Sometimes the word 'amateur' can feel pretty inadequate.
Amateur painters sometimes paint masterpieces, amateur novelists sometimes pen great works - and in the case of 2011's Amateur Photographer of the Year competition, ten amateur photographers have produced images you'd swear were taken by professionals.
For more than a decade, the competition has been bringing fame and fortune to keen photographers around the world by challenging them to encapsulate a broad range of themes, from landscape to wildlife to portraits.
Since the competition launched in February, up to 2000 entries per round have had to be whittled down to just one, as judges award points for technical excellence, originality and how imaginatively the photographer has interpreted the brief.
£5,000 worth of equipment from sponsors Canon and the crown Amateur Photographer of the Year await the person behind one of these images when the overall winner is announced in January.
Click below to see the round winners and rate them to decide which one you think deserves the top prize.
visit amateurphotographer.co.uk to see a greater selection of images from all 10 rounds.
The Christmas issue of Amateur Photographer is on sale from Tuesday 20 December 2011
APOY - in association with Canon.