Breathtaking winning images from the 2024 panoramic photo awards revealed, from startling lightning storms in Utah to fairytale trees in Spain. Which is YOUR favourite?
Prepare to see the world as you’ve never seen it before, courtesy of these incredible panoramic images.
All the photographs are featured in the 2024 Epson International Pano Awards, the world’s largest competition devoted to panoramic photography. This year’s best panoramas were selected from over 4,500 entries from more than 1,100 professional and amateur photographers in 95 countries worldwide.
A lightning strike in Utah, dolphins playing in Western Australia, a sunrise over Japan‘s Mount Fuji and Norway’s Northern Lights are just a few of the scenes that caught the attention of the judges.
However, this year’s overall winner is Kelvin Yuen, from Hong Kong, for his incredible photographs captured across the world from China to Patagonia.
David Evans, competition curator, says: ‘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.’
Scroll down to see MailOnline Travel’s pick of some of this year’s best entries – with one of Kelvin Yuen’s winning images at the very bottom…
This spellbinding image by Spanish photographer Rafael Garcia Luna is titled ‘Tree of Life’ and was taken in the northern Basque region of Spain. It came 31st in the Amateur Nature Landscapes category
U.S photographer James Bian captured this incredible image of the Church of Mary the Queen at Lake Bled in Slovenia. It came 30th in the Open Built Environment category
This jaw-dropping image depicts a dramatic storm dumping rain near the bends of the King River in Wyndham in Western Australia. The photo was captured by Australian photographer Tom Putt and takes the Curator’s Award in the Open Nature Landscapes category
Nicholas Fong, a photographer from Hong Kong, snapped this breathtaking photo of Japan’s Mount Fuji at sunrise. It took 47th place in the Open Nature Landscapes category
This striking image, titled ‘Blissful Moment’, was taken in the Albay region of the Philippines by Filipino photographer Brix Tan. It came 41st in the Open Nature Landscapes category
Jon Vause, an Australian photographer, took this beautiful image of dolphins leaping in the Cape Naturaliste region of Western Australia. It came 42nd in the Amateur Nature Landscapes category
This breathtaking photo of Iceland’s Mulajokull glacial tongue was captured by Kevin Pages, an Icelandic photographer. It came 37th in the Open Nature Landscapes category
Cassio Vasconcellos, a Brazilian photographer, built this striking image of planes from several aerial photographs taken from various locations. The image came 32nd in the Open Built Environment category
This magnificent image of snowy summits in Patagonia was taken by Kelvin Yuen, a photographer from Hong Kong. It took sixth place in the Open Nature Landscapes category
This captivating image of peaks in the Himalayas was taken by Italian photographer Federico Putignano. It came 41st in the Open Nature Landscapes category
This hypnotic photo shows Sorvagsvatn – a lake on the island of Vagar in the Faroe Islands archipelago. Behind the lens was German photographer Sabine Weise, whose image came 21st in the Amateur Nature Landscapes category
This astonishing image of the Cone of Arita, a conical volcanic peak formed by salt and black lava on Argentina’s Salar de Arizaro salt flats, was taken by Australian photographer Ignacio Palacios. It was awarded 22nd place in the Open Nature Landscapes category
This spellbinding image of a storm at a spectacular Utah ‘toadstool’ rock formation was captured by American photographer Nickolas Warner. It took 17th place in the Open Nature Landscapes category
This eye-opening image came 35th in the Open Nature Landscapes category. It shows a lightning storm erupting around a volcano in Pucon, Chile, and was taken by Chilean photographer Francisco Negroni
A lone tree under stormy skies in Kenya’s Maasai Mara is the scene in this captivating image by Canadian photographer Dana McMullen. It took 26th place in the Open Nature Landscapes category
Above is a magnificent image of a fairytale tree in Brazil’s southern Rio Grande do Sul region taken by Brazilian photographer Cassio Vasconcellos. It came 37th in the Open Nature Landscapes category
Spanish photographer Diego Manrique Diez meshed 27 pictures to create this breathtaking panorama of the Northern Lights in Senja, Norway, which was declared the winner of the Amateur Nature Landscapes category. Diego says: ‘I remember that night as if it were yesterday. The intense cold was taking hold of me, and the overcast sky prevented me from seeing the awaited Northern Lights. I was the only one left on that spot when the sky began to open up, followed by a majestic Aurora Borealis’
Overall winner Kelvin Yuen, from Hong Kong, took this magnificent image of misty peaks in the Everest region. The photo took 8th place in the Open Nature Landscapes category
This is one of the three shots that landed Kelvin Yuen the title of 2024 Open Photographer of the Year. The drone shot also topped the podium in the Open Nature Landscapes category. It shows lightning raking the skies above China’s Guilin karst formations, with Kelvin commenting: ‘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 it’
