Eilat Epson Red Sea Competition 2009: Day 5
By Matt J. Weiss, November 16, 2009 @ 12:41 AM (EST)
By Keri Wilk
Day 5 (November 13th)
Procrastination seems to be rather popular these days, because I arrived at the download area (a dozen donated Macbooks, all networked to a main hard drive) early this morning to find it jammed full of people who passed up on the opportunity to upload images last night. This is your best opportunity to see what you’re really up against, since secrecy is difficult to maintain with a dozen eyes peering over one’s shoulder. Whatever confidence I had in my images prior to this download/selection period was shattered when I saw the quality of many of the other competitors’ portfolios.
Oren Lederman and Amir Stern in a head to head memory card duel
Yoav Pilosof et al working the main computers, making sure all downloading went smoothly
Good sportsmanship was in abundance once again. Everyone was helping each other out with the daunting task of image selection once images were successfully downloaded. I found this process to be particularly difficult, but eventually, with the help of nearly a dozen different people’s opinions, I was able to pick my ‘best 5’ and ‘best single’ entries.
Amotz Tal picking out images for the “Behind the Scenes” category (land photos). He won this category last year.
Do you think the competition being over slowed anyone’s diving/photography down? Not a snowball’s chance in hell. Once competitors left the download center, they more often than not went directly for their dive/camera gear to prepare for some “fun” dives. Not to say that ALL of the dives haven’t been fun, but not having to worry about “nailing the shot” certainly takes a load off your mind.
I’m not sure how many tanks one needs to do the 15-40 foot shores dives around here… but this guy came prepared for a marathon. I can’t imagine doing photography with all that gear…
This competitor toughed it through the competition with a pair of broken fingers (left hand). Check out his custom buoyancy arms (pop bottles) also.
Happy hour today was promised to be something much more special than the previous days, if last year was any indication. With the help of the Cyprus Tourism Board, rather than a one-man live band, a DJ was brought in to keep the music fresh and loud, and they also helped supply the countless bottles of Uzo and Zivania that were consumed.
Arturo Telle, winner of this competition 2 years ago, with the crowd at the Mata Dive Center
David Vered (GM of Isrotel Sports Club)
Once there was a large enough group, Pilo got on the microphone to give the party a jump-start.
Pilo speaking to the crowd
Pilo knows how to party!
I’m not sure if it was the amount of booze consumed or the young women who started the dancing, but eventually most people were on the dance floor enjoying the music. Even Pilo was dancing up a storm to the point that he actually hurt his leg (pretty badly, by the look on his face!), and had to sit out the last 45 minutes or so.
A new fashion trend?
This diver went in for a night dive when no one was around, and emerged to find a crowd of happy drunk people.
Daniel Doron posing like a professional model with an underwater camera that was given away by the Cyprus Tourism Board
Near the end of the dancing/music, someone decided it was a good idea to throw their friend in the pool adjacent to the dance area. Little did they know that a horrible snowball effect was put in motion. One by one, nearly 30 people ended up in the pool, with a total of somewhere between 5-10 cell phones being destroyed in the process. Once I saw that possessing expensive electronics was of no concern to the ones doing the throwing, I put myself on “red alert” against a pole, and took somewhat of a ninja pose. Once the initial threat passed, I felt comfortable enough to take some shots of the action – getting my camera and lens soaked in the process! I should’ve stayed near that pole…
The throwing begins...
Arturo and Paula
While everyone was having a blast at the party, the judges were locked away in a dark room somewhere, evaluating images for nearly 10 hours straight! Tomorrow we’ll find out the results, so if you’d like to here who the big winners are, stay tuned…
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