Can you take a great travel photograph? If you think you can, don't miss the chance to enter the Independent on Sunday/Insight Guides travel photography competition. The winner will receive a professional commission from Insight Guides to take photographs for one of its prestigious travel guides. The commission could even pave the way to a new and exciting career in travel photography.

We are looking to reward photographers who not only provide top-quality, outstanding images but who also manage to capture the essence of a destination. We are looking for a great photograph that comes under the theme of “fire”. The competition is open to any UK-based photographer, professional or amateur.

The first prize is a unique commission, worth £3,000, to photograph a travel destination for a future Insight Guide. Second and third prizes are fabulous cameras, provided by Canon, while the second prize will also include £500 to be spent on additional photographic equipment.  Prizes will be presented in London at Stanfords travel book store on 27 October, when prizewinners and a partner will be treated to a special night at One Aldwych, London’s definitive contemporary luxury hotel in Covent Garden, and a celebratory meal with the judges at the hotel’s Axis restaurant.

The winner of last year's IoS/Insight Guides travel photography competition prize was David Hall, who is training at the Edinburgh Medical School to become a military doctor. He has been taking pictures for Insight’s Smart Guide and Step by Step to Copenhagen. The previous year’s winner was Rob Purcell, a lecturer in cultural and social theory at Glasgow University who shot pictures for two of Insight Guides’ Prague titles including the Step by Step (see Reader Offer below).  For nearly 40 years, Insight Guides (insightguides.com) have produced the world’s leading visual travel guides and are renowned for their evocative photography and informative text.

The competition judges are: Steven Lawrence, picture editor, Insight Guides; Peter Noble, former Trustee of the Royal Photographic Society; Sophie Batterbury, picture editor of The Independent on Sunday; and high profile photographer Kevin Cummins, and Frankie Jim, Canon UK’s Pro Imaging Professional.

Entrants have until Friday 11 September 2009 to submit their photographs, and the winner will be announced in the travel pages of The Independent on Sunday shortly afterwards with the winning photographic portfolio. All entrants must provide three colour photographs which must not have previously been entered for any other photography competition.  Entries can be sent digitally to photocontest@insightguides.co.uk as high-resolution jpegs to a minimum of 3MB at 300dpi and a maximum of 15MB at 300dpi emailed individually or as a group of 3.  Alternatively, they can be sent as prints no bigger than 10in x 8in to Photography Prize, APA Publications, 58 Borough High Street, London SE1 1XF.  Please note that entries cannot be returned, so do not send original prints. All entries must be clearly labelled with entrants’ name, address, email address and date of birth (entrants must be over 18).

The publisher of the Insight Guides is APA Publications GmbH & Co Verlag KG (Singapore Branch) of 38 Joo Koon Road, Singapore 628990

Terms and conditions

1st prize: Commission from the publisher of the Insight Guides to photograph a travel destination selected by the publisher, worth approximately £3,000. The resulting photographs may be selected for inclusion in an Insight Guide but the selection and inclusion shall be at the sole discretion of the publisher.

2nd prize: Canon PowerShot D10, a waterproof and shockproof camera, with outdoor accessory kit, for active outdoor enthusiasts worth £489, plus £500 in cash.

3^rd prize: Canon PowerShot SX 200 IS, with a wide-angle 28mm lens and 12 x zoom, this camera captures landscapes or distant subjects and can even shoot in HD video – perfect for capturing travel memories.

No cash alternative to be made. Independent News and Media Limited will not be liable in any way should circumstances beyond its reasonable control prevent a prize from being taken up by a winner or interfere with a winner's enjoyment of the prize.

The theme of the 2009 competition is, broadly, "fire".

Entry and eligibility: a) The competition is open to amateur and professional photographers alike apart from employees of APA Publications, INM and Canon, their agents or members of their families. Entrants must be aged 18 or over at the date entries are submitted and must be normally resident in the UK, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands. b) By entering the competition entrants agree to these terms and conditions: i) all photographs submitted must have been taken since 1 January 2009; ii) all entries must be received by Friday 11 September 2009; iii) all entries must be sent to Photography Prize, APA Publications, 58 Borough High Street, London SE1 1XF or emailed to photocontest@insightguides.co.uk ; iv) postal entries must bear the correct postage. They are invalid if they arrive any later than the first post on the closing date, emails must arrive by midnight on the closing date; v) proof of posting or emailing will not constitute proof of delivery and no responsibility will be accepted for lost, damaged, illegible, delayed or mislaid entries; vi) each entrant should submit three different images on the nominated theme; the prints must be colour, size 10x8 inches maximum, emailed images must be colour, high-resolution jpegs of a minimum 3MB at 300dpi and a maximum of 15MB at 300dpi.  Only unmanipulated prints and images will be accepted. Each print or digital entry must be clearly labelled with the entrant's name, address, phone number, email address and date of birth; vii) images submitted should not be entered for any other photography competition before the final placings have been announced; viii) prints submitted for the competition will not be returned, so no original prints or irreplaceable images should be sent in: the promoters of the competition accept no liability whatsoever for loss or damage; ix) entrants must own the copyright in all entries and by entering this competition entrants warrant that their entries do not infringe the rights of any third party; x) no purchase is necessary; xi) INM's competition rules apply, see independent.co.uk/legal.

Use of materials: a) All entries, however submitted, shall become the property of INM and will not be returned. By entering this competition entrants agree that should they win or be a runner-up they are deemed to have agreed to grant to INM a non-exclusive licence to publish the winning entries online and in print and to syndicate the work.   b) For the avoidance of doubt, entrants agree that the publisher, and INM as the copyright owner, shall have the right, but not the obligation, to exhibit and reproduce, and authorise others to reproduce, the winning entries for all publicity and promotional purposes connected to the competition, including exhibitions and calendars. c) The publisher and INM shall try to ensure that all material used is credited with the entrant's name.