Freelance photographer Cao Ky Nhan, 41, currently works in Ho Chi Minh City surpassed many competitors around the world to win the First Prize in the Open - Built Environment category of the Epson International Pano Awards 2023 for the photo "Vortex of ducks".

Nhan told VietNamNet that the photo was snapped at around 5 p.m. on July 26, 2020 at Tra O lagoon in Phu My district of Binh Dinh province. At that time, the light was still quite strong and had a beautiful golden hue.

Tra O Lagoon is a very beautiful and poetic brackish water lagoon, with a high level of biodiversity, very rich and diverse aquatic resources.

When feeding time arrives, the duck herder brings food and calls out to them, meaning thousands of ducks will quickly rush towards the herder and run around him. In order to capture their moment, he used a drone and added a filter to the camera.

“My intention was to slow down the shutter speed. In this way, with a single static image. I was able to capture the swirling motions of the ducks. At that moment, their movement resembled a vortex,” Nhan wrote about the photograph on website of the awards.

He also won the overall runner-up in the Open competition this year.

“When I received the results of the Epson International Pano Awards, I was really surprised and happy. This has been a great joy on my photography journey. This is also a contest that I have pursued for many years because its criteria match the direction I want to pursue. This is also the playground of many famous photographers in the world and I have learned a lot from them," Nhan said.

Previously, he was twice honoured with gold prizes at the Epson International Pano Awards for his shots of a autumn love song taken at Suoi Tia stream in Lam Dong province in 2021, as well as golden yellow rice fields flanking a river in Cao Bang province in 2022.

The Epson International Pano Awards is a large-scale photography competition that offers a platform in which to bring together world-renowned landscape photographers.

This marks the 14th year that the contest has been held, with the event attracting 4,414 artworks by 1,104 photographers from 102 countries and territories from around the world.

The jury panel awarded gold prizes to entries with scores of 86 and above, silver for those in the 80 to 85 range, and bronze for those rated 70 to 79 for all competitions, including Nature/Landscape, Built Environment/Architecture, Open, and Amateur.

Phan Dau