Epson announces global sponsorship of Nature's Best Photography Awards

As the official inkjet printer and paper partner for the ongoing print exhibition, Epson's professional printing technology enables visitors to experience award-winning nature photography in its purest form as a photographic print.

An up-close-and-personal experience

Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. will see award-winning photographs from one of the world's most prestigious nature photography competitions displayed on the rotunda level of the museum.

"We're thrilled to work with Epson to display the extraordinary photographic journey from the wild to the walls of the Smithsonian," said Steve Freligh, Windland Awards director. "Epson's exhibition-quality printing technology allows our visitors to experience nature in a fine art print - the closest it comes to what the photographer experienced."

The exhibition-quality prints were created with Epson's award-winning 44-inch wide Epson Stylus Pro 9900. With the precision of its Epson Micro Piezo TFP print head and the performance of Epson UltraChrome HDR ink, the printer delivers superb photographic prints with an extremely wide color gamut and incredible sharpness. Used with Epson Professional Papers, this advanced printing technology produces the richest blacks and smooth tonal transitions.

Bringing artistry to life

The Smithsonian exhibition features winners chosen from more than 20,000 entries from photographers in 46 countries to the annual Windland Smith Rice International Awards program. The exhibition showcases the Grand Prize winner, the Conservation Photographer of the Year and the Youth Photographer of the Year, as well as finalists selected in 13 separate categories.

"Epson is honoured to be associated with Nature's Best Photography and that our advanced printing technology is being used to create this breathtaking exhibition," said Rick Day, group product manager, Professional Imaging, Epson America. "Our goal is to produce the industry's finest printing technology that simply gets out of the way of the photographer's artistry, allowing the photographs to come to life on the walls."

The exhibition will be viewed by millions of visitors at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and is open daily free to the public. The annual photo competition is open to the public and encourages submissions from photographers at all levels of expertise - pros, amateurs and youth.

For more information, go to www.NaturesBestPhotography.org.