Epson Red Sea 2009

The shoot-out continues to its second day and as time passes by, photographers are more and more anxious to complete the basis of their portfolio. It’s no secret that every participant in the Epson Red Sea competition craves to reach the third and last day of the shoot-out when he has already shot a series of images that are good enough to be submitted to the competition, thereby leaving him the last day for final touch ups only. In a way, you could say that photographers participating in this event act under the conception that the shoot-out lasts for two days, whilst the third day is considered to be a “bonus” for last minute improvements. No doubt that this would be a wonderful achievement for all participants, but looking back on previous years of this event, I somehow can’t recall many calm and peaceful faces at the last day of the Eilat shoot-out…

Although usually, Epson Red Sea participants are experienced divers and underwater photographers, equipped with impressive equipment and an even more impressive resume (which can usually be found on the “About Me” section in their boastful website…), this year, a special category was created for the younger talents. This category, called “Children of Epson Red Sea”, was created in memory Razi Cohen, a talented photographer who also served as one of the judges in the 2008 competition. The category was open for snorkelers at the age of 7 to 14, who took their images using a disposable camera or a compact digital camera housing, without being assisted with any scuba diving gear. After participating in an intensive underwater photography seminar with Boaz Samorai, manager of the “Manta” diving center, 30 young participants spent the weekend snorkeling in the clear water of the Red Sea, taking perhaps their first ever underwater images. Today, a group of 4 children, who were chosen as judges in the “Children of Epson Red Sea” category, gathered along with Boaz Samorai and Razi Livnat, the legal adviser of this event, in order to evaluate the images submitted to this category and to decide upon the winners. Razi was very proud of the fact that the final winning images chosen by these young judges were more or less the same images that he and Boaz had considered for the best the day before. When I tried to imply that their advise and professional assistance throughout the judging process might have (slightly) influenced the jurisprudence of these children, I got such an imitating look that left me no option but to confidently state that such an option is absolutely impossible…

At the evening, an official opening ceremony of the competition took place at the Eilat underwater observatory. All competition participants, as well as honored guests, sponsors, partners and journalists, were invited to celebrate the opening of the Epson Red Sea 2009 competition. Fine wine, beer and delicious food dishes were served and then a short ceremony began, in which competition producer, David Pilosof, as well as main sponsors, opened the event by saying a few words about the competition, as well as wishing the participants good luck. After seeing today quite a few amazing images taken by some of the leading photographers, BOY ARE THEY GONNA NEED IT!

• Epson Red Sea 2010 Live Daily Reports
• Fish of the Year - Epson Red Sea 2009
• Epson Red Sea 2008 Competition Webcast
• Epson Red Sea 2008 - World of Underwater Images