On December 1, 2012, Red Bull will begin collecting submissions for the 2013 Red Bull Illume Image Quest. Between December 1 and April 30, 2013, photographers will be able to submit imagery online at redbullillume.com. Red Bull touts Illume as the “world’s largest action and adventure sport photography contest.” After browsing through the top 50 images of 2010, you’ll find this assertion is difficult to argue against.

For the 2013 iteration, Red Bull has confirmed the first wave of judges. Among them, Kim Scott-Clark, former photo editor of the London Daily Telegraph, and currently an editor at Daily Mail. Also, Jym Wilson, senior photo editor at USA Today and Richard Brooks, deputy photo director for Asia-Pacific with AFP. Red Bull notes in a press release, “A number of editors from top sports publications will also sit on the judging panel. These include Steve Fine, photography director at Sports Illustrated, Hannah McCaughey, creative rirector at Outside magazine, Simon Caney, editor-in-chief of Sport (UK) and Naima Mancini, photo editor of Italy’s Sportweek. And because Red Bull Illume also looks at the culture and lifestyle behind action sports, a number of judges come from the world’s coolest urban and lifestyle magazines. These include Gina Batlle, photo editor of Complex, Sebastien Zanella, editor of France’s Desillusion and James Mullinger, photo director of GQ (UK).”

50 judges will be selected in total. They will be tasked with selecting the 50 best images in 10 different categories, along with an overall winner.

2010 Overall Winner: Chris Burkard/Illume. Free Surfing, Buchupureo, Chile — Athlete: Peter Mendia

See the Top 50 images of 2010

Red Bull has partnered with Leica, broncolor and Sun-Sniper for this year’s edition of Illume. The overall winner of the contest will walk away with a new Leica S camera, and category winners will receive a Leica X2. Other prizes include broncolor’s Move, their portable flash, and the latest strap system from Sun-Sniper.

Follow this link and you’ll find an assortment of photos that were submitted to the Red Bull Illume competition in 2010. You’ll see the winning images from the various categories, in addition to the top 50 finalists. We look forward to seeing what’s submitted for 2013—spread the word.