Press Release

26 excited participants from all over the globe descended on the island of Layang Layang in Sabah, Malaysia from July 17-23rd for a 6 day extravaganza of camaraderie, photography, and spectacular diving.  Judges and presenters for the week included Stephen Wong from Hong Kong, Dr Kurt Svrcula from Malaysia, Settimio Cipriani from Italy, and Mike Veitch from Yap.  Participants enjoyed 3 to 4 dives per day on Layang’s spectacular walls and enjoyed a never ending variety of food when not in the water.  The weather could not have been better as there was nothing but bright blue sky and flat seas throughout the event.  With so many participants taking part, the evenings were lively affairs with everyone gathering around the restaurant and bar areas for nightly presentations from the judges. 

With a total of 12 prizes up for grabs, 6 each for wide angle and macro, it was a common site to see participants up late at night skimming through their photos in order to pick their top 3 images for each category.  The 3 judging categories included composition, technical perfection, and the “Wow” factor.  The judging was extremely close on many of the images as the talent level of participating photographers was very high.

With so many great sponsors there were certainly no shortage of prizes for the top 6 entries in each category, the first prize alone was worth US $6000!!  Thanks to sponsors Nautica, Nikon, Layang Layang, Asian Diver, Coral Redang Resort, Macana Maldives Liveaboard, Baani Explorer, Oceanic, GP Batteries, Ralf Tech, NAUI, Borneo Divers, and SMART resort.

Congratulations to all of the winners and thank you to everyone who participated in this fun and exciting event, we look forward to seeing you again in 2008!

The winners: