The rules

Free. No purchase, ever. Open worldwide to anyone aged 18 or over. Three photographs maximum per person, across both categories. You can edit or withdraw an entry until 15 October.

The Light is open to everyone with any camera, including a phone, and the grand prize sits in it. Hands-Free is for photographs made while carrying a Camstrap harness and needs a second file showing it in use. Owning one is not required; borrowed counts.

We refuse an entry that is not the entrant's own photograph, that is AI generated or AI extended, that was taken outside 1 August to 15 October 2026, that has been retouched beyond normal development, that shows a recognisable person who has not agreed to appear, or that was obtained by disturbing an animal. Normal development means exposure, contrast, colour, crop, straightening and dust removal. It does not mean compositing, or adding or removing anything.

Three judges score every entry blind. They see the photograph, its title, one line about where and when, and the category. They do not see your name, your country or any follower count. The criteria are the light, weighted double, the moment, and the craft. In Hands-Free the third criterion is whether the photograph only exists because the camera was already on you. The head judge decides a tie.

Thirteen prizes. The grand prize is a private portfolio review with the head judge, one hour over video, to be scheduled by the winner within three months, plus a complete Camstrap kit. Prizes are not exchangeable for cash. Any local import duty is the winner's.

You keep the copyright. You give Camstrap the right to show your entry in the Last Light gallery and when announcing results, always credited to you. If you finish in the top thirteen, that permission extends to Camstrap's marketing for two years.

Your email address is used to run the award and to tell you the result. The newsletter is a separate box you tick yourself, and it is never a condition of entering.

This award is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram or Meta.

Questions go to hello@cam-strap.com. The award is run by Camstrap, Saussan, France.