If you have the perfect photo or graphic design that captures the excitement and beauty of scuba diving in Raja Ampat, Indonesia, enter this contest for a chance to have your image printed on the 5,000 park tags that will be attached to BCDs of visiting divers!

This year's contest is limited to non-professional (amateur) photographers only. Entries from professional photographers will not be accepted.

The lucky winner of the 2011 Raja Ampat tag design contest will be able to choose an all-inclusive, minimum 10-day dive trip for two people at one of the following resorts or liveaboards in Raja Ampat (subject to availabilty, excludes airfares):

• Seven Seas
• Papua Seahorse Paradise
• Papua Diving
• Smy Ondina
• Dive Damai
• Worldwide Dive and Sail
• Misool Eco Resort

To enter the contest, submit up to 2 photos or graphic designs per contestant before midnight (PST) on Monday, September 6th, 2010. After finalists are chosen, the public will vote for the best image or design until October 11th, 2010. Winners will be announced on October 13th, 2010.

• Prepare your images. Images should be in JPG format, 5 MB maximum file size. High-resolution images preferred, but smaller images will also be accepted(minimum: 1200-pixels in the long dimension). Each contestant may submit up to 2 images or designs.
• Rename your images so the filenames include your full name. This is very important because if your filename doesn't include your name, judges won't be able to associate it with you!
• Email your image to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Include your full name, email address, alternate email address, mailing address, and phone number. If you cannot e-mail large files from your e-mail account, sign up for a new account at gmail for use in entering this contest.
• Reminder: this year's tag design contest is limited to non-professional photographers only. If you consider yourself to be (or if the judges consider you to be) a professional photographer, your submission will not be accepted.

• Sep 6, 2010 - Submission deadline (via e-mail)
• Sep 10, 2010 - Finalists announced, public voting begins
• Oct 11, 2010 - Public voting ends
• Oct 13, 2010 - Winners announced!

For further information and registration please Click Here.

Want to be Invited to the Epson Red Sea 2010 Competition

FREE OF CHARGE?

Compete for the title "Photographer of the Year"!

Between the months of April and August, the Epson Red Sea 2010 online competition will take place. Each month during the competition, amateur and professional photographers from all over the world are invited to submit a portfolio of 3 digital photos. By the end of each month, 3 photographers will be announced as the winners of that particular month, chosen both by the public and by a panel of 5 international judges.

An online competition among all the monthly winners (15 photographers) will then begin on September 1st, 2010. Online voters and a panel of 5 internatioal judges will eventually select one of the competitors as the Photographer of the Year.

Flights, accommodation (BB) and diving costs of the Photographer of the Year will all be covered, in order to enable this winner to participate at the Epson Red Sea 2010 shoot-out in Eilat.

So starting from April 1st, you can start submitting images to the competition by CLICKING HERE. Don't have any winning images yet? What are you waiting for! Get into the water...


Epson Red Sea 2010

The 6th annual Epson Red Sea competition will be held on November 8-13, 2010 in Eilat. A wide variety of innovative categories and worhy prizes are included this year, which makes it very much worthwhile to be elected as the Photographer of the Year.

>> Click Here for Epson Red Sea 2010 Innovative Categories and Prizes

See you on April 1st!

Best Wishes,

David Pilosof
www.eilatredsea.com
+972-9-7457055

The following are the winners of the BTS International 2010 listed by competition categories:

Grand Prize is a week at the Manta Ray Bay Hotel and diving with Yap Divers.

• First Place - Salt Water Crocodile, H Chng, West New York, New Jersey

• First Place - Lilly, Keri Wilk, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
• Second Place - Lightflower, Pedro Carrillo-Montero, Madrid, Spain
• Third Place - The Bridge , Tobias Friedrich, Wiesbaden, Germany
• Honorable Mention - Wale and Friend, Peter Allinson, Kingsville, MD
• Honorable Mention - Diver dream, Tomashevich Maxim, Moscow, Russia

• First Place - Humpback Calf, Isabelle M Thiebaud, Port Stephens, NSW, Australia
• Second Place - Dolphin in the Sun, Noam Kortler, Eilat, Israel
• Honorable Mention - Inner Glow, Ross Gudgeon, Exmouth, WA

• First Place - Shrimp Resting , Gery Beeckmans, Sint Niklaas, OH, Belgium
• Second Place - Stargazer, Keri Wilk, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
• Honorable Mention - Algae Sprout, Keri Wilk, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
• Honorable Mention - Skeleton Girls, Bettina Balnis, Velbert, Germany
• Honorable Mention - Shrimp on Cranoid, Noam Kortler, Eilat, Israel

• First Place - First Born Seahorse, Lazaro M. Ruda, Lake Park, FL
• Second Place - The Next Generation, Kat Ramage, Grand Cayman
• Third Place - Blue Snack, Bettina Balnis, Velbert, Germany
• Honorable Mention - Loving Sepia's, Luc Rooman, Kieldrecht, Belgium

• First Place - Trapped, Leong Yow Chee, Singapore
• Second Place - Struggle for Freedom, Karel Bernard, Tallinn, Harjumaa, Estonia
• Third Place - The Weight of the World, Karen W. Doody, Morehead City, NC
• Honorable Mention - Invasive Lionfish Extraction, Karen W. Doody, Morehead City, NC
• Honorable Mention - Hooked for Life, Phil Sokol, San Diego, CA

• First Place - The Gang, Karel Bernard, Tallinn, Harjumaa, Estonia
• Second Place - Prince Charming, Karel Bernard, Tallinn, Harjumaa, Estonia
• Third Place - Ascent of Humpback, Christine Kornylak, Venice, CA
• Honorable Mention - Coming in for a Closer Look, Shannon C. Price, Seattle, WA
• Honorable Mention - Red, White & Blue, Glenn M. Zavalko, Milford, CT

Grand Prize is a live-aboard trip on the Manthiri in the Maldives.

• First Place - Cosmos, Bartosz Strozynski, Poznan, Poland
• Second Place - Parliament, Alexey Stoyda, Moscow, Russia
• Third Place - On Eternal Patrol, Jeremy Kozman, Orient, OH
• Honorable Mention - Raggiezoom, Dennis Vandermeersch, Heule-Kortrijk, Belgium

Grand Prize is a live-aboard trip on the Nai’a in Fiji.

• First Place - Beauty in the Beast, Sharon Wada, Snohomish, WA
• Second Place - The Romance of Lembeh Straight, Roger Roth, Cincinnati, OH
• Honorable Mention - Alien Rhythm, Kris Wilk, Mississauga, Ontario

• First Place - Carcharhinus Longimanus, Rudolf Gonda, Budapest, Hungry
• Second Place - Cuttlefish Hunting, Roger Uzun, San Diego, CA
• Third Place - Batray Feeding, Walter Marti, Mission Viejo, CA
• Honorable Mention - Magic, Istvan Nemeth, Szombathely, Hungry

Click Here for all categories winning images.

Beneath The Sea is a federally tax-exempt (501(c)(3)) organization incorporated as not-for-profit in the State of New York.
All proceeds from the Imaging Competition go to further BTS’s goals, which are to:

• Provide continuing education to the recreational diver community
• Educate the public in the benefits of protecting the ocean environment
• Support ocean and environment related projects and charities.

The 34th Annual Beneath The Sea Dive Exposition will take place on March 26-28, 2010 at the Meadowlands Exposition Center, Secaucus, New Jersey - 10 minutes from Manhattan. Further information can be found on Beneath The Sea's website.

A Breathtaking Underwater Journey

The Epson Red Sea 2009 Competition might have already concluded, but such extraordinary images never fade out. And so, we are proud to announce that the Epson Red Sea 2009 Competition Album has finally been published.

All competition nominees and winners images are featured in the album. The result is a breathtaking 152 pages underwater journey.

The album features high quality graphics printed on thick pages at the size of 23x30cm.

“Images submitted to the competition this year consisted of an exceptionally high standard”, says Roni Sofer, head of the Epson Red Sea jury panel. “This might have made it more difficult for us, judges, to make decisions, but at the same time, it sure turned this year’s competition album to one of the best ever presented!”

So whether you have took part in the competition, plan to do so in the future, have an interest in underwater photography or simply a fan of fine art, click here to order the Epson Red Sea 2009 Competition Album.

Regular Price: 39 Euro
Special Price: Only 23 Euro*
*Special Price is valid till February 28th.
**Any of Epson Red Sea previous competitions albums can be ordered as well for a discounted price of 17 Euro only.

Epson Red Sea 2009 had the honor to be driven by the Israeli "Yam" magazine and by an international leader in imaging products, Epson. This album is one of the many magnificent outcomes of this extraordinary event, which is already known worldwide as the "International Underwater Olympics".

I wish you all enjoyable, exciting and safe 2010 dives.

David Pilosof
Epson Red Sea
http://www.eilatredsea.com

On November 1st, Epson Red Sea invites all divers worldwide to vote for the Fish of the Year of Epson Red Sea 2009 on the competition website. 5 fish will be introduced on the website as nominees, along with professional credentials delivered by an expert team that consists of 5 marine biology professors, each representing a different fish-nominee. Divers will be invited to vote for the fish that they find as the most entitled for the title Fish of the Year.

During the 3 days of the Epson Red Sea 2009 competition, the fish that was elected as the Fish of the Year will serve as a “case study” for all photographers participating in the Winning & Donating category, representing different websites and magazines from all over the world. The winner will be the one who submits the most creative, original, professional and diverse portfolio of the Fish of the Year.
Stay tuned with the Epson Red Sea website to find out more about the election of the Fish of the Year.

Registration to the Epson Red Sea 2009 Competition, which will take place in Eilat, Israel, is now open.
Photographers are invited to start by choosing their best photos and submitting them to the Images of the World category by Clicking Here. Note that images can be submitted to this category only till October 15th.
Underwater images which were taken anytime and anywhere around the world can be submitted to this category, even without attending the event.
Prizes include diving trips to dreamy destinations, cash prizes and diving equipment.

Using the same Entry Form, photographers can register to the Eilat Shoot-Out competition category, which takes place in Eilat on November 9-14. Categories were specially created for professional underwater stills photographers, underwater videographers, amateurs and more.
Prizes include diving trips to dreamy destinations, expensive underwater photography equipment, cash prizes and more.
Accommodation and diving packages for competition participants can be arranged ahead as well.
Join the event for an unforgettable week of adventures, including seminars, happy hours and of course- valuable prizes for the winners.

During the Visions of the Sea 2009 festival, held in Manchester, England on November 7th and 8th, a fantastic line-up of presentations will be carried out, as well as in-water tuitions, an international competition, an exhibition and a gala dinner. The whole event is in aid of the Shark Trust and is being hosted by Frogfish Photographyand Ocean Optics.

Presentations and Classes
Presentations will be carried out during the two days of the event by internationally renowned underwater photographers, such as: Cathy Church, Paul “Duxy” Duxfield, Martin Edge, Charlie Hood, Maria Munn, Alex Mustard, Jukka Nurminen, Tom Peschak, Peter Scoones and Steve Warren. On Sunday afternoon, delegates will have the opportunity to participate in some in-water tuitions in the Manchester Aquatics Centre held by some of these experts. The 5 meters deep pool will be transformed into an underwater world with reefs, a wreck, marine life of all sorts and model divers in order to enable the participants to practice their newly learnt photographic skills.

Charity
On Friday, November 6th, the Shark Trust team (along with the Frogfish and Ocean Optics teams) will be visiting a school and inviting children from other schools in the area to join in on an education day. This will grant local children the opportunity to learn more about sharks and to take part in art projects, discussions and workshops throughout the day.

The Visions Gala Dinner
On Saturday evening, the Visions Gala Dinner will take place in aid of the Shark Trust. This will coincide with the 5th anniversary of Orca Divers, who have organized an auction of prints from some of the world’s best underwater photographers, followed by an after dinner lecture and live music.

Exhibition and International Competition
The event will host a free exhibition open to the public with stands by Ocean Optics, Frogfish Photography, BSOUP, NUPG, Shark Trust, the event sponsors and guest speakers. The finalists from the Visions in the Sea International Underwater Photography Competition will be introduced as well. The total value of prizes exceeds £9000 and the judges of the competition will be the guest speakers over the festival weekend. The Best in Show will win a Worldwide Dive and Sail live-aboard trip. Other classes include Suunto British Open and Mares Young Photographer of the Year. Additional prizes will be offered as well by Apeks, Beaver, Blandford, Sub-Aqua, Inon, Lumb Brothers, O’Neill, Sea&Sea, Sport Diver and Typhoon.

The festival is being sponsored by Cameras Underwater, Cayman Islands, Department of Tourism, Dive Quest and Emperor Divers. Their support has enabled Visions in the Sea to offer all divers and underwater photographers the chance to improve their underwater photography skills, participate in educational presentations, attend a wonderful visual feast and take part in an event that raises money for an important charity, as well raises the awareness to the underwater environment.

For purchasing tickets and registering to the competition, visit the Visions in the Sea website.