In its 13th year, the Pano Awards continues to present the most awe-inspiring imagery of any photo contest going around, with the overall winner stitching 40 separate drone shots together to depict a massive glacier in China.
“The Pano Awards has always been about the journey of each and every photographer who enters,” explained David Evans, competition curator. “We can travel the world through their eyes and it’s the translation of each unique perspective into these works of art which seems to become more incredible each year. 2022 represents a leap in both creative vision and technical skill and I can’t stop staring at the images!”
The contest is relatively simple, spanning an Open competition for professionals and a separate division for amateurs. There are only two categories in each competition: Nature and Built Environments. Other than that, the main feature of the Pano Awards is its stipulation that all entries must be in a wide or tall aspect ratio - at least 2:1 or 1:2.
The overall Open Photographer of the Year prize went to Chinese photographer Jinyi He. Several shots of He’s feature in the awards but most impressive is a composition titled The Vein, taken in the Dushanzi Grand Canyon.
"For tens of millions of years, the melting snow water of Tianshan Glacier has torn open the chest of the vast Gobi like a Hummer, and formed this natural landscape under the movement of the earth's crust and the erosion of wind and rain,” said He. “The Vein is stitched by 40 photos. I operated my drone to capture these 90 degrees aerial view photos at 40 appropriate points (5 rows and 8 columns) of the canyon in order to get whole canyon aerial view.”
Amateur Photographer of the Year was awarded to Dubai-based photographer Florian Kriechbaumer. One of Kriechbaumer’s celebrated shots captures a large elephant family moving across an open plain in the morning light to find water.
“With a bit of patience you can photograph their amazing formations as they walk in line, and if you’re brave enough you might be able to do so from the ground for that extra special perspective,” Kriechbaumer said. “The experience of observing the behavior of these magnificent creatures and how it reflects their social ties and emotions has been very impactful for me, and their plight for survival in a world that continues to hunt them for ivory is a topic that deserves more attention.”
Take a look through our gallery at more handpicked highlights from this years stunning competition winners.
Source: The Pano Awards
