Panoramic photography: competition chooses the best of 2025
Epson Internacional Pano Awards 2025 received entries from photographers from 92 countries and had Brazilians among the finalists
The winners of the biggest international award dedicated to panoramic photography were announced this week, bringing together images of nature in all its grandeur.
Panoramic photography is a technique that allows you to capture scenes at much wider angles than a common photo — whether with professional cameras or even smartphones. This makes it possible for both professionals and amateurs to record wide landscapes, with the angle that the eyes see.
The overall winner of the Epson International Pano Awards 2025, which received entries from 92 countries, was Italian Alessandro Cantarelli, with three stunning images of nature from his country, Norway and Algeria.
In “Last fireworks”, he portrayed an Algerian desert at sunset ‘painted’ with fire and gold. The photo also won in the Nature/Landscape category.
In “Jackpot” the photographer recorded a northern lights in Norway.
“Mann” is a 270° panorama captured in the Italian Dolomites mountains, highlighting the moonlight on the snow shaped by the wind.
Meet the 2025 winners of the panoramic photography contest
Epson Digital Art Prize and RAW Planet: Daniel Viñé, Spain
“Tides of Tradition” was the winning panoramic photograph in the Digital Art category, which depicted women working in a Vietnamese coastal village in the morning shade and salty air.
“The nets they repair are not mere tools, but vital links that unite the sea and the community,” said the photographer.
Daniel Viñé also won the RAW Planet Award with the photo “Cathedral of Shadows”, taken with a drone, in Hanskville, Utah.
The panoramic image shows Factory Butter, an isolated monolith surrounded by a labyrinth of barren lands, where the photographer captured the alignment of the sun shining on one side and a vast shadow stretching on the other and the silence of the place in between.
Amateur Photographer of the Year and Nature/Landscape category: Kevin Nyun, USA
Nyun received the title of Amateur Photographer of the Year with “Altiplano landscape”. The image was taken in the Bolivian highlands with a drone and shows the red desert and fresh, white snow in the background.
The photographer had two more award-winning images: “Frozen” which was taken in Finland and shows snow-covered trees in the volcanic Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest.
The other photo recognized by the judges was “Traces”, which was also taken in the Bolivian Altiplano. The image shows traces of volcanoes bathed in light filtered by midday clouds.
Southeast Asia Photographer of the Year Award: William Chua, Singapore
The winning photo depicts the wildebeest migration in Kenya, highlighting a lone wildebeest trying to return amid the frenzy of the crossing.
VR/360 Category: Christoph Simon, Germany
The Northern Lights were photographed on a freezing March night in the high-temperature Hverarönd region of northern Iceland. The immersive image can be seen here.
“As the single green arc of the aurora turned into a powerful storm and the aurora borealis danced above and around me in intense colors, I was able to capture this fascinating light show,” said the photographer.
Curator’s Award: Chris Byrne, USA
During late summer the alpine areas of Washington’s Mount Rainier come alive with wildflowers. This is what the panoramic image titled “Elysium” shows.
Built Environment Award: Vitaly Golovatyuk (Panvelvet), Russia
Award-winning aerial photography shows Hong Kong from the top of Mount Victoria at sunset.
Built Environment Amateur Photographer Award: Pedro Nogales, Spain
Spaniard Pedro Nogales won in the Amateur Photographer – Built Environment category with the photo depicting one of the four PwC towers, the third tallest skyscraper in Spain.
See the panoramic photographs of Brazilians who participated in the contest
This year Brazilian photographers were not awarded, but some of their photos are among the images selected by the judges for the TOP100.
Brazilian Márcio Esteves Cabral, who won in 2024 in the VR/360 category with a record taken at Abismo de Anhumas, in Bonito, Mato Grosso do Sul, this year had three photos selected in the same category.
Purple grass, Alto Paraíso, Goiás
In the depths of the blue, a silent dive, Mining center in Tulum, Mexico
Laguna de Los Três at sunset, El Chalten, Patagonia, Argentina
And one of the TOP100 in the Nature/Landscape category
Electric sunset, Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
In the same category, photographer Henrique Murta had three panoramic photographs selected.
Calm Sahara, Djanet, Sahara, Algeria
Abstraction of sunrise in the Sahara, Tamanrassit, Algeria
Desert navigation, Djanet, Sahara, Algeria
Two other Brazilians were among the TOP100 in the Amateur Nature/Landscape category: Fabiana Fregonesi and Luciano Oliveira.
Fregonesi had two images selected.
Tiger Beach, Bahamas
The Pinch, Lembeh Strait, Indonesia
Photographer Luciano Oliveira was chosen by the judges with a panoramic photo taken in Chile.
Dawn on the mountain, Torres Del Paine National Park, Patagonia, Chile
Also read | Award-winning aerial photography images reveal nature from surprising angles; check it out
