One shot could win you £2,000 of new camera gear and a centrespread printed in an aviation magazine.
Aviation photography is one of the most dynamic genres out there. Fact. Your job is to prove it!
The winning images will be those that tell the viewer the scene is going somewhere.
The overall theme of the High Roller Aviation Photography Competition is Movement. There are a lot of ways to achieve that, and each of the seven categories offers a different way of portraying it.
Think about just how much movement there is in aviation… Props sputtering to life, rotor blades thrashing around, a solid pan of a low-level fast jet with the background streaking past, vapour pouring off a wing, heat haze behind the exhaust, a jet hammering hard into a turn… Awesome!
Read the full brief
So as well as the popular hits of Prop & Rotor, Panning and Composition, there are a few wildcard categories to help you out and spread your chances of winning. We've added Trails (think smoke, vortices, contrails), People (a climb into the cockpit, a signal to the ground crew, an urgent scramble) and The Elements (rain streaking down, dust swirling, smoke billowing, fire raging). To make it even easier for you, there's a wicked little addition too: an Interpretation category, which is down to your imagination and creativity.
There's no single right way to interpret Movement, so the contest is open to all styles and abilities!
The judges are scoring the feeling of movement and how you as the photographer achieved it, not the speed of the aircraft. A Chipmunk at 1/50th can beat an F-35 at 1/2000th, and it could have been taken on a £500 DSLR, a £6k mirrorless body… or a phone.
The entries that stand out are usually the ones that show movement in a way nobody else thought of. The three workshops gave you all the keys to the winning formula, so pick your images as you watch the free replays, time and time again… It's almost like cheating!
£2,000 of new camera gear from Clifton Cameras, and your shot in print in Combat Aircraft Journal.
Your chance to become an award-winning, published aviation photographer.
Pick any one new lens or camera body, any manufacturer, up to £2,000 including VAT, from Clifton Cameras. They deliver it to your door for free.
Paid by PayPal within 14 days of the results, so there's nothing to ship and no import charges at your border.
Examples of what £2,000 buys, at typical UK prices in September 2026. The winner chooses.
Your shot across two full pages of the January 2027 print issue of Combat Aircraft Journal, with your name under it.
The other six category winners published side by side across two pages in the same issue, each credited by name.
Twenty-one photographers get published: the seven category winners in print, and fourteen more named on our blog and across every COAP channel. You keep your copyright.
One theme, seven ways to win.
Each category is judged on its own, with its own winner printed in Combat Aircraft Journal. Tap a category to see what it's after.
A vital skill in aviation photography: a sharp aircraft, speeding past a blurred background. Bring the viewer into that world.
The ultimate way to ensure movement. Take control of your settings to show props spinning and rotors turning. Let the viewer feel that power.
Vapour, rain, spray, heat haze: such cool things that go hand in hand with aviation. But remember, it's not about the amount but how it conveys movement.
Pilots, crew, crowds: so many ways that man and machine work in harmony. The human element can tell the story of movement in incredible ways, so let's see it in action.
Let the scene convey the movement: lines, framing, the use of space. Give the viewer a sense of the feeling of movement.
Think contrails at altitude, smoke at a show, vortices through a valley: nature's perfect tool to assist your quest for movement. Use them wisely!
There are super clever ways to show movement. Is it a journey through time? A preservation movement? A change in the hobby? You decide, and impress the judges with your creative thinking.
The judges score the seven category winners again. The best of the seven takes the £2,000 prize and a double-page spread of its own.
“I always enter every single competition category that I can. Go for each one, because you just never know…”
Lee Matthews, RAF Visual Communicator of the Year
One entry is enough to win. But it only puts you in one of the seven, so check out the High Roller Pack to see how to enter more.
Limited edition · Only 150 available
The High Roller Pack
3 entries every month, and everything you need to win with them.
Three for this competition, then three more for every monthly High Roller, each with a new brief.
Every month's winning shots are published in Combat Aircraft Journal.
Two full step-by-step courses, from your first edit to the finished shot.
Live with Rich, Tom and Matty, recorded so you can watch them whenever suits you.
On demand, from colour and composition to editing and export for print.
The judges go through every winning shot live, and explain why it won.
Plus The Merge, our community of aviation photographers, for feedback between workshops.
Choose your entries
- 3 entries every month
- Lightroom and Photoshop masterclasses
- 2 live workshops a month and 250+ tutorials
Only 150 High Roller Packs at this price. When they're gone, the price goes up.
Already a COAP Online member? Your three entries are included already, so don't buy the pack.
No purchase necessary: everyone who registered for The Free 3-Day Workshop by Thursday 8 October has one free entry, and one entry is enough to win. The High Roller Pack is a monthly subscription at £19 a month until you cancel, which you can do at any time from your account. It includes 3 entries into each monthly High Roller competition while it's active, and the 3 entries for this competition are yours to keep if you cancel. There are 150 High Roller Packs at this price across all currencies; once they're gone, it's the standard price. Extra entries are credited to the email you buy with and made available straight away at your request, so the 14 day cancellation right ends once an entry is used. Prices include VAT where it applies. Open to photographers aged 18 or over in the UK, the EU, Norway, Switzerland, the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa only.
Judged blind, by people who are experts in the field.
Five independent judges, all highly experienced in the field. They see your shot and a number, nothing else.
You don't need to shoot anything new.
- The last three yearsAnything since 12 October 2023
- Any aircraft, any cameraPhones included
- AI sharpen and denoiseFine. Faking the shot isn't
- No name or watermarkIt's judged blind
What some of the 8,500+ photographers on our previous workshops have to say...
For years I have been trying to emulate some of the pictures I have seen online taken at the same airshow and failing. I thought it was down to my photography skill, in fact it was my editing skill. Since joining COAP Online, my photos are starting to really come to life.
The training is world class. I have gone from being an 'ok' aviation photographer and 'decent' writer to having my photos and an article published in a magazine, all thanks to what I have learned with COAP Online.
Now, instead of making record shots I can turn my images into art and it is really satisfying to look at the before and after images and see just how far my skills have developed.
Connect your entries to Kōlab once, then upload.
The competition runs exclusively on Kōlab web at kolab.social. Open it in any browser, on a phone or a computer, to create your free account and add your shots.
- 1Go to kolab.social
Open it in any web browser, on your phone or a computer. High Roller runs on Kōlab web.
- 2Sign in with the same email
Use the email you registered or bought with, and your entries are already on it. New to Kōlab? Sign up with that email and they'll be waiting.
- 3Upload your shots
Entries are open now. One JPEG with the EXIF left in for each entry, and you choose which of the seven categories it goes in.
- 4The judges score the photograph
Entries close Saturday 31 October at 23:59 GMT. Results go out on Monday 9 November at 11am, and the gallery opens on Kōlab the same day.
Still not sure? Here's our most common questions.
Anything else, email team@coaponline.com and a real person answers.
Do I have to pay to enter?
No. Everyone who registered for The Free 3-Day Workshop by Thursday 8 October has one free entry, and you can win the whole prize with it. Paid entries put more of your shots in front of the judges.
How old can my shot be?
Anything you took on or after 12 October 2023, so the last three years. Shots you've already posted are fine, as long as you took them, you own the copyright, and they haven't won, placed or been shortlisted in another competition.
How many times can I enter?
As many as you like, in as many categories as you like, one shot per entry. Every shot is scored on its own, so more entries mean more shots in front of the judges, never a heavier thumb on the scale.
I'm not a professional. Is this for me?
Yes, this is exactly who it's for! It's open to every experience level, and the judges never see who you are or what you shoot on. They only see the photograph.
Is editing allowed? What about AI?
Normal editing is fine: crop, exposure, colour, dodging and burning, dust spots, and removing a small distraction like a cone or a post. AI sharpening and AI noise reduction are fine too. You can't add anything, change the aircraft, replace the sky or fake movement, and AI-generated images aren't allowed. If your shot is shortlisted you'll be asked for the original file within 72 hours.
What do the winners get, and can I enter from outside the UK?
High Roller is open to photographers aged 18 or over in the UK, the EU, Norway, Switzerland, the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. If you live anywhere else, please don't buy entries. All seven category winners are printed in the January 2027 issue of Combat Aircraft Journal; the overall winner gets their own double-page spread and the other six share a second one. An overall winner in the UK picks one new lens or body up to £2,000 including VAT from Clifton Cameras, delivered free. An overall winner anywhere else gets $2,000 in cash by PayPal within 14 days of the results.
How does the High Roller Pack work?
It's a monthly subscription at £19 a month. You get 3 entries into this competition and 3 into every monthly High Roller competition after it while you're subscribed, plus the Lightroom and Photoshop masterclasses, two live workshops every month and 250+ tutorials and resources on demand. Stop whenever you like from your account in two clicks, and the three entries for this one stay yours.
Is the monthly workshop recorded?
Yes. Every live workshop is recorded, so if it lands at a bad time for you, you can watch it later.
I'm already a COAP Online / Accelerator member. Do I need to buy entries?
You have three entries already included, but you can buy as many more as you wish at a discounted rate. Kōlab emails the address on your membership a link; click it once to connect your account and they appear, along with your free one if you registered for the workshop.
Who owns my photo?
You do, along with all the rights. You give us permission for two things only: printing it in Combat Aircraft Journal if it places, and showing it when we talk about High Roller.
When do I find out?
Entries close Saturday 31 October at 23:59 GMT. Winners and shortlisted photographers are told privately first, then the results go out by email and on coaponline.com on Monday 9 November at 11am.
Can I get a refund on entries?
Unused entries bought on their own are refundable within 14 days. Once an entry has been used on a shot it can't be refunded, and if we ever cancelled the competition you'd get everything back.
The shot is already on your hard drive. In it to win it… Go!
Entries are open now and close Saturday 31 October at 23:59 GMT. Seven categories, one theme, and £2,000 of camera gear for the best of them.
Only 150 High Roller Packs. Registered for the workshop? Your first entry is already paid for.