairs are Ellen Zangla and Danica Barreau. Please address any questions to them:

Email Ellen Zangla

Email Danica Barreau