The winners of the 17th Epson International Pano Awards have officially been unveiled, showcasing awe-inspiring, sweeping vistas from high above the Earth as aerial imagery took center stage in the global competition.
Spanish landscape photographer Mr. Daniel Viñé Garcia was named the 2026 Open Photographer of the Year, leading a historic contest that drew 4,084 entries from photographers across 93 countries — a 19% increase compared to 2025. The competitive field featured 2,122 entries in the Open division and 1,962 in the Amateur contest, bolstered by 680 submissions in the newly inaugurated Aerial categories.
"Photographers at every level, from first-time entrants to established professionals, use the Pano Awards as a benchmark for their own work," said Mr. Craig Heckenberg, managing director of Epson Australia and New Zealand, in a news release. "The aerial category is a perfect example of why the competition has stayed relevant for 17 years. It responds to what photographers are actually doing and it gives the global industry a view of where the craft is heading next."
The Sleeping Giant
Mr. Garcia secured the prestigious Open crown through an extraordinary portfolio capturing the rugged heights of the high Andes and the Argentine Puna. His winning panoramic masterpiece, titled "The Sleeping Giant," frames the Parinacota Volcano in Chile, which towers more than 6,300 meters (about 20,670 feet) above sea level, paired alongside the neighboring Pomerape volcano rising over 6,200 meters (about 20,340 feet).
"The original capture was a 360-degree aerial panorama made from 33 individual exposures," Mr. Garcia said in the news release. "After one last burst of light, the landscape gradually took on magenta tones, wrapping the volcanoes and the high-altitude lakes in a particularly special atmosphere. I later refined the framing from the full panorama to concentrate the final composition on the volcanoes, the light and the shapes of the landscape."
Mr. Garcia’s portfolio also placed in the Open Nature and Landscape category with "Cathedral of Starlight," an evening panorama taken at roughly 3,100 meters (about 10,170 feet) in the Argentine Puna, and "My Perfect Night," captured across a salt flat in Catamarca at more than 3,300 meters (about 10,830 feet) altitude.
A Powerful Charge
Among the competition's top distinctions was the Epson Digital Art Prize, decided by the executive team at Epson Australia from the top 50 entries across each Open category, recognizing outstanding technical discipline alongside excellence in digital post-processing.
The prestigious honor was awarded to Mr. Prashant Chacko and Mrs. Preeti Chacko, a husband-and-wife duo from India, for their dramatic black-and-white wildlife panorama titled "The Rugby Players." Captured at Solio Game Reserve in Kenya, the image frames a sudden, thundering charge of southern white rhinos moving in unison.
"Southern white rhinos are, in their normal state, surprisingly unthreatening — calm grazers who move around at a leisurely pace," Mr. and Mrs. Chacko explained in the news release. "One morning at Solio Game Reserve in Kenya we were photographing a group of eight rhinos with a few cattle egrets walking among them, a rare sighting in most other national parks. Something suddenly shifted and five of the rhinos broke into a run."
Reflecting on the raw kinetic power of the spectacle unfolding before their lens, the pair added: "We understood in that instant why a group of rhinos is called a crash. Neither of us has ever played rugby, but from the point of view of the egrets this is how we imagine a forward pack must look, heads down and all that weight already committed."
Conquering the Elements
Other global photographers pushed their physical resilience and creative discipline to extreme thresholds to assemble intricate, multi-shot panoramas.
In the Open Nature and Landscape category, Mr. Mikel Iraeta of Spain took top honors with "Double arch on Milford Sound," an image crafted from 107 individual photographs under notoriously hostile weather.
"Milford Sound is a place where it rains on average 300 days a year," Mr. Iraeta said. "The day before I visited, the access road was closed due to snow avalanche danger. It is very difficult to have an entire clear night with no rain, no clouds, no moon and for all of this to coincide at the end of September when it is possible to capture the double arc of the Milky Way. The final image is the result of combining 107 different photographs."
In the built realm, Mr. Xuecheng Liu of the United States won the Open Built Environment category with "Center of the Cosmos," an aerial composite transforming New York's Times Square into a celestial wonder.
"Times Square is one of the most photographed places in the world, so my challenge was to find a perspective that could make such a familiar place feel unfamiliar again," Mr. Liu said. "I stitched together 25 frames to create an ultra-wide aerial panorama, with countless points of light resembling stars surrounding the centre of a galaxy."
Braving icy surf in the Lofoten Islands, Mr. Wutimet Bunyasirisith of Thailand was named Southeast Asia Open Photographer of the Year for his composition, "The Emerald Arch Over Lofoten," captured at Skagsanden Beach in Norway.
"The Northern Lights flared up and curved perfectly around the mountain," Mr. Bunyasirisith shared. "The display was so vastly immense that even my 12mm ultra-wide lens couldn't capture the entire scene in a single frame. My only choice was to shoot a panorama. The conditions that night were brutal, freezing cold, biting winds and I had to wade into the icy seawater to get the shot."
Horizons Above and Beyond
In the amateur division, Mr. Tomás Sánchez Ruiz of Spain claimed the Amateur Photographer of the Year title after capturing "Double Arch Over Stokksnes" in Iceland.
"On the night I took this photograph, the aurora forecast was not particularly promising," Mr. Sánchez Ruiz recalled. "When I pulled back the curtain of our hotel room and saw a green glow in the sky, I knew this could be the night we had been waiting for. The black sand was completely covered in freshly fallen, untouched snow. And there I was, finally taking the photograph I had been waiting for, with a smile on my face."
His architectural study, titled "Westminster Abbey," was also celebrated in the Amateur Built Environment division.
"As soon as I entered the chapel and saw its enormous stained-glass windows, the spectacular ribs of the vaulted ceiling and the flags lining both sides of the room, I knew I had to get my camera out," Mr. Sánchez Ruiz said.
In the Amateur Aerial division, Mr. Xuejun Long of China captured the winning spot with "Journey of Life," taken over Lake Magadi in Kenya.
"As the freshwater evaporated, chemical deposits on the lakebed were exposed, forming lots of interconnected patterns," Mr. Long explained. "I was lucky to catch this moment and a flock of flamingos flew in, adding life and bringing a dreamy, magical scene from the sky."
Spain's Mr. Sebastián Cantos Navalon triumphed in the Amateur Built Environment category with his image "Stairs from Earth to Heaven" and took second place with "Sphere," both photographed at the futuristic City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia.
"I used a wide-angle lens and created a composite image from eight shots, aiming for the curved lines of the staircase to guide the eye from the ground towards the sky," Mr. Cantos Navalon said.
The specialized categories also saw extraordinary work from across the globe. Mr. Marcio Esteves Cabral of Brazil was named VR/360 Photographer of the Year for his immersive aquatic panorama "Diving in a blue dream," captured inside Cenote El Edén in Mexico.
Mr. Max Terwindt of the Netherlands was honored with the Curator's Award for "Antarctic Nights," photographed over the icy Antarctic Peninsula.
"It was my first time there and the whole experience was truly magical," Mr. Terwindt said. "We had a special license to fly our drones. As it never becomes dark in the Antarctic summer, the sunset slowly faded into the sunrise, so it went from golden hour to blue hour to golden hour again."
Rounding out the standout achievements, Mr. Szabi Nemeth of Australia claimed the Highest Scoring Vertical Image with "Between Giants," captured in the open waters of the Indian Ocean off Mauritius.
Reflecting on the milestone evolution of the competition and the creative determination required to witness the world from above, Pano Awards founder and curator Mr. David Evans observed how shifting perspectives inspire artists to transcend their traditional boundaries:
"In the 17-year history of the Epson Pano Awards, never has a request from entrants been stronger than the addition of a dedicated Aerial category," Mr. Evans said in the release. "The addition of a new Aerial category this year in both the Open and Amateur competitions was therefore expectedly popular, with some 680 Aerial entries. The aerial perspective opens up so much of the world above tripod level and the panoramic format lends itself beautifully to this way of seeing. I look forward to watching how this category will evolve over coming years, as technology enables photographers to push their own boundaries and limits."
To view the full gallery of 2026 winning and runner-up images, go to: https://thepanoawards.com
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