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Eilat Epson Red Sea Competition 2009: Day 2

By Matt J. Weiss, November 14, 2009 @ 12:30 AM (EST)

By Keri Wilk

DAY 2 (NOVEMBER 10)

Today, the first day of the competition, I arrived at the Manta Dive Center at 8:00 this morning, and was welcomed by the sound of clanking tanks and bursts of air from tanks being filled. Just as I remembered from last year, there were several participants who were already gearing up for their SECOND dive of the day, having already done their first at the competition’s starting time just hours earlier (12:00am). It’s easy to call these people crazy, but when there’s $80,000 of prizes on the line, can you really blame them?

Oren Lederman decides which site to dive

However, not all competitors take the competition this seriously – some use the competitive atmosphere as motivation to improve their photographic skills. If previous years’ winning images are any indication of the image quality needed to win, it’s obvious that simple ‘’snapshots’ of marine life just won’t cut it... so photographers are forced to push the envelope creatively (and physically!).

Shahar Patury and Noam Kortler

My reflection in a dome port

Michel Braunstein

Similar to last year, there are a total of over 100 competitors in the open, amateur, and video categories, whom the majority of flew in from various parts of the world. There is also, once again, the “Fish of the Year” category, open only to 11 competitors who were chosen by winning competitions in their respective countries. In this special category, photographers are asked to create a portfolio of 5 images of the “Fish of the Year” (red grouper), with as much creativity as possible. $5000 has been donated to this category which will go toward the continued conservation of the reefs in the waters off of Eilat.

Some divers entered the water with bewilderment and confusion about what to shoot (me), while others came with a specific list of images that they planned on creating. Divers were in and out of the water all day, taking full advantage of the all-you-can-dive package being offered this week… some doing as many as 7 dives today! I only managed to get in a pair of dives myself, but found lots of interesting photo subjects… here’s a few of the nicer ones:

When the clock struck 5pm, the kegs of beer came out for happy hour, where everyone could relax after a long first day – but some people continued their photo-frenzy by passing on the beer in order to do a night dive (or two!).