Seize the Sky photography contest opens at Skydive Dubai tomorrow

The Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award will award US$25,000 to the winners.

Last year’s winning entry by Brad Merrit. Courtesy Seize the Sky

A photography contest by the creators of the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award returns to the Dubai International Parachuting Championships for a third edition.

The photography contest, titled Seize the Sky, will take place at Skydive Dubai in Jumeirah Beach Residence tomorrow and runs until December 6.

It is open to professional and amateur photographers. Five winners will be announced with a total prize fund of US$25,000 (Dh91,825). The prize for first place is $7,000. Second place wins $6,000, while $5,000 will be awarded to third, $4,000 to the fourth and $3,000 to the fifth.

Ali bin Thalith, the secretary general of the award, says: “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. Seize the Sky 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.”

Submissions can be made online on www.hipa.ae. Photographs are required to be a minimum 2MB in size and must be untagged and free of any form of signature, initial or logo.

The images can be of anything, as long as they are taken during the parachuting event and from the Palm Drop Zone at Sky Dive Dubai.