By Peter Eastway AIPP Grand Master of Photography

I have judged a lot of photography competitions and there are lots of little things that entrants forget to do. If only I could let them know before entering the competition, they would do so much better!

Well, as a judge I'm not allowed to ring up and help entrants, but I can write a book that distills what I have learnt over the last twenty years that will give you a great head start.

Of course, no one can give you an iron-clad guarantee that you will read my book and then win the next photo competition you enter - and I explain why in the book. However, what I can guarantee you is that if you read my book, you will improve the quality of your photography. You see, whether you're aiming to win a photography competition or just take a better photograph, the advice is very similar. And I know that the techniques and approaches I've developed over the years will help you capture and produce better photographs.

My book is called How To Win Photo Competitions.

It begins with a little about me. After all, it's easy enough to write a book about winning photography competitions, but it's better if you have a little bit of experience. Fortunately for me, I've been lucky enough to win quite a few competitions, plus I have a lot of experience as a judge. I can talk to you about both sides of the competition. Add in the fact I've been a magazine editor for 30 years and I hope I'm able to communicate my message pretty well. So, in just a couple of pages (I don't want to bore you), I explain why I know what I'm talking about (even though my Dad told me not to boast).

We then look at competitions and how they work, how you should approach them, and how to use the results to assess your own photography. It's important to set the scene before we get into creating photos that win competitions.

The next two sections are the nitty gritty. We begin by talking about taking a great photograph in the first place. Competition winners begin with the camera and so we talk about camera technique, colour, composition, framing and so on - little tricks and hints that will make a world of difference to your photographs.

From here we step into post-production - using the computer to improve the images our camera has captured. Most readers will have dabbled with Photoshop, Elements or Lightroom and this is all you need to enhance your images so they are in the running for a competition win. These days, no matter how good your camera is, you simply must do a little post-production to finesse your entry.

I finish the book with some useful background information about how competitions work (generally speaking), and then I analyse some of the images that have won awards for me, pointing out the aspects that the judges responded to in a positive way.

The book has lots of photographs and illustrations to explain exactly what I'm talking about. It is easy to read on a computer, laptop or iPad, and you need Adobe Reader (Acrobat) to view the book.

If you like what you see and you'd like to purchase a copy, come back to this page and click on the link below. (The book is only available as an Acrobat file (PDF) - a paper version is not available.)

Buy the eBook for AUS $49.95 and receive 1 free entry into the 2011 Better Photography Photograph of the Year awards, valued at $15.00.

After payment, you will be sent an email with download details for the eBook and instructions for entering the competition.