130 photographers from 27 countries
7 Judges
3 photography days
over 80,000$ estimated prize value
Thousands of great images
2 fines for harmful behavior towards the natural reef

On the surface, this event could have been perfect, but I have left the competition with mixed feeling. On one hand the whole event was composed of five days filled with great dives and experiences, social evenings and lots of learning.
On the other hand, the competition which has officially stated that preserving the natural environment is not only a core issue, but also part of the rules and regulations- did not disqualify two photographers which were clearly to blame with blunt disrespect to the natural environment they feed their images from.

On the issue of underwater photography and preserving the natural environment I will detail further in an specific article. Until then, here are some of my own photos from the Epson red sea 2008.

The full list of the Epson red sea 2008 winners and their photos can be found at the Digideep website.

With a total of exactly 180 minutes underwater today (3 separate dives), I did not manage to produce and serious contenders to this competition. The level is really at its highest ever, and the presence of the photographers is well noticed in and out of the water.

As through the day people still arrived to Eilat, the serious work really begins tomorrow as well as the official opening event.

Another interesting category opened is the “atmosphere” series. This is an optional series consisting of 10 images showing the city of Eilat, the sponsoring hotel and “behind the scenes” of the competition. Attending to this category requires both times and a bit of a “mental switch” as there is a need to move back to a 2 dimensional world and have people as objects.

With not much more to add, I’ll sign off with one of the ultimate models of the red sea- a clown fish.

The Sandisk Red Sea competition, in which photographers attend in a 3 day shoot-out making the best of their abilities to produce great underwater photography, is a true international happening, and a recommended experience to anyone who can participate or just drop by for a quick impression.

I’ve spend the last weekend underwater, shaking off some rust from my scuba gear, and starting to warm up for the contest- which I hope to report about regularly from, stay tuned!

For now, here are some fresh samples- some small fish hiding in a coral, A delicate coral “table” and a pair of Clown fish (yes, like Nemo), defending their residence…

Click on the thumbnails to enlarge more photographs:

All Images taken using an Olympus C-8080 and a matching PT-023 case.Got your own interesting photo and story? Post it on The Wide Lens !