Amateur Photographer Christmas Cover Competition. Would you like to see one of your images in print, on the cover of the world’s no1 weekly photography magazine? If so, read on…

AP is looking for a photograph taken by an AP reader to feature on the cover of this year’s Christmas Special (AP 21-28 December). We want a picture that typifies the season, so it could be a snowy landscape, the northern lights, winter wildlife – in fact, anything that you think best illustrates the festive season. It could be an image that you already have on file or maybe you want to spend time thinking about an idea and then go out to shoot it. Try to avoid the usual Christmas cliché images, though, as we’re looking for something stunning and eye-catching.

As the image will appear on the front cover of the issue, there are a few other things to consider when planning or selecting your photograph:

1. The image should be in portrait format

2. It should have a suitable area in the upper quarter of the image on which to place the AP logo

3. It should also have a similar area elsewhere on which headlines can be placed

4. While a low-resolution image will be required initially, a high-resolution image of at least 3,500 pixels along its longest edge will be needed for publication

And don’t think you only have to submit one picture. If you have a selection of images that you think might be suitable, send them all.