Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park is one of the most beautiful places to visit in Indonesia. The sprawling park’s lunar landscape is punctuated by majestic peaks – one of them being the famous Mount Bromo, the park’s most active volcano. Most people take 4×4 tours to get up close to this marvel, but if that’s not in your books, then this stunning panorama of Mount Bromo shrouded in a sea of clouds might just change your mind.
As a testament to its beauty, this photograph won Indonesian photographer Fikri Muharom the title of Southeast Asia Open Photographer of the Year at the 2024 Epson International Pano Awards. That makes him the first-ever winner of this newly-introduced category at the competition, which is devoted to panoramic photography by industry professionals and enthusiasts. This year, more than 4,500 submissions were received from 95 countries.
If you’re keen to see Mount Bromo just as depicted in the shot, take it from Fikri – wait for a rainy night. “In June, it often rains in Surabaya at night – and usually, if it rains in the middle of the night and stops before dawn, Bromo will be in the best condition because a sea of low clouds will appear in the caldera,” says Fikri. To capture this extraordinary scene, he launched his drone from Pananjakan Hill at sunrise.
Fikri Muharom was not the only Asian photographer to shine at this year’s International Pano Awards. Hong Kong-based photographer Kelvin Yuen won this year’s grand title: 2024 Open Photographer of the Year for his trio of works, Power of Nature, Wilderness, and Mountain of Divinity. Power of Nature, a theatrical shot of lightning dancing over the mountains of Guilin, also placed him as the winner in the Nature/Landscape category.
Nguyen Tan Tuan from Central Vietnam was the overall runner-up in the Open competition and the winner of the Open Built Environment category. His submission captures farmers harvesting from golden chrysanthemum fields in Sadec, Dong Thap, making a gorgeous ode to Vietnam’s landscapes and traditional craft villages.
We’re chuffed to see so much incredible Asian talent spotlighted at this competition, which happens to show off the gorgeous landscapes you can find all over this continent, too. This year’s entries were judged on creativity, technical excellence, and originality by some of the world’s top panoramic photographers and industry professionals, such as Andy Chua, James Tan, and last year’s Open Photographer of the Year, José D. Riquelme. To see more winning images from Asian and international photographers alike, head to The Pano Awards’ 2024 Winners Gallery.
All images are credited to the respective photographers, The 15th Epson International Pano Awards, and https://thepanoawards.com.
READ MORE
