A breathtaking photograph of Milford Sound showcasing a double arc of the Milky Way has won a prestigious international photography award.
Spanish photographer Mikel Iraeta took out the Open Nature and Landscape Category at the 2026 Epson International Pano Awards with his image, Double Arch on Milford Sound.
The photograph, made up of 107 individual images, captured the night sky above the Fiordland landscape, with the Milky Way stretching about the mountains.
Iraeta described capturing the image as "almost impossible", given Milford Sound's notoriously wet weather.
"It is very difficult to have an entire clear night with no rain, no clouds, no moon," he said.
Milford Sound experienced rain around 300 days a year, with Iraeta saying the access road had been closed due to avalanche risk just a day before the photograph was taken.
In a post shared to Instagram, he said the win had come as a surprise as it was his first time entering the competition.
"Truth is I didn't expect that, although I imagine everyone who wins says the same thing," Iraeta wrote.
He said the recognition was particularly special because of his passion for nighttime photography — a discipline he believed was rarely seen among the top entries.
The Epson International Pano Awards were the world's largest annual competition dedicated to panoramic photography.
Spanish photographers also claimed the competition's two top honours, with Daniel Viñé Garcia named Open Photographer of the Year and Tomás Sánchez Ruiz taking out Amateur Photographer of the Year.
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