Red Bull Illume, the world’s premier action and adventure sports photography competition, returns for its fifth edition in 2019. It showcases the most creative and captivating images, while illuminating the passion, lifestyle and culture of the photographers who shoot them.
The Red Bull Illume Image Quest is comprised of 11 categories, including two brand new categories in 2019 (Best of Instagram and Moving Image). A judging panel of 50 esteemed international photo editors and digital experts will select the top 55 Finalists (5 in each category), and ultimately vote on the 11 category winners and 1 overall winner to be unveiled at the Winner Awards Ceremony in November. After the Winner Awards Ceremony, all finalist images will travel to capitals and cultural hubs across the globe as part of the Red Bull Illume Exhibit Tour in 2020.
The creation of Red Bull Illume in 2006 as the first digital action and adventure sports photography competition was a smashing success, largely thanks to a revolution in print-quality digital photography. The ability to practically shoot unlimited amounts of images in remote and difficult to access locations, in sports where the key action happens in an instant, saw a flood of incredible new photos. Coupled with an explosion of interest in these sports, not only did the number of submissions grow higher, but so did the standards. For young aspiring photographers looking to make their name in an increasingly competitive industry, Red Bull Illume became a launching pad for careers with finalists catching the eyes of photo editors and marketing managers everywhere. Then in 2013, rather than simply submitting their existing images, photographers began shooting specifically for the competition, raising the bar even further. And just like the art of creating images has evolved, so has the contest, adding mobile, social and moving image categories. In 2016, a record-breaking 34,624 images were submitted to the contest by 5,646 photographers from 120 countries around the globe.
Official partners for the 2019 Image Quest include Japanese consumer electronics giant Sony, storage specialists SanDisk, software developer Skylum, makers of the artificial-intelligence-powered Luminar 3 photo editing suite and COOPH, photography apparel and accessories.
Photo Submission Window Is Now Open:
Think you have some incredible action and adventure sport images? Think you have what it takes to win more than $100,000 in prize packages and some serious camera equipment and accessories? Then act fast as the window to submit images for the 2019 Red Bull Illume Image Quest is open now through July 31st! We can’t wait to see your best work!
With multiple new categories and a hefty prize purse, there are now more reasons than ever to enter the latest edition of Red Bull Illume. Sound appealing? We have some more good news! Submitting your images is easier than ever using either your existing social media accounts or your e-mail account.
Just follow these steps:
- Shoot awesome stuff!
- Register and sign in at redbullillume.com– it’s just a couple clicks.
- Choose your categories for submission – you can submit every image to two categories, and in total 10 images per category.
- Upload your images. For the initial entry, only JPGs and MP4s are required.
- Submit your image – once an image is submitted, it is final and can’t be changed.
For complete contest rules, please visit www.redbullillume.com.
New and Updated Categories:
- Innovation by Sony
- Best of Instagram by SanDisk
- Creative by Skylum
- Emerging
- Energy
- Lifestyle
- Masterpiece
- Moving Image
- Playground
- Raw
- Wings
Red Bull Illume returns for the fifth edition with a total of 11 photo categories, allowing mobile images to now be submitted in all photo categories, plus the addition of two exciting new categories; Best of Instagram by SanDisk and the Moving Image category. The Best of Instagram by SanDisk category is for photographers most gram-worthy moments of show-stopping action and adventure sports. Best of Instagram submissions started February 1, with one winner selected by the community each month through June. The Moving Image category is an open playing field for the best videos between 5-30 seconds long.
In addition to the two new categories, three existing categories have been updated. The Emerging category focuses on highlighting rising talents with submissions accepted only from photographers 25 years old or under. The Raw category aims for shots that are captured `straight out of camera` showcasing the real image, where all composition, exposure and lighting must be done in front of the lens. Images that reveal a unique angle, a visual idea, a different format, light and flash effects, in general something that has never been seen before can now be submitted to the Innovation by Sony category. For a complete list of category descriptions, please visitwww.redbullillume.com.
More Than $100,000 In Prizes:
Each of the 11 Category Winners will pick up this incredible set of prizes:
- The phenomenal Sony Alpha A7 III camera kitted out with the 24-105 mm F4 G Master lens.
- SanDisk will offer up three of their Extreme Pro Memory Card’s with a suitable card reader, plus an Extreme Pro Portable SSD hard drive.
- Skylum will provide photo-editing software including Luminar 3 and their Signature Presets.
- High quality photography apparel and accessories will be provided by COOPH.
In addition, Skylum will also present a special prize to the winner of the ‘Creative by Skylum’ category with the winner becoming a part of the Global Skylum Ambassador Team. Likewise, Red Bull Photography will grant the winner of the ‘Emerging by Red Bull Photography’ category a spot at the Red Bull Rising Talent photography workshop including travel, accommodation and board expenses.
The Overall Winner will also be guaranteed to receive all of the above prizes by winning a category. Furthermore, the Overall Winner will receive the Sony Alpha A9 camera with a 24-70mm f2.8 lens from their G-Master range. The Sony A9 is perfect for capturing the kind of high-speed, faster-than-the-eye-can-see action that Red Bull Illume photographers are capturing every day; making it the ideal prize for the Overall Winner of the Image Quest 2019. And to top it off, SanDisk will provide the Overall Winner with a once-in-a-lifetime experience; taking them on a shoot with a SanDisk Extreme Team Member.
Winner Awards Ceremony and Worldwide Exhibit Tour:
Once the submission phase comes to a close on July 31, it’s time for the world to be illuminated. The Winner Awards Ceremony culminates in not only a celebration of photographic achievement, but encapsulates a three-day event including workshops, talks, and product tests. It’s an occasion that will see several hundred opinion-leaders of the scene – including finalists, judges, partners, and media – come together.
In 2020, all finalist images will travel to capitals and cultural hubs on three continents in parallel as part of the Red Bull Illume Exhibit Tour, providing an unprecedented level of exposure to photography fans around the globe. In addition to the unique nighttime outdoor exhibition featuring 6’x6’ lightboxes, the 55 finalists will also be illuminated on digital smart frames in an innovative Indoor Exhibition.
For more information, visit www.redbullillume.com.
