The winners of the 2024 Epson International Pano Awards have been announced.
The contest is the world’s largest competition devoted to panoramic photography. This year, organizers received 4,529 entries from 1,105 professional and amateur photographers in 95 countries.
The overall winner of the 2024 Open Photographer of the Year, and also the Nature/Landscape category, is Kelvin Yuen from Hong Kong for his entries “Power of Nature,” “Wilderness,” and “Mountain of Divinity.”
Epson Australia Managing Director Craig Heckenberg said: “Once again the Pano Awards entries have been nothing short of exceptional. The 2024 entries have pushed the boundaries of quality and creativity and are truly an inspiration for all photographers.”
Describing the photograph “Power of Nature,” which was taken in China, Yuen said: “The primary goal of this trip was to capture the iconic mountains of Guilin, renowned for its karst formations. On the day I took this photo, I woke up at 3 a.m. and was supposed to hike up for the sunrise. However, a heavy thunderstorm struck out of nowhere, so I decided to shoot the thunderstorm.
“I flew my drone to wait for the lightning due to safety concerns. The drone surprised me by being functional after 30 minutes of downpour. I took 700 photos with the same compositions, of which more than 40 were lightning shots. This photo is my favorite as the lightning flashing in the middle illuminates the layers of the mountains.”
Talking about his photograph “Wilderness,” Yuen said: “Last winter, while most hikers were leaving and the mountain area was almost empty, I spent a month living in Patagonia to wait for a snowy mountain view. A snowstorm arrived. It swept through the mountains and rocks with heavy snow, and the temperature dropped to below 20 C. It was my ideal shooting condition, but the hillside was covered with snow and became hardly visible and dangerous.”
Kelvin says he managed to reach the spot after 10 hours and after falling “into the gaps several times.” He spent two nights on the cliff edge to capture the spectacular picture of the Milky Way.
Yuen said: “6000 meters above sea level in Tibet, ‘Mountain of Divinity’ is a photograph of one of the most stunning peaks I have ever seen. Without any official paths, I spent one day trekking to the spot, and I was amazed by the magnificent peak that came into sight.”
The Amateur winner & Nature/Landscape category winner is Diego Manrique Diez from Spain for “Green Storm,” “Green Dance,” and “Spiral.”
Talking about his picture “Green Storm,” taken in Norway, Diego said: “In this breathtaking and extreme panorama, we got immersed in a natural paradise of lush mountains and wild beaches in Northern Norway. I remember that night as if it were yesterday. The intense cold was taking hold ... I was the only one left on that spot when the sky began to open up, followed by a majestic aurora borealis.”
Tuan says about his winning picture: “I love taking photos of landscapes and traditional craft villages in my country, especially the golden chrysanthemums growing village in Sadec, Dong Thap, Vietnam.”
