On 2005 I’ve participated in the first competition, back then rather small with about 70 photographers, and did much better then expected.
2006 was not very successful on my side, and while planning to attend the 2007 event, I eventually had to call it off due to work.

For the 2008 Epson red sea underwater photography competition I have arrived as ready as can be- armed with my old and dependable Olympus C-8080 and a matching PT-023 underwater case, as well as a good friend as my dive buddy.
This is still a challenge which is in principle over my skills, as I registered for the professional category facing around 150 underwater photographer from Israel and all over the world, some definitely top level and highly experienced . From past lessons though, not only that the results can sometimes be surprising- this is simply the best underwater photography school you can ever find, and I still have much to learn.

Starting November 11th (tomorrow), I will keep daily updates with some impressions from the events- results will be published on Saturday evening, November 15th.

Check out The wide lens for daily updated and get more details at the official competition website.

Day 1 summary is here.

Old Jaffa is a tourist attraction and generally an interest point worth visiting, ancient history, narrow alleys and an assortment of art galleries. It’s proximity to the beach and to the city of Tel-Aviv (they actually belong to the same municipality) ads to it some coffee shops and restaurants to rest at, when you’re just about tired of exploring.

My exploration of the old city and its sights was interrupted- for the better- when I stumbled upon an alley full of cats, patiently waiting for their daily meal.

Street and stray cats are a very common sight in the cities of Israel. This lady has made herself a habit of feeding the street cats of the old city of Jaffa on a daily basis for the past 15 years, no less. “Some need much more love and attention than food“, but there is definitely no need to spare in that department as well.

Each cat has its own name and is invited to its plate by that name, except for the ones very recent to this culinary arrangement. With 30 cats or so, one cannot but appreciate the attention. A line of clean plates is placed against a wall, and then a two course meal is served while the cats wait patiently to their turn. Those don’t get an assertive comment from the chef, as there is “more then plenty for everyone“.

Society in a way got us used to consider people feeding cats obsessively as being odd and lonely, but if you ever walk around the alleys of old Jaffa in a late afternoon, look for the woman feeding the street cats there. You just might be charmed enough to confuse strange and odd with compassionate and rare.

Have you photographed a touching/interesting interaction between people and animals? send your story over

“Rosh Hanikra”, freely translated to “head of the grottoes” is in my opinion a must visit for photographers staying or visiting in Israel. The natural process, described in the official site of Rosh Hanikra, resulted in a complex of under ground grottoes with internal halls and bays opening towards the see. The water in the calm sea of September and October are crystal clear and have a brilliant blue-turquoise color.

The combination of water, rock and the penetrating sunlight make a great mix to play with. Notice though, that without a tripod and a camera that enables to control exposure time (fully manual or shutter priority settings) good results will be much more of a challenge.

Send over photos of cavern and grottoes you took and show them on The Wide Lens

Modern SCUBA diving technology has become incredibly easy, reliable and accessible- pushing larger amounts of tourists into getting SCUBA diving training and making premium diving locations their next holiday spot. As more people go diving, more stress is being applied on the natural reefs, with side effects such as sea-side building, sewage and garbage littering the oceans, and direct physical contact between divers and the natural underwater environment.

In order to relive stress from the natural reef, diving resorts today need to create artificial attractions, which will benefit with the environment by weighing down the amount of visitors per each spot, and at the same time offer marine life some good “housing” opportunities. For divers, these locations need to prove as an attraction as well- since without attracting divers, they will not serve the purpose of distributing stress. The most common way of creating such attraction until today has been by sinking ships at strategic locations.

Ocean Bricks has developed a new platform. While initially looking like a not very attractive piece of concrete, the “Reef Land” platform provides a safe environment for divers as well as marine life. It can be easily and accurately placed, allowing to plan and create whole arrays of artificial reefs. Currently, there is one such sample unit placed in the Red Sea shore of Eilat, Israel. Corals are planted on it, allowing experimenting with rapid coral growth and testing the way marine life respond to this foreign object.

I recently visited the location, equipped with my Olympus C-8080 and matching underwater photography case, here are some samples:

Got other samples of environmental projects photographed? Let us know!

In the desert, the ground usually becomes red and purple, creating a somewhat martian scenery. Last weekend, I had joined something I can most clearly define as a movement workshop, in “Hangar Adama“- based in Mizpe Ramon, Israel- just of the largest erosion formed crater in the world, the Ramon crater.

Shaped by flood water and winds for millions of years, the crater edge is a dramatic spot to visit on any time of day. We took a walk to the crater edge just with sunrise, to enjoy the unique views. Besides always being a nice experience, this sunrise was the first I got to photograph with my new Olympus E-420 DSLR.

Ever photographed a beautiful sunrise or sunset? Show it off!