With more sponsors and a growth in submissions each year, the International Pano Awards has been built by Epson Australia and contest curator David Evans into a prestigious global photo contest.

A photo from last year’s Open category winner, Alex Noriega.

This year Epson has partnered with Nikon Australia for the International Pano Awards, collaborating on the sponsorship which will ‘serve to grow this fantastic competition further,’ Epson Australia market communications manager, Nathan Fulcher, told ProCounter.

While it’s a one-off partnership, Epson and Nikon have enjoyed a constructive relationship and worked together on a number of projects over the years. (It’s a good fit, as the two imaging companies have a similar set of customers but aren’t in competition with each other)

Now in its eighth year, the 2017 Epson International Pano Awards are accepting submissions, with $50,000 in prizes to be won.

The contest celebrates and showcases panoramic photography, which is growing in popularity as the craft becomes more accessible due to advances in digital technology and editing software.

‘Epson is proud to continue its support as the title partner of the International Pano Awards in 2017,’ said Craig Heckenberg, general manager of business division at Epson Australia. ‘Each year the competition continues to go from strength to strength and nothing highlights this better than the fact that the awards now attract entries from over 60 countries around the world. The images submitted are nothing short of spectacular and I am confident 2017 will raise the bar once again.’

Epson has organised the contest since its first year in 2009, alongside Evans, a South Australian commercial photographer who describes both parties involvement as a ‘labour of love’. None of the entry fees create profit for Evans, Epson, or other sponsors.

In 2010 the contest received 2740 entries, with that number steadily increasing to 4545 last year. While the numbers of photographers entering hasn’t increased to the same level, opening new categories and expanding the contest has encouraged more submissions.

The locally-run contest has Nature and Built Environment categories for the Open and Amateur competition, and a 360/VR category.

This year’s judging panel includes Jeff Mitchum, Lucie Debelkova, Mark Handy, Stefan Hefele, Aaron Chang, Christian Fleury, Monish Mansharamani, Karl Strand, Sean Davey, Perri K Schelat, Bill Bailey, Aaron Spence and Marcio Cabral.

Prizes include an Epson SureColor P7070 printer, an Epson SureColor P5070 printer, an Epson EB-1776 ultra-slim projector, a Nikon D810 with AF-S 14-24mm f2.8 lens, a total of $22,000 in cash prizes, and more.

This year Atkins Photo Lab from South Australia has also jumped in as a sponsor, providing a number of vouchers to award winners and finalists.

The awards are open until July 9.