Drones

The winners of the inaugural Drone Awards elevate the art of aerial photography

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Mada’in Saleh: Winner in the Nature category
Gabriel Scanu
Dizziness -5: Commended in the Nature category 
Zhiqiang Huang
Tanzania 8: Commended in the Nature category
Zhiqiang Huang
Wetland Winter: Highly Commended in the Nature category 
Xudong Yang
Täuber_Kirsten_Der Kratera: Highly Commended in the Nature category 
Kirsten Täuber
Red Sand Garden: Highly Commended in the Nature category 
Peter Virag
Organic: Highly Commended in the Nature category 
Mieke Boynton
Entrance to Hell: Runner Up in the Nature category
Xiaoxiao Liu
Mada’in Saleh: Winner in the Nature category
Gabriel Scanu
Saltwater Farms: Commended in the Abstract category 
Adolfo Enríquez Calo
Wound of Bicycle Sharing: Commended in the Abstract category 
Qinghua Shui
Lobster Village: Commended in the Abstract category 
Trung Pham Huy
Tanzania 3: Commended in the Abstract category 
Zhiqiang Huang
Val D'Orcia: Commended in the Abstract category 
Francesco Martini
Heart In Lakebed: Commended in the Abstract category
Milan Radisics
Salt Leafs: Commended in the Abstract category 
Stas Bartnikas
Yeti: Commended in the Abstract category 
Marcus Cederberg
Flower Texture: Commended in the Abstract category 
Franco Cappellari
Tree of Island? Commended in the Abstract category 
Patryk Morzonek
Santa: Commended in the Abstract category 
Antoine et Alexia Ayguesparsse de Chassey
Rice: Commended in the Abstract category 
Mohd Khorshid
Milk River: Commended in the Abstract category
Franco Cappellari
Winter Eye: Commended in the Abstract category
Martin Mecnarowski
Ballet in the Snowfield: Commended in the Abstract category
Weiqiang Liu
Jellyfish: Commended in the Abstract category 
Hector Rivera
Tanzania 2: Commended in the Abstract category 
Zhiqiang Huang
Nucleus: Highly Commended in the Abstract category 
Casey McCallister
The Design of an Iceberg: Highly Commended in the Abstract category
Stephan Fürnrohr
Whirlpool: Highly Commended in the Abstract category 
Zhiqiang Huang
Dendrites: Highly Commended in the Abstract category 
Branko Markovic
Ice Magic: Runner up in the Abstract category  
Martin Mecnarowski
Weather Snake: Winner of the Abstract category
Ovi D. Pop
Above The Polar Bear: The Grand Prize winning shot
Florian Ledoux
Alone: Commended in the Nature category 
Mauro Pagliai
Craters: Commended in the Nature category 
Stas Bartnikas
Cambugahay Falls: Commended in the Nature category 
Nataniel Luperte
Feather: Commended in the Nature category
Zhiqiang Huang
Autumn: Commended in the Nature category 
Ben Kopilow
The Way Of Life: Commended in the Nature category 
Mohd Khorshid
Life and Death: Commended in the Nature category 
Placido Faranda
Dreamy Sequoia Groves: Commended in the Nature category 
Lianhua Zhang
Blue River: Commended in the Nature category
Erika Tanzer
Nelder Plots: Commended in the Nature category 
Garret Suhrie
Pink Lady in Pink Coral Sand Dunes: Commended in the People category 
Marc Lamey
Group Wedding of Hundreds of Couples: Commended in the People category 
Qinghua Shui
Cruisin the Route 66: Commended in the People category 
Raf Willems
Campus: Commended in the People category 
Hua Zheng
Fishing on Mud: Commended in the People category 
Joao Galamba
Sidewalk: Commended in the People category 
Guilherme Pupo
Navagio: Commended in the People category 
Srdjan Vujmilovic
Shadow Football: Commended in the People category 
Lorand Fenyes
Virtual Hang: Commended in the People category 
Martin Sanchez
In The Salt Field: Commended in the People category 
Trung Pham Huy
Water Lily: Commended in the People category 
Lê Dương
Amy and Ben: Commended in the People category 
Jason Travis
Sea and Salt: Highly Commended in the People category 
Wellington Rodrigues
Chauntel in the Desert: Highly Commended in the People category 
Raf Willems
Silvia: Highly Commended in the People category 
Davide Lopresti
Women Rice Farmers: Highly Commended in the People category 
Keyvan Jafari
Sportsmen Under the Sun: Highly Commended in the People category 
Senrong Hu
Honors Day: Runner Up in the People category
Xiaoxiao Liu
Pilgrimage of Millions of People: Winner in the People category
Qinghua Shui
Intricate Worlds: Commended in the Nature category 
Jose Ramos
Double Dragon: Commended in the Nature category 
Erez Marom
Camel 2: Commended in the Nature category 
Hussam Alabdullatif
Beautiful Army: Commended in the Wildlife category 
Mohd Khorshid
Camel Convoy: Commended in the Wildlife category 
Hussam Alabdullatif
Turbulence: Commended in the Wildlife category 
Mohd Khorshid
Winter Sunset: Commended in the Wildlife category 
Lynn Emery
Roedeers Posing: Commended in the Wildlife category 
Milan Radisics
American Alligator: Commended in the Wildlife category 
Souvik Dutta
Dolphin Clarity: Commended in the Wildlife category 
Anders Carlson
Over a Million Flamingos: Commended in the Wildlife category 
Franco Cappellari
Walrus Approach: Commended in the Wildlife category
Roie Galitz
Seal: Commended in the Wildlife category 
Witold Ziomek
Bear and Salmon: Commended in the Wildlife category 
Roie Galitz
Mother & Calf: Highly Commended in the Wildlife category
Anders Carlson
Whale Sharcks: Highly Commended in the Wildlife category
Bachir Moukarzel
Great Immigration Birds Eye View: Highly Commended in the Wildlife category 
Thomas Vijayan
Responsible Dady the Gharial with Babies: Runner Up in the Wildlife category
Dhritiman Mukherjee
Big Shadow: Runner Up in the Wildlife category
Thomas Vijayan
Blacktip Shark: Winner in the Wildlife category
Adam Barker
El Angel: Runner Up in the People category
Luis Alonso Jimenez Silva
Skating Shadows: Winner in the People category
Vincent Riemersma
Fishing Village: Commended in the Urban category 
Stuart Chape
Al Askhara-3: Commended in the Urban category 
Hamed AlGhanboosi
Lombard Street - San Francisco: Commended in the Urban category 
Bryan Dumas
Bridge: Commended in the Urban category 
Yinzhi Pan
Crisscross Pattern-Dubai: Commended in the Urban category 
 Xinghui Ma
Beos: Commended in the Urban category 
Rudy Sunandar
Concrete Jungle: Commended in the Urban category 
Bachir Moukarzel
King Fahad Stadium: Commended in the Urban category 
Saleh Alhathloul
Ice Ice Baby: Commended in the Urban category 
Stanislav Zaburdaev
The Shining Jewel: Commended in the Urban category 
Saleh Alhathloul
Tetris Game: Commended in the Urban category 
Bachir Moukarzel
Beautiful Urban Chaos: Commended in the Urban category 
Bachir Moukarzel
Cargo: Highly Commended in the Urban category 
Davide Lopresti
Chaos: Highly Commended in the Urban category 
Alex Visbal
Cold Winter Night: Highly Commended in the Urban category 
Yavor Michev
Amenities: Runner Up in the Urban category
Gary Cummins
Warehouse Fire: Runner Up ion the Urban category
Byron du Bois
Assisi Over the Clouds: Winner in the Urban category
Francesco Cattuto
Ready to Start: Commended in the People category 
Senrong Hu
Disciples of Poseidon: Commended in the People category 
Juan Pablo Bayona
Wasserschi: Commended in the People category 
Alexander Schneider
Pool: Commended in the People category 
Patryk Morzonek
The Wave: Commended in the People category 
Timothy Moon
Kayaks Morning Gathering: Commended in the People category 
Ido Meirovich
Uphill Road Cycling: Commended in the People category 
Olaf Pignataro
Neon Paddle: Commended in the People category 
Raf Willems
Vertical Racing: Highly Commended in the People category 
Shoayb Khattab
Basketball: Highly Commended in the People category
Shihui Liu
Saving to Start Out: Highly Commended in the People category 
Fan Zhang
Red Kajak: Highly Commended in the People category 
Stefan Thaler
Flamingos 
Daniel Buron
View gallery - 114 images

The Drone Awards is a new photography competition dedicated to the emerging art of aerial photography. This year's inaugural competition has just revealed its winning snaps, a spectacular assortment of photographs ranging from gorgeously abstract images to profoundly unique portraits of urban life.

The competition was started by a non-profit association called Art Photo Travel, based in Italy, that's dedicated to promoting photography and culture. The association is behind one of the stronger photo contests in the world today, the Siena International Photo Awards.

Santa: Commended in the Abstract category 
Antoine et Alexia Ayguesparsse de Chassey

Inspired by the breadth of work emerging in the field of aerial photography the new Drone Awards set out to feature this new form. Describing the mission behind this new competition the organizer's write:

"Becoming more sophisticated, cheaper and more accessible, drones, along with satellites, have moved from warfare technology towards a constant state of Orwellian nervousness. In this growing debate, regarding surveillance and privacy issues in the midst of ever-advancing technology, the role of the artists seems seminal. Contemporary aerial artists continue to use photography to create images of extraordinary reach and power, deepening our understanding of the world beyond its surface appearance and the way we relate to it."

There are six categories celebrated in the competition spanning the usual suspects for drone photography awards: Nature, Sport, Urban, Wildlife and People. But perhaps the most interesting section of the bunch is the Abstract category. This section really nails into the artistic side of drone photography with some truly breathtaking and surreal images of geometric patterns.

Entrance to Hell: Runner Up in the Nature category
Xiaoxiao Liu

The Grand Prize winning photograph this year went to a familiar snap from Florian Ledoux called Above The Polar Bear. Ledoux's beautiful photograph, capturing a polar bear leaping across a gap in the sea ice, has already won a heap of awards over the past twelve months and rightly so. It's an immediately iconic and memorable image.

Yeti: Commended in the Abstract category 
Marcus Cederberg

Other standout shots include Gabriel Scanu's haunting shot of Mada'in Saleh, an archaeological site in Saudi Arabia, a truly psychedelic image of an iceberg, and Entrance to Hell, from a Chinese photographer taken off the coast of Hawaii.

Take a look through the gallery for a glimpse at all the captivating winners in this impressive new photo contest.

Source: Drone Awards

View gallery - 114 images
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