October 20, 2008, Tel Aviv, Israel

Epson Red Sea 2008 is proud to announce a new and innovative category for this year competition. The new category is called “Winning & Donating” and includes 11 photographers representing 11 different countries from all over the world.
Epson Red Sea 2008 Competition is held for the 4th year in a row, in November 10-15th, 2008, at the Isrotel "yam suf" Hotel of Eilat, Israel. Prizes this year are valued over $80,000.

Epson Red Sea Competition will be divided into two main categories. "Images of the world", . Deadline for registration and receiving entries: October 30, 2008. The second category is called "Eilat shot out", and participants in this category will submit only images that were taken during the three days of the competition in Eilat November 10-15. The “Winning & Donating” category is considered to be part of the “Eilat Shoot Out” category. It was conceived several months ago when 11 websites and magazines from 11 different countries announced an annual competition open to all underwater photographers in their countries.

This is true skill and artistic talent by any definition, as each photographer will have to do his best to make his fish-model appear as the most photogenic of all and become the fish of the year. Noam Kotler,who was chosen to represent Israel,stated that “Epson Red Sea 2008 creators sure found a way to spice up the traditional macro and wide angle themes that are usually assigned in photo competitions. When you come to think of it, this assignment is in reality every photographer’s dream!

the winner in the “Winning & Donating” category will receive a $5,000 check courtesy Of the Israeli Diving Authority and will be granted the opportunity to donate it to an international shark conservation organization. In addition, the winning photographer will be granted a diving safari for two in Fiji Islands with NAI'A luxury sailing live aboard, courtesy of PACIFIC ISLANDS TRAVEL, valued at $6,200.

The 11 photographers are:
Fabrice Boissier from France
Klas Malmberg from Sweden
Ren Braband Andersen from Denmark
Thomas Heckmann from Germany
Hedwig Dieraert from Belgium
Noam kortler from Israel
Nigel Wade from England
Stefano Proakis from Italy
Arturo J. Telle Thiemann from Spain
Steven Kovacs from the USA
Stoyda Alexey from Russia


We hope to see you at the Epson Red Sea 2008 competition and wish you all good luck!

For more information, regarding the rules and regulations, schedule, enrolment and hospitality - please check the competitions website (available in 9 different languages): http://www.eilatredsea.com

More Information

• Registration
• Accommodation

Contact:
David Pilosof

Tel: +972-52-4808722

Budapest – 1 October, 2008

We published the multiple award short film by Gyula Somogyi on DVD.

The ships of darkness DVD has several unique features which offer a complex experience:

Two underwater short films – award-winning artistic "The ships of darkness" and recently published documentary-style "One of us" take the audience for mysterious voyages in history, descending from the light into darkness in order to visit the twilight zone, where the remains of wood, steel and flesh serve as a basis for the lively creatures of the underwater world. Flooded chambers, broken masts, exploded walls and windows hardened into stones make up the surroundings of a wreck-dive. (Filmed at the Red Sea.)

The third film is an original Solaris video clip about the group. The "Book of Prophecies" brings back the viewers to the present time and reveals the musicians behind the scenes. The films are based on the famous Solaris-album: Nostradamus – Book of Prophecies, which was published by Periferic Records.

The underwater films can be found on the DVD in Apple QuickTime_® 720p25 High Definition formats in order to provide more detailed pictures. The DVD is encoded in PAL. Non-PAL country customers can play back the DVD on their computers, PAL compatible DVD -players and TV-sets or use media players with the QuickTime files.

An additional unique feature will enable the viewers to look behind the scenes: a task-based After Dive Tutorial® explains the post-production techniques used in these films and will escort users to re-create them in their projects. The 57 minutes tutorial teaches how to use Apple Final Cut Pro_® 6, Apple Motion_® 3 and Apple Shake_® for specific tasks, such as secondary color corrections, image stabilization, optical flow retiming, nested sequences and retouching the moving picture.

The DVD is also equipped with a 16 pages color booklet about the shipwrecks. It contains factual information regarding the wrecks’ GPS position, basic data, and a short history so it can be used for dive-trip planning. The text originated from the BBC acknowledged DiveSiteDirectory.com. The beautiful pencil drawings of Rik Vercoe help the audience to imagine the suberstructure of the wrecks. The booklet and the cover art is the work of Csaba Tökölyi, underwater photographer and graphic artist; the cover picture is also an award-winnig photograph by Robert Roka (Skeleton of lost times).

Heliox Film’s media partners are: DivePhotoGuide.com, DiveSiteDirectory.com, Digideep.com, DiveFilm.com, Submarine.hu, DiveCenter. hu, and Wetpixel.com (Wetpixel Quaterly). Buyers of the DVD will get $5 discount if they subscribe to the Wetpixel Quaterly.

You can download the cover, a sample page from the booklet and the introduction of the After Dive Tutorial: http://www.helioxfilm.hu/Reseller The trailer can be seen here: http://www.theshipsofdarkness.com

Suggested retail prices (without sales tax or TVA/VAT): EU: 14 EUR; US: $19,95; UK: £11; Switzerland: 22 CHF.

If you wished to be a reseller, please do not hesitate to contact us! E-mail:

Contact:
Gyula Somogyi, Heliox Film Production Agency LLC
Pannonia u. 52/a, Budapest, H-1136, Hungary
Phone: 0041 78 75 49 135

http://www.helioxfilm.com
http://www.theshipsofdarkness.com

Fantasea Line are delighted to announce the winner of their recent competition to name their new manual slave flash that will be released some time in November.

Fantasea were amazed by the high level of imaginative names that were given, but after deliberation came to the conclusion that the clear winner is Abdulbadie A. Al-Yafi, a Scuba Diving and Underwater Photography enthusiast from Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Al Yafi suggested that we name the new flash the Fantasea Remora. He explained that the focus light rides on the strobe like a remora fish attaches itself to a shark or to a manta ray. Since the remora and the shark depend on each other, just like the focus light works with the strobe, this makes it an appropriate name.

Fantasea particularly liked the idea of giving their new flash, which is mainly used for marine photography, the name of a marine animal and Mr. Al Yafi, wins himself a Fantasea Remora Flash, which is adjustable and has a more powerful output, a better diffuser and a wider angle than the Fantasea Nano Flash.

In recognition of the high level of entries, and to thank participants for taking part in the competition, Fantasea are offering all participants a special discount when purchasing the Fantasea Remora once it is launched in November.

The incredible response to the Fantasea Remora Flash when we previewed it at Photokina 2008, in Germany, assures us that this great new product will be in high demand once it hits the market. We would like to offer you the opportunity to be on our priority list for the first production run. In order to be placed on the priority list, and guarantee that you have the Fantasea Remora Flash in time for Christmas, please contact us.

More Information: http://www.fantasea.com/Dealer%20Packages/Remora%20Flash%20Details.html

San Francisco, Calif., October 1st, 2008 - Conservation International, in cooperation with the Coral Reef Alliance and Wetpixel.com, are pleased to announce the winning photo for the 2009 Raja Ampat entrance tag design contest.

After three weeks of public voting, Marcio Lisa won first place in the 2009 Raja Ampat Tourism Entry Tag Contest with his dramatic silhouette of a manta ray. In second place was Marli Wakeling’s portrait of a squid, and in third, a split image by Keri Wilk of a small island with a school of fish beneath the surface of the water.

This year’s winner will receive an 11-day, all-inclusive diving package at Papua Diving’s Kri Resort in Raja Ampat. The two runners up will each receive a copy of the fabulous, soon-to-be-released book, “Raja Ampat through the lens of ...”, which includes contributions from 10 of the world’s leading underwater photographers.




All contributors and supporters of the 2009 Raja Ampat entrance tag design contest are commended for their support and submissions.

The contest finalists and winning photos can be seen at http://www.wetpixel.com/raja/

Contact:
Laure Katz
Indonesia Marine Program Coordinator
Conservation International
Bali, Indonesia