The judges of the American Photography Open 2023 highlighted three very different landscapes from our July entries—a dramatic shot of nature’s might at a landmark in Normandy, France, by Eddy Haamel; an awe-inspiring photo of the northern lights ablaze over Norway by John Gahm, and an image capturing a sea of blue at the annual Bluebonnet Festival in Ennis, Texas, by Juan DeLeon. 

Now is most certainly the time for you to enter the contest: The deadline in August 31. It’s open to photographers at any level using any device, from DSLRs and mirrorless cameras to smartphones. All Open winners will receive prizes including selected products and services from our partners Tamron Americas, SanDisk, PhotoShelter, The Photo Closer and  Vital Impacts, whose mission is supporting organizations who are protecting people, wildlife and habitats. (Go here to see more).

The Open Grand Prize winner will receive $5,000, a Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 Di III VXD G2 (model A063) for Sony mirrorless cameras ($899 value), a SanDisk 1 TB Extreme Pro Portable SSD, the choice of an 8x10 open edition print with a certificate from Vital Impacts, a 2-year Pro account from our sponsor PhotoShelter, and a 2-hour business consultation with The Photo Closer.

In addition, Tamron Americas is once again sponsoring our Landscape and Travel category Grand Prize and runners-up winners. (Please note this is open to residents of USA and Canada only.) The Tamron Grand Prize winner will receive a Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 Di III VXD (model A058) for Sony mirrorless cameras ($1,899 value). All Tamron entries will also be eligible for the Open prizes, so there is no need to enter twice. You can enter both competitions as many times as you wish.

In the meantime, take some inspiration from our three highlighted entries from July:
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Eddy Haamel: “Normany, France”

Mont-Saint-Michel may well be one of the most photographed sites in the world. Located a few hundred meters from the mainland of Normandy, France, it is accessible at low tide to the many pilgrims who come its abbey. In 1979 the island and its surrounding bay were added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites for its unique aesthetic and importance as a Catholic site.

But few have ever photographed Mont-Saint-Michel as remarkably as Eddy Haamel has. Haamel, who lives in Antwerp Belgium, calls himself a serious amateur photographer—one who has been honing his skills for 55 years. Haamel photographed the site against the backdrop of lighting during a June thunderstorm. He used a Sony Alpha 330 DSLR (originally released in 2009). “Normally I only shoot with Nikon cameras—the Nikon F4 SLR for film, and the Nikon D800 DSLR—and old Nikon lenses,” he notes.
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John Gahm: “Reflections in Norway”

John Gahm is a retired carpenter from central Illinois who found the photo of a lifetime while visiting Norway last February. “I’d always dreamed of seeing the Northern Lights and had the opportunity to go to Alaska in 2022 to see them, so I purchased a Sony a7 III mirrorless camera and a Sony FE f/1.8 G lens. I enjoyed the trip to Alaska, and some of the folks I was with there said they would be going to Norway in February of 2023, so I made that journey also,” he says. “We were in the Lofoten islands near the Village of Flakstad at about 2:45 AM when I had the opportunity to take this photograph.”

Though not a professional photographer, Gahm knows a thing or two about shooting at night in Norway in February: “It helps in the extreme cold to keep a spare battery in your pocket and hand warmers placed around the lens with a rubber band,” he says
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Juan DeLeon: “Sunrise Bluebonnets”

“I've enjoyed taking pictures since high school and wanted to go to college as a fashion designer but ended up studying drafting design,” says Juan DeLeon. “I went back to college to study photography and eventually gave up engineering and began doing photography full-time in 2016.” Based in Houston, Texas, DeLeon focuses on event photography, headshots, and portrait photography, but every April he travels to the Bluebonnet Festival in Ennis, Texas—a celebration of the state's official flower.

This year he was hoping to get a particular shot:  “I wanted a sunrise photo over the bluebonnets. I started setup at 5:30 am. Tt was pretty cold,” he says. The most challenging aspect of making the image, DeLeon notes, was keeping everything in perspective. “I wanted to show the sky, bluebonnets, and the maple tree in the background,” he says. DeLeon shot with a Canon R5 mirrorless camera and an 11-24mm lens.

See more of Juan DeLeon’s work at Instagram.