Photo: garryknight

Whether you’re an amateur or professional photographer lugging your gear around on your travels, you’re probably interested in sharing your photos and getting recognized for memorable images.

If that’s the case, then this news is for you.

The 2009 international travel photographer of the year competition (TPOTY) is now open.

From the press release:

TPOTY 2009 winners will go to some highly photogenic locations, traveling to China, Costa Rica and Morocco with Intrepid Travel and to Slovakia’s Tatra Mountains with Mountain Paradise.

[E]quipment prizes… include a 26” NEC Spectra View monitor, an Apple MacBook Pro with Aperture 2 software, Wacom Cintiq 12WX interactive pen display and new Intuos4 pen tablets, Adobe CS4 Web Premium, Photoshop CS4 and Lightroom software, a total of £1,000 to spend with Jacobs Digital Photo & Video, Plastic Sandwich leather portfolio books, HARMAN PHOTO and ILFORD PHOTO paper, prints and darkroom products, LEE filters, Lexar CF cards and card readers, Photo Iconic photo courses, and £300 to spend with Linhof Studio.

This year, there are three entry categories: Homeland, Natural Wonders and People of the World, and “One Shot.” Submissions in this last category must be related to the theme Festival, Fiesta and Celebration.

You’ve got plenty of time to get your submission in; the deadline isn’t until September 22, 2009.

Complete entry details can be found on www.tpoty.com.

For information about last year’s winners, check out this article.