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82 photographers are registered for the World ShootOut in Eilat. Over the past few days the event has attracted a lot of media attention with a variety of film crews from local Israeli TV to Reuters continually in situ.

Most of the activity has been based around Marina Divers. The dive centre is incredibly well placed for a variety of dive sites including the Yatush wreck that lies in 30m just off the beach. The stern is particularly picturesque with an assortment of soft corals surrounded by swathes of glass fish, and if you look carefully you can find the resident frogfish.

It's been incredibly inspiring to see so many photographers working so hard for their art. I can honestly say I have rarely seen so much creativity and originality in one place. However, the prize pool is fantastic with cheques for 1,000s of dollars up for grabs as well as some awesome dive trips and kit, so it's not surprising to see so many people pulling out all the stops and thinking out of the box.

This evening a lavish reception is being held at the Marine Observatory, although I'm fairly sure that not all the photographers and models will be able to relax as they still have up until midnight tonight to secure that all important winning shot. Images then have to be submitted before 10am tomorrow That's when the IT guys, who have already been working incredibly hard behind the scenes all week will start burning their midnight oil.

Having seen all the topside activity and preparation I'm really looking forward to seeing some exciting and innovative images over the next few days...