The Pano Awards Curator, David Evans, says, “We are incredibly excited to welcome Epson Southeast Asia to the Pano Awards as major sponsor, reflecting the growth we are seeing in interest from this region. We’re thrilled to strengthen our collaboration with Epson with this partnership, which has been growing strong since our inception in 2009. With the addition of Epson Southeast Asia to Epson Australia as major sponsor, we are also very pleased to announce a record US$50,000 prize pool that includes $15,000 in cash and an array of prizes including Epson printers and projector. So, it gives me great pleasure to officially announce that professional and amateur photographers around the world are now invited to enter the 15th Epson International Pano Awards. Early-bird entries are open until Monday 24 June 2024 with final entries due by Monday 15 July 2024.”

Jocelyn Tan, Senior Regional Manager, Commercial Products, Epson Southeast Asia, shared “We are thrilled to support the 15^th edition of The Pano Awards and are excited to take the stage with Epson Australia as one of the sponsors of the competition to introduce this award that recognises the incredible talent here in Southeast Asia. Epson is committed to fostering innovation and excellence in photography and this collaboration underscores our dedication in supporting artists and photographers in bringing their visions to life.”

Exciting Prizes to be won!

Specifically sponsored by Epson Southeast Asia, the winner of this esteemed title will receive at least USD5,000 worth of rewards including the Epson SureColour SC-P5300, a photo printer designed for professional photographers and artists, and fine art media. Each year, the top performing photographers are showcased in hundreds of publications worldwide, ensuring that outstanding photographic works are given the platform and recognition they rightly deserve.

The Pano Awards have consistently attracted a broad array of international entries. Last year, a record-breaking 4,414 entries were submitted by more than 1,000 photographers across 102 countries and is a testament to the global interest in panoramic photography and the importance of these awards. Notably, there is a growing enthusiasm from Asia with registrants from the region increasing by approximately 26% in 2023 compared to the year before.

The Epson International Pano Awards

The judging panel for this year’s awards comprises distinguished photographers and industry experts including Andy Chua, James Tan, Chris Yap, Hugh Hou and last year’s Open Photographer of the Year, José D. Riquelme. Entries will be evaluated by their critical eye for creativity, technical excellence and originality. 

For more information on The Epson International Pano Awards and how to enter the contest, please visit https://thepanoawards.com.

Early bird entries for the 2024 Pano Awards are now open – https://thepanoawards.com/enter-2024-awards/

* Information courtesy of Epson Singapore and Mutant Communications *

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On Saturday 19th August 2023 World Photography Day, let us photographers celebrate photography through our vision, craft, art and visual story. Landscapes photography is one of my favourite photography genres, from my travel photography to urban landscapes.

For World Photography Day 2023, I have selected a few different landscape photographs that were shot with the Canon EOS R6 Mark II mirrorless camera that recently entered into my photography and visual storytelling setup. 

From capturing new landscape views from the newly built housing district in my local neighbourhood, to downtown Singapore Marina Reservoir, or different parks around Singapore. You never know what that moment might bring you on that day itself, and it’s through our photography that we captured down those priceless moments and memories.  

Wishing all photographers a Happy World Photography Day 2023! Enjoy and have fun with your photography adventures!  

* A TGH Photography x Canon EOS R6 Mark II Explorer Series Production *

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The Pano Awards’ Curator, David Evans, explained, “The excitement truly starts when we announce the call for entries to win a US$40,000 prize pool that includes $14,000 in cash and an array of prizes including an Epson SureColor P7000 printer, an Epson SureColor P5000 printer and an Epson EB-1795F ultra-slim projector. People start talking and you can feel the buzz go through the industry. So, it gives me great pleasure to officially announce that professional and amateur photographers around the world are now invited to enter the 14th Epson International Pano Awards. Applications are due Monday 17 July 2023.” 

For the Epson International Pano Awards 2022 competition, it surpassed expectations despite facing many post-Covid challenges. Year 2022 competition saw 4,129 entries images submitted from 1,197 photographers in 98 countries. Current estimates hat these numbers will be exceeded again this year.

Epson Australia marketing manager, Priscilla Dickason, said, “The Pano Awards have grown to be iconic in terms of their reach, following and support within the industry. Epson has been proud to support these incredible awards and the truly and uniquely talented photographers who embrace them for 14 years. It’s one of the key ways Epson continues our ongoing commitment to the photographic industry with photographers of all levels. Imaging and colour are at Epson’s core and we are very much looking forward to seeing this year’s entries and how amazing they look when printed out on Epson’s dedicated photo printers.” 

Epson SureColor P7000 and Epson SureColor P5000

The Epson SureColor-P7000 is a 24″ (610mm) large format printer and the SureColor P5000 is a 17″ (432mm) large format printer both of which are designed for premium photo, fine art, proofing and packaging design. They support a wide range of standard and specialist media in roll and sheet formats and feature a PrecisionCore Thin Film (TFP) head with Variable Sized Droplet Technology that enables the output of images in high resolution with superior fidelity and tonal gradation. 

Both printers use Epson’s latest UltraChrome HDX all-pigment aqueous ink for accurate colour with an enhanced gamut, Dmax and image durability. The printers also use a 10 colour ink configuration with two levels of black, a choice of a third black or alternative Violet ink for outstanding colour and black and white prints with up to 99% Pantone coverage. 

Epson EB-1795F 

Its ultra-slim design, radiant widescreen performance and easy wireless connectivity make the Epson EB-1795F the ultimate choice in portable projectors. It delivers value, convenience and performance and easily delivers brilliant content from any widescreen notebook with native 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution. Couple that with 3200 lumens colour and white light output and the results are truly amazing. 

David Evans concluded, “The Pano Awards and those who support them and participate in them are a family and we embrace incredibly talented photographers within a real community in order to make the awards such a success. We simply couldn’t have achieved our success without Epson, their continued support and their amazing photo and fine art printers which set the standard for image reproduction. We wholeheartedly thank Epson for being such an amazing sponsor year after year.” 

Judging panel for The 2023 Pano Awards

The judging panel for The 2023 Pano Awards includes some of the world’s top photographers and industry professionals including Janie Fitzgerald, Jinyi He, Candace Dyar, Felix Inden, Laura Oppelt, Jarrod Castaing, Tim Shields, Craig Bill, Isabella Tabacchi, Juan Pablo de Miguel, Erin Babnik, Aaron Spence and Bill Bailey. 

Hear from previous Pano Awards winners!

If you are hearing about Epson International Pano Awards for the first time, or you would like to know more about what is it like entering this contest, check out the YouTube videos below and hear from previous Pano Awards winners!

1. Compilation: https://youtu.be/vJ0AkDxLUuY 
2. David Evans: https://youtu.be/EjL4DoQIHwY 
3. Paul Hoelen: https://youtu.be/ZruUuixGId4 
4. Mieke Boynton: https://youtu.be/ygYmOTASl9Q 
5. Tom Putt: https://youtu.be/MTt81uA 

• Facebook: @PanoAwards
• Twitter: @EpsonPanoAwards
• Instagram: @PanoAwards

* Information and pictures courtesy of Epson Singapore and Hill+Knowlton Strategies *

The post Call for Entries for Epson International Pano Awards 2023 appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

Both RF600mm f/11 and RF800mm f/11 were reviewed together with the Canon EOS R3 full-frame mirrorless camera. Inside my Canon EOS R3 review article, I shared on bringing the RF600mm f/11 and RF800mm f/11 lenses out for photography walks and wildlife shoot, part of my own short visual stories collection titled, “A TGH Photography x Canon EOS R3 Explorer Series Production”.    

Interesting lenses, why does Canon design and manufacture such type of prime lenses? That got me thinking, I finally got to test and review both lenses, let me share with you my experiences, thoughts and views.

During my photography walkabouts, I alternate between those two lenses to bring out with my other Canon lenses. The RF600mm f/11 is more versatile as it can cover more areas beside wildlife photography, it can be used for cityscape and landscape photography. However, for wildlife photography, a longer focal length is always preferred and most welcomed, thus the RF800mm f/11 is stronger in the wildlife photography segment.

Pros 

• Lightweight, compact and portable 
• Not expensive compared to the L lens 600mm and 800mm counterparts 
• Output is sharp for the f/11 lenses when shot in good light conditions
• Paired with a fast and accurate AF camera such as the Canon EOS R3, it makes RF600mm f/11 and RF800mm f/11 easy to use in good light conditions

Cons

• It’s f/11 only
• Not a fast prime lens 
• Struggle in low light situations – photos output quality is not good and autofocus (AF) is slow 

600mm f/11 vs 800mm f/11, how to choose?

Choose 600mm f/11 for both cityscape / travel / wildlife, it’s a more versatile lens that can do a good mix of photography genres when traveling overseas.

Choose 800mm f/11 for dedicated wildlife photography, the field of view is a lot more cropped and tight. 

Thoughts and Views

• Both Canon RF600mm f/11 IS STM and RF800mm f/11 IS STM lenses are good starter prime lenses for photographers starting to enter into wildlife photography.
• When used in good light conditions, it’s easy to use and can produce decent sharp photos
• The price point for both lenses, it’s value for money without breaking your personal bank owning telephoto lenses. Owning a large aperture / fast prime telephoto lens such as RF400mm f/2.8L IS USM, 600mm f/4L IS USM lenses or RF800mm f/5.6L IS USM lenses, you need the extra funds as they are very expensive.
• Both are ideal travel photography / wildlife photography lenses, it’s really lightweight, compact and portable, easy to use.

In my personal humble opinion, for those are who are looking into owning the Canon RF600mm f/11 IS STM or RF800mm f/11 IS STM lenses, a key point to take note is to know and understand the limitations of f/11, how you can make the best of those two prime f/11 lenses, and making the best use of light and timing to ensure its strengths are being tapped upon.

If you would like to view more photos shot with the Canon RF600mm f/11 IS STM and RF800mm f/11 IS STM lenses, you can visit my Flickr collections and check them out! Do also check out my Canon EOS R3 photography album too! 

I would like to thank Canon Singapore for the opportunity to review the Canon RF600mm f/11 IS STM and RF800mm f/11 IS STM lenses. 

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The ongoing global pandemic has caused massive economic and financial impacts to the world tourism and travel industries. I wrote, shared and published an earlier article on “When can we Restart Tourism?” in June 2021. I was cautiously optimistic, however the world situation didn’t go according as planned with the Delta variant causing havoc and further disruptions towards many countries plans to reopen their economy, as well as their tourism and travel industries. On World Tourism Day 2021, this would be my follow up article that I published earlier in June 2021.

Looking back at my travel adventures over the years, I am missing it a lot. During this ongoing global pandemic period, my wanderlust for travel has also made me reflect a lot on the future of travel as it would never be the same again before the days of COVID-19. 

First and foremost, I will now always remember these words of wisdom, travel may be a privilege for some of us, not everyone can get to travel out overseas. This ongoing global pandemic could have further widen this gap between those that can travel and those who can’t.

When the time arrives whereby we can Restart Tourism, travel overseas safely again, this would be the time to add on more travel photography adventures to my TGH Photography travel portfolio, Flickr travel photography collections and travel explorer stories here on my TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

I am keen to work on two areas when the world travel and tourism industries reopen – community based tourism and nature based/conservation/sustainable tourism. As we are preparing for the eventual reopening and recovery of the world travel and tourism industries, I am reaching out to the travel and tourism worldwide networks on collaborations and partnerships.  

While this global pandemic situation has caused massive impacts to the world tourism and travel industries, this is also an excellent opportunity for a “reset”, to address and change some of our tourism and travel industry standards, operating procedures, practices, mindsets, habits etc etc, to make a change for the better, for the future. 

Let’s help to restart the world tourism and travel industries again when it is safe to do so, sometime down the road, hopefully soon. Meanwhile, do support your local/domestic travel and tourism industries too. This is the time for inclusive growth. 

Meanwhile, when can we restart tourism again? A number of countries have started to open up their tourism markets in small and at specific destinations. Some countries have started to open up more than other countries. We are all taking steps towards reopening the international tourism and travel industries.

Till the day when we can safely #RestartTourism and travel overseas again, take care and be safe! I look forward to meeting my travel and tourism network friends when I get the opportunity to travel and visit them in their countries! 

The post World Tourism Day 2021 appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

As I explored and trekked through the mountains, forests and valleys, searching for the answers, am I able to find them? Life for me, as well as my photography, they have never been smooth sailing, it’s full of ups and downs, twists and turns, we have to weather the storm and welcome the sun to shine upon us again when it’s all over. The beautiful sounds of the wildlife calling out to us, the sound of the waves reaching the shore. The freshness aroma of the after rain, sweet fragrant aroma from the trees, leaves and flowers. 

Chasing the sunrise, the light rays shining through the rainforest canopy, patiently waiting for the sunset to end the day on a high. Is it fate, is it all about the time or they both combine together at that moment in time? 

Fate and Time, these two things intertwined into my life. Are things/we fated? Maybe it’s just not the right time. Maybe, I just have to let fate takes its course. Where will fate and time bring me? 

我们到了站，这一站叫 ____ ? 下一站是 ____ ？

Maybe I need to trust the timing of my life. Trust my own journey, my own fate and my own time. 

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