Photo credit: Wildernes by Kelvin Yuen – The 15th Epson International Pano Awards – https://thepanoawards.com
The winners of the 2024 Epson International Pano awards have been announced and 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.
Kelvin Yuen is an international landscape photographer based in Hong Kong. He began his landscape photography journey after an impromptu mountain hike near his home at the age of 18. Aiming to capture surreal landscapes on our Planet Earth for a decade, his photography spans from most of Hong Kong’s beauty to the world’s wilds.
Wilderness
“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. While finding my way to the spot, I fell into the gaps several times. I eventually spent 10 hours to reach the spot, and two nights on the cliff edge for the Milky Way shot. This panorama was created by stitching 44 shots together (4 rows with 11 shots in each row).”
Power of Nature
“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 3am 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. [The submitted] photo is my favourite as the lightning flashing in the middle illuminates the layers of the mountains.”
Mountain of Divinity
“6000 metres 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 Epson International Pano Awards showcases the work of panoramic photographers worldwide and continues to be the largest global competition for panoramic photography. Entrants competed for thousands of dollars cash and prizes with main sponsors Epson Australia and Epson Southeast Asia alone providing prizes that included Epson SureColor P5360 and P5300 printers, an Epson SureColor P906 printer and an Epson EB-1795F ultra-slim projector.
This year the competition received 4,529 entries from 1,105 professional and amateur photographers in 95 countries. Most notable was a 70% increase in entries from Southeast Asia, comprising Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines.
To coincide with trending interest from this region, The Pano Awards this year welcomed the addition of Epson Southeast Asia as joint major sponsor alongside long term supporter Epson Australia, and a new award was announced – The Pano Awards Southeast Asia Open Photographer of the Year. The inaugural winner of this new award is Fikri Muharom of Surabaya, East Java in Indonesia.
Fikri says, “Bromo National Park has one of beautiful sunrises and is also the most popular tourist attraction in Indonesia – all photographers who come to Indonesia must visit it. At that time in June, it rained in Surabaya at night, and usually if it rains in the middle of the night and stops before dawn, Bromo will be in the best condition because a sea of low clouds will appear in the caldera. I immediately took my car and rushed to Bromo which was only two hours drive away and sure enough that morning Bromo showed its extraordinary beauty. I positioned myself and launched the drone on Pananjakan Hill, the highest point of the viewpoint, and took some photos from left to right with a 180-degree angle to create the best panorama in Bromo.”
Nguyen Tan Tuan, the overall runner-up in the Open competition, winner of the Open Built Environment category and the winner of the Epson Digital Art Prize with Chrysanthemum Season is also from Southeast Asia, hailing from Central Vietnam.
The Epson Digital Art Prize is decided by the executive team at Epson Australia from the top 50 entries in the Open competition. The entries must show excellence in digital post processing as well as exceptional photographic technique.
Epson Australia MD, 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. Innovation and creativity are at the heart of our company and as such, that is why Epson proudly continues to support and sponsor these awards as they connect photographers from around the world through their passion.”
The Amateur winner & Nature/Landscape category winner is Diego Manrique Diez from Spain for Green Storm, Green Dance and Spiral.
The VR/360 category winner is Marcio Cabral of Brazil, for his immersive 360-degree underwater image (full immersive image is viewable on the website thepanoawards.com – scroll down and use mouse to control view)
Regional MD of Epson Southeast Asia Siew Jin Kiat said, “We are thrilled to witness the incredible photography talent emerging from Southeast Asia. It is truly inspiring to see the depths of creativity and vision by artists across the region. At Epson, we are committed to fostering innovation and supporting photographers in bringing their unique perspectives to life. We look forward to seeing even more outstanding entries from this region in the years to come.”
Competition Curator, David Evans said, “Momentum continues to build from entrants in Southeast Asia, and also Asia more broadly. We are thrilled to have Epson Southeast Asia onboard as joint major sponsor with Epson Australia and given the increase year on year from this dynamic region, the timing could not be better. The quality of entries is astounding, and I am endlessly fascinated by the spectacular windows to the world presented by highly talented photographers far and wide.”
The judging panel for The Epson International Pano awards includes some of the world’s top panoramic photographers and industry professionals.
To view all the winning and top image galleries go to: https://thepanoawards.com/2024-winners-gallery