FANTASTIC DIVING HOLIDAYS FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

A photo competition

UWH Ltd. Company and Sea Lady c.a. announce a competition in underwater photography

SEA LADY UW PHOTO COMPETITION

Date:  September 25 – October 11, 2009

Place: Komodo + Nusa Penida, Indonesia

Propositions:

It is an international competition, open both to amateurs and professionals. It is designed for twenty participants. The conditions concerning the travel (air tickets, accommodation, including boarding and diving) are specified by the organizer in the paragraph called "Participation conditions".

The competition will proceed in parts divided into two 5-days intervals. In the first week, one half of the competitors (1/10) will take part in competition dives on the safari ship SEA LADY , while the other half (2/10) will dive at Nusa Penida Island. In the second week, the groups swap.

Every day of diving, the participants will, before the dive, get a memory card checked by the organizer. After each dive, the same card will be submitted to the jury for backup at the organizer. Any other manipulation with the pictures will be in each participant’s own hands.

Cathegories:

A) THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHER  

     - the members of the jury will evaluate the pictures after individual days anonymously . The rank will be given by the average of ranks obtained. The first three positions will get the prizes.

B) THE BEST PHOTO

     - the best photo will be elected by the jury in a two-round system. The winner will be awarded with the main prize.

C) PUBLIC COMPETITON

     - there will be a public competition on the competituon website (www.sealady.eu). Visitors of these pages will decide about the rank of the pictures. The first three positions will get the prizes.

Submission of work:

Every day, each competitor will offer one picture according to his own choice without further possibility to change his choice. At the end of the competition, each competitor will dispose of 10 photos.

General conditions:

Individual pictures offered by a competitor to the competition can be adjusted or modified using a computer as to a cut-out, a mirror image effect, colour balance, brightness and contrast, lesser retouching, or sharpening. Heavier interventions to photos and manipulating the contents are not allowed. At least 30% of each snapshot has to be underwater.

Jury:

Chairman:

Petr Vaverka (an UW photographer, the president of IWD, a lecturer of The First School of Underwater Photography)

Members:

Prof. MUDr. František Novomeský PhD. (an authorized expert for diving and hyperbaric medicine, a diving instructor, an UW photographer)

Richard Jaroněk (a traveller, a writer and an UW photographer, a diver, a shark rescue fighter)

Karel Gregor (an UW photographer, a reproduction graphic designer, a diver, an IANTD instructor, a lecturer of The First School of Underwater Photography)

Alena Voráčková (an UW photographer, a diver, a publicist, a translator)

Evaluation:

Pictures will be evaluated according to their: 1- technical quality (light, exposure, focusing), 2- complexity and demandingness, 3 - composition, 4 - theme

None of the pictures may break the rules of environmental protection and preservation of the environment. For example, snapshots may not show a diver touching a reef, its parts or sea inhabitants, nor blowing sand caused by imperfect diver’s movement, stressed sea animals or sea animals in an unnatural environment and feeding sea inhabitants.

Publishing the works:

By their participation, all the authors consent to publishing the picture offered for the competition. The pictures can be then printed on paper or used electronically to promote the competition, to promote the public association Sea Lady and UWH Ltd. Company.  Enlarged photos may be offered by the organizer to the “10^th Diving Ball 2010 in Prague” or sold in an auction. The organizer pays the costs for printing them. The proceeds of sale will be exclusively used for projects of the civil association Sea Lady and Kura Kura foundation. The pictures used will be signed by the author’s name. The organizer of the competition has this right for 2 years at maximum after the official publication of results.

Editors of the magazine Ocean will, under the same conditions, use the most interesting pictures from authors’ selection for providing news about proceedings of the competition.

Authors keep the copyright for their photos. 

Prizes:

A winner of the cathegory A obtains a one-week stay with diving for 2 persons at MMDiving base on Nusa Penida Island, Indonesia worth 900 EUR.

The main price in the cathegory B is a 14-days stay on the board of Safari ship Sea Lady for 2 persons worth 3.580 EUR.

The best photo in a public competition – cathegory C – will be awarded with a one-week stay for 4 persons in the apartment Acistav in Harrachov.

Other positions will be awarded with material prices from companies such as SONY, Ikelite, Seamaster and UWH worth more than 50.000 Czech crowns. Those positioned will obtain the magazine OCEAN subscription from our media partner, Czech Press Inc. publishing.

Results announcement and official awarding of prizes:

On the occasion of the anniversary 10^th diving ball organized by the club AQUAMARINE Prague on 16^th January 2010 in Prague, winners will be announced and all prizes awarded.

Participation conditons:

A participatory fee is 1.500 EUR and includes a starting fee, welcome and goodbye supper, transfers  in  Indonesia, a return air ticket Denpasar (Bali) - Komodo, accommodation, full board, beverages (water, coffee, tea), diving. We can assure air tickets even from Vienna.They are about 23 - 25.000 Czech crowns.

A selection of the conditions published corresponds to the international standard EPIC and LAUPS for the sake of uniting rules of underwater photography competition.