“The Sleeping Giant” by Daniel Viñé Garcia (Spain). Open Photographer of the Year, 1st Place, Aerial, and RAW Planet Award
The 17th Epson International Pano Awards announced the winners of its 2026 competition, highlighting professional and amateur panoramic photography. In breathtaking elongated images, our world comes alive. From brilliant auroras to bustling cityscapes, landscapes become fine art.
Spanish photographer Daniel Viñé Garcia was named Open Photographer of the Year, rising to the top from 2,122 entries. He shot his jewel-toned image, The Sleeping Giant, at Parinacota Volcano in Chile, which rises nearly 21,000 feet. Next to the massive mound is Pomerape, which is similarly sized at over 20,000 feet. They are imposing compared to the surrounding topography, but Garcia also makes them feel small, thanks to the composition’s overall size and the distance between him and the volcanoes.
“The original capture was a 360-degree aerial panorama made from 33 individual exposures,” Garcia explains. “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.”
The Epson International Pano Awards also has an amateur field, which saw 1,962 submissions. It crowns an Amateur Photographer of the Year, and in 2026, Tomas Sanchez Ruiz of Spain took the title. His image, Double Arch Over Stokksnes, shows an aurora over the peninsula in southeast Iceland. Its shape resembles a rainbow, but the two green bands give it a much more magical effect.
“On the night I took this photograph, the aurora forecast was not particularly promising,” Sánchez Ruiz recalls. “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.”
Scroll down to see the overall winners of the 17th Epson International Pano Awards. Then, visit its website to see the full 2026 winners gallery.
The 17th Epson International Pano Awards announced the winners of its 2026 competition, highlighting professional and amateur panoramic photography.
“Double arch on Milford Sound” by Mikel Iraeta (Spain). 1st Place, Nature / Landscape
“Cathedral of Starlight” by Daniel Viñé Garcia (Spain). Open Photographer of the Year and 3rd Place, Nature / Landscape
“My Perfect Night” by Daniel Viñé Garcia (Spain). Open Photographer of the Year and 4th Place, Nature / Landscape
“Center of the Cosmos” by Xuecheng Liu (United States). 1st Place, Built Environment
“Anatolian Artisan” by Daniel Viñé Garcia (Spain). 2nd Place, Built Environment
“The Rugby Players” by Preeti and Prashant Chacko (India). 2nd Place, Nature / Landscape and Epson Digital Art Prize
“Between Giants” by Szabi Nemeth (Australia). Highest Scoring Vertical Image
“The Devil's Gaze” by Mildred Lai (Hong Kong). 2nd Place, Amateur Aerial
“Westminster Abbey” by Tomas Sanchez Ruiz (Spain). Amateur Photographer of the Year
“X marks the spot in Shanghai” by Vitaly Golovatyuk (China). Highest Scoring Gigapixel Image
“Double arch on Milford Sound” by Mikel Iraeta (Spain). 1st Place, Nature / Landscape
“The Emerald Arch Over Lofoten” by Wutimet Bunyasirisith (Thailand). Southeast Asia Open Photographer of the Year
“Journey of Life” by Xuejun Long (China). 1st Place, Amateur Aerial
“Sphere” by Sebastian Cantos Navalon (Spain). 2nd Place, Amateur Built Environment
“Stairs from Earth to Heaven” by Sebastian Cantos Navalon (Spain). 1st Place, Amateur Built Environment
“Wonderful Reflections” by Tomas Sanchez Ruiz (Spain). Amateur Photographer of the Year
“Antarctic Nights” by Max Terwindt (The Netherlands). The Curator’s Award
“Ancient Nebula” by Evan McKay (New Zealand). 2nd Place, Amateur Nature / Landscape
“Boreal Wings” by Francesco Dall'Olmo (Italy). 2nd Place, Aerial
