Open Photographer of the Year
First place Nature/Landscape category

The 10-day nomad trip to Algeria turned out to be one of the best adventures ever.
After many nights crossing dunes and climbing rocky ridges, I reached a remote viewpoint on the last evening of this amazing expedition.

As the sun went down, the sky literally exploded... layer after layer of clouds lit up, painting the desert with fire and gold.
Using my Sony A7 IV with a fisheye lens on a tripod, I captured a full multi-exposure sequence at f/8 and ISO 100, rotating carefully around the nodal point to create a seamless 360° panorama.

That sunset felt like a farewell, the last blaze of light closing with "fireworks" one of the most meaningful journeys I’ve ever taken.

Picture: Alex Wides / The Epson International Pano Awards

Open Photographer of the Year
First place Nature/Landscape category

I first discovered this location about four years ago through a photo that completely captivated me... a suspended lake spilling into a valley, where an epic river carved a perfect serpent of water through the landscape. I told myself: one day, I have to photograph this place.

In 2022 I passed not far from it, but my work took the Lofoten Islands and I missed the chance, for two more years the dream remained on hold.
In the summer of 2024 I was finally close again, but the weather was brutal... ten straight days with no clear window to hike up.

After finishing my tours on Senja Island, I decided to try once more. The first attempt gave me only fog, grey skies, and disappointment. Still, I couldn’t give up. The next evening, I hiked back up with fresh supplies, hoping for a good weather window.

When I opened the tent… "Jackpot".
The sky exploded in a spectacular half hour of Northern Lights. I captured the full 360° panorama using a Sony A7 IV with a fisheye lens at f/3.5, for 4 seconds, ISO 16000... This was a perfect reward after years of waiting. In that moment, everything came together: the place, the light, my satisfaction.

This is Norway... tough, unpredictable, but when it gives, it gives in style.

Picture: Alex Wides / The Epson International Pano Awards

Open Photographer of the Year
First place Nature/Landscape category

Like the planet from Interstellar, this scene felt otherworldly.
Shot on January 8, 2022, in my home mountains, the Dolomites, under a strong winter moonlight, it offered a very different view from the classic Milky Way nights. I took the Lagazuoi cable car up to one of my favorite places, surrounded by peaks, silence, and snow.

After a colorful sunset, I waited for the moon to rise. For years I’ve been fascinated by the way lunar light reveals every texture of the snow, every pattern shaped by the wind.
To bring this vision to life, I worked through the night at -15°C, using a Sony A6600 with a fisheye lens at 10mm, f/5.6, 10 seconds, ISO 1250, building a 270° panorama in the freezing wind.

There was no room at the refuge, so I descended alone in the dark, through snow and silence, guided only by the moonlight and my headlamp.
It was a tough night, but one of the most meaningful memories I keep from my mountains.

Picture: Alex Wides / The Epson International Pano Awards

Amateur runner-up
First place Built Environment category

This photograph depicts one of the four towers that shape the financial district of the Spanish capital. More specifically, it's the PwC Tower, which is the third highest skyscraper in Spain (236 m or 775 ft). Its surroundings merge with garden areas, which connect the spaces between these concrete giants.

The skyscraper peaks through an opening that inevitably brings a painter's palette to our minds, while inviting us to imagine a world created before being depicted. Within this frame, the tower ascends into the sky, manifesting the modernity and avant-garde design of this architectonic complex.

Picture: Pedro Nogales / The Epson International Pano Awards

Amateur Photographer of the Year First place Nature / Landscape category

This image was from my last morning in the Bolivia highland. We have been unlucky with the weather for three straight days and the clouds finally cleared at that moment. Bolivia highland, to my knowledge, is less explored due to the difficulty of reaching remote locations and the high altitude of almost 5000 meters.

On top of that, snow was quite early this year, and I was in awe seeing the red dessert mixed with fresh white powder. I will never know when I will get to have a moment like this in the future, so I quickly launched my drone and used the pano tool to compose this image.

The total number of images in this composition is 21 images single exposure stitched in Lightroom and processed through Lightroom and Photoshop.

Picture: Kevin Nyun / The Epson International Pano Awards

Amateur Photographer of the Year First place Nature / Landscape category

This image was shot during New Years Eve of 2024 on my first ever snowshoeing trip. I invited a photographer friend of mine to a spontaneous trip to the PNW in search of trees covered in snow just like Finland. We had just bought our snowshoes literally the night before, and because it was my first time snow shoeing, the hike was quite difficult and we were extremely slow.

We started off our hike at 3 AM praying we would reach the summit by blue hour, and the temperature was at 8°F that morning. As the light reached the horizon, the scenery was breathtaking. We were surrounded not only by the frozen trees but also by the Cascade Volcanic range of the Pacific Northwest.
The burning sky and alpine glow was about to happen.

Right when I was about to shoot, I faced another difficulty; my drone was completely frozen and I could not properly use any of my primary functions. The cold was rushing through my fingers, so I did my best and managed to shoot a row of panos just as the glow reached the peak. This was a horizontal panorama shot in 6 single exposure images stitched with Lightroom and processed through Lightroom and Photoshop. A morning, I will never forget!

Picture: Kevin Nyun / The Epson International Pano Awards

Amateur Photographer of the Year First place Nature / Landscape category

This image was shot in the Bolivia Highland. We were already driving back to Uyuni this morning, and our tour guide wanted a cinematic video of our cars driving down what used to be a super volcano in the past. The guide volunteered me to use my drone. While I was shooting the video I was able to scout out these amazing remnants of the volcanoes.

The red desert of the Altiplano is like a painting even during midday lighting. As soon as we were done with the video shots, I requested the drivers to wait for me so I could fly back to the volcano to capture this panorama.

The dappled light piercing through the midday clouds was a great compliment to the composition. The total number of images in this composition is 21 images single exposure stitched in Lightroom and processed through Lightroom and Photoshop.

Picture: Kevin Nyun / The Epson International Pano Awards

Open runner-up
First place Built Environment category
Highest Scoring Aerial Image
Highest Scoring Vertical Image

This aerial photograph was captured from Victoria Peak, Hong Kong, at sunset. As a technical experiment, I manually shot a 48-image panorama using a DJI Phantom 3 Pro.

The final artwork is the result of meticulously stitching and inverting the composite, transforming the city and sky into a mesmerizing, abstract landscape.

Upon its initial release, the image captivated a global audience, overwhelming my Instagram with an unexpected and passionate response.

Picture: Vitaly Golovatyuk / The Epson International Pano Awards

Amateur, Built Enviorenment Winner

During the late summer months of August the high alpine areas of Mount Rainier in Washington come alive with wildflowers. Starting at the lower elevations and then working into bloom at higher elevations as the days go on.

This particular year I had quite a bit of time to explore this park and made three or four hikes on separate occasions up to this location with my main purpose to photograph a tarn that had a perfect reflection of this glorious mountain. And each time that I did that hike, this field of lupine just kept getting better and better.

On my final trek up there for the season with a very good friend of mine, we were all alone breathing in the fresh mountain air and listening to the birds watching this scene of a perfect meadow and mountain unfold before our eyes.

As some storm clouds started blowing out to the east I knew that there would be a gap on the horizon and purposefully waited until the very last rays of the sun gave the field of flowers that beautiful side and back light for the depth that I wanted in the image. Just a minute after pressing the shutter the light and drama was gone. 

Picture: Chris Byrne / The Epson International Pano Awards

Epson Digital Art Prize

This photograph depicts one of the four towers that shape the financial district of the Spanish capital. More specifically, it's the PwC Tower, which is the third highest skyscraper in Spain (236 m or 775 ft). Its surroundings merge with garden areas, which connect the spaces between these concrete giants.

The skyscraper peaks through an opening that inevitably brings a painter's palette to our minds, while inviting us to imagine a world created before being depicted. Within this frame, the tower ascends into the sky, manifesting the modernity and avant-garde design of this architectonic complex.

Picture: Daniel Viñé / The Epson International Pano Awards

VR/360 winner

This panorama was taken on a freezing March night in the high-temperature region of Hverarönd in northern Iceland. It was an awe-inspiring experience to stand alone in this surreal lunar landscape, surrounded by the hissing and sulphurous scent of the solfataras and fumaroles, as the delicate green of a single aurora arc transformed into a powerful substorm within minutes, and the Northern Lights danced above and around me in intense colors.

To achieve the highest possible image quality despite the wide aperture, I photographed a relatively tight pattern with large overlaps (2x6+N+Z) with a 15mm fisheye lens. It was important to be quick to minimize stitching errors between the individual images. On the one hand, the aurora borealis was noticeably moving, and on the other, the vapor columns of the solfataras were constantly rotating due to the constantly changing wind direction. Despite the somewhat challenging conditions, I was able to capture several 360° images during this overwhelming light show. An experience of a lifetime!

Picture: Christoph Simon / The Epson International Pano Awards

RAW Planet Award

The day I captured this image, the desert felt endless. During our journey through the American Southwest, one place had always fascinated me—Factory Butte, an isolated monolith surrounded by a labyrinth of badlands. I launched my drone into the still evening air, exploring the textures and lines carved by centuries of erosion.

Then, just as the sun dipped low, the summit cast its immense shadow across the land. I realized I was witnessing a fleeting alignment of light and form, so I captured a full 360° panorama—revealing the sun blazing on one side, the vast shadow stretching on the other, and the raw, timeless silence of Utah in between.

Picture: Daniel Viñé / The Epson International Pano Awards

SE Asia Open Photographer of the Year

I’ve been to many places across Africa, but Kenya still remains one of my favourites. Although I’ve witnessed the wildebeest migration countless times, it never ceases to amaze me. Last year, I found myself back in Kenya once again. Photographing the migration is never easy — it demands lots of patience and of cos a touch of luck.

After several hours of waiting, we finally saw the wildebeests moving. It’s always a breathtaking moment to witness the crossing. As a photographer, you have to pace yourself, stay calm amid the chaos, and think carefully about how to frame the story unfolds before you. For this image, what caught my attention was a lone wildebeest turning back amidst the frenzy. In that instant, I knew that was the shot I wanted.

Picture: William Chua / The Epson International Pano Awards