Epson Pano Awards Names Global Winners for 2026
The 17th annual competition saw a significant rise in entries from photographers across 93 countries.
Updated on Oct. 20, 2026 in Photography
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Daniel Viñé Garcia and Tomás Sánchez Ruiz secured top honors at the 17th Epson International Pano Awards. This year the competition saw 4,084 entries, representing a 19% increase from 2025.
Why it matters
The annual competition serves as a premier showcase for wide-format photography, highlighting technical mastery in stitching and landscape composition. The growth in submissions underscores the global interest in panoramic imaging as a dedicated artistic discipline.
The 2026 competition featured 2,122 Open entries and 1,962 Amateur entries, with an additional 680 images in the Aerial category. The winning entry by Daniel Viñé Garcia utilized a complex process of 33 stitched exposures.
The players
Daniel Viñé Garcia
He is a professional photographer who secured the Open Photographer of the Year title for 2026.
Tomás Sánchez Ruiz
He is an award-winning photographer recognized as the 2026 Amateur Photographer of the Year.
Preeti and Prashant Chacko
They are the artists who received the Epson Digital Art Prize during the 2026 competition.
Mikel Iraeta
He is a photographer who won the Open Nature and Landscape category in the 17th annual awards.
Xuecheng Liu
He is a photographer based in the United States who won the Open Built Environment category.
The details
Daniel Viñé Garcia won the Open Photographer of the Year title for his image of the Parinacota Volcano, titled The Sleeping Giant. Other notable recognitions included the Epson Digital Art Prize awarded to Preeti and Prashant Chacko.
Timeline
The 17th annual Epson International Pano Awards took place in 2026.
The 2025 competition serves as the baseline year for the reported 19% increase in entries.
Culture Shift
The record-setting participation in the 2026 awards reflects a broader cultural enthusiasm for high-fidelity landscape documentation. This shift emphasizes the increasing accessibility of advanced stitching technology that allows photographers to capture expansive vistas with extreme detail.
For hobbyists looking to participate in future cycles, the awards highlight the importance of mastering multi-exposure stitching techniques like those used in the winning 33 and 107-image composites. Enthusiasts can study these winning entries to understand the hardware requirements and software workflows needed to produce competitive panoramic work.
The takeaway
Panoramic photography requires meticulous planning and post-processing to blend dozens of individual frames into a cohesive image. Aspiring photographers should practice high-volume stitching to replicate the depth and clarity seen in this year's award-winning landscapes.
Further reading
Discover more about the evolving world of Photography trends and techniques.
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