PHOTO CONTEST HIPA to launch ‘Seize the Sky’ Photography Contest at DIPC5

Photo above: Last year’s DIPC Photo Contest winning photography by Brad Merritt / Courtesy of HIPA

The Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA) will launch a photography contest themed ‘Seize the Sky’ at the 5th Dubai International Parachuting Championships (DIPC 5). The photography contest will take place at Skydive Dubai down in JBRand will run from November 26 until December 6, 2014.

A five winners will be announced with a total prize pool of US $25,000 up for grabs:

• 1st place photographer receiving $7000

• 2nd place receiving $6000

• 3rd place $5000

• 4th place $4000 and the

• 5th place winner receiving $3000.

Ali bin Thalith, Secretary General of HIPA / Courtesy of HIPA

The Secretary General of HIPA, Ali bin Thalith commented “This is the third year in succession that we have returned to Skydive Dubai and the Dubai International Parachuting Championships to host this photography competition. It is almost like we’ve become a staple of the event and the venue. The’ Seize the Sky’ photography contest comes on the back of our participation in the ‘Pink Skies’ Breast Cancer awareness campaign, also hosted by Skydive Dubai, last month which was a great community initiative and an honour for us to be a part of."

Ali bin Thalith also added that "The ‘Seize the Sky’ competition will be open to the general public attending the 5th Dubai International Parachuting Championships (DIPC5), and we welcome both novice and professional photographers to get involved. We had a great number of submissions and winners last year and we are very confident that we will build on that success this year, with an even larger number of visitors and photographers expected for DIPC5."

Submissions for the ‘Seize the Sky’ photo contest will be accepted through the official HIPA website www.HIPA.ae. Photographs are required to be no less than 2MB in size and must also be untagged and free of any form of signature, initial or logo that the photographer may have added. Full rules and regulations can be found on the HIPA website.

Visitors will also be able to learn and get involved in the annual global photography competition, the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award, now in its fourth season. The theme of the main category is ‘Life in Colour‘ along with other categories including ‘Faces – Black and White’, ‘Night Photography’ and’ General ‘.

With a grand prize of $120,000 and an overall prize pool of $400,000, the competition has drawn submissions from 173 countries over the last three years. Photographs can be submitted through the official website www.HIPA.ae, before Midnight on December 31, 2014 (UAE Standard).