Drones

Gallery: SkyPixel's jaw-dropping drone photos of the year

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An Intha fisherman goes to work in Myanmar. This drone shot won first prize in the Professional's Landscape category of SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
Zay Yar Lin/SkyPixel
This aerial shot of a dancer in China took out first prize in the Enthusiast's Portrait category of SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
cocoanext/Skypixel
This intriguing drone shot of a cyclist took second place in the Enthusiast's Portrait category of SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
nigelkwan/SkyPixel
One of the shortlisted nominated entries SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
LENG_VISION/SkyPixel
Farmers raise ducks in Vietnam. This drone shot claimed third prize in the Enthusiast's Landscape category of SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
caokynhan/SkyPixel
Fields of olive trees in Spain. This drone shot claimed second prize in the Enthusiast's Landscape category of SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
Javier del Cerro/SkyPixel
One of the shortlisted nominated entries SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
Bobo/SkyPixel
Lobster breeding farm in Vietnam. This drone shot claimed first prize in the Enthusiast's Landscape category of SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
Trung/SkyPixel
Third place in Professional's Portrait category of SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
andrea/SkyPixel
Basketball court in Auckland, New Zealand. This drone shot claimed first prize in the Professional's Portrait category of SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
Petra Leary/SkyPixel
Seagulls swarm around a fishing boat. This drone shot won second prize in the Professional's Landscape category of SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
Drone Hikers/SkyPixel
Iceland. One of the shortlisted nominated entries SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
olivier.../SkyPixel
One of the shortlisted nominated entries SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
煙雨斜陽/SkyPixel
Santa Maddalena village in front of the Geisler or Odle Dolomites Group, Italy. This drone shot won third prize in the Professional's Landscape category of SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
Valentin Valkov/SkyPixel
A diver leaps into China's Yellow River. This drone shot claimed second prize in the Professional's Portrait category of SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
沈旻/SkyPixel
Pasta just hanging around in China. This aerial shot took out third prize in the Enthusiast's Portrait category of SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
菜鸟视觉/SkyPixel
A polar bear skips between icebergs in the Arctic circle. This incredible drone won the Grand Prize in SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
Florian Ledoux/SkyPixel
One of the shortlisted nominated entries SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
Martin Sanchez @zekedrone/SkyPixel
An Intha fisherman goes to work in Myanmar. This drone shot won first prize in the Professional's Landscape category of SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
Zay Yar Lin/SkyPixel
Camels across the sand. One of the shortlisted nominated entries SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
Abdullah Alnassar/SkyPixel
Utah Coral sand dunes. One of the shortlisted nominated entries SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
Marc Lamey/SkyPixel
An Icelandic river delta from 1,500 feet. One of the shortlisted nominated entries SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
Max Foster/SkyPixel
Shot with a DJI Spark, this  image was one of the shortlisted nominated entries SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
曾新民/SkyPixel
Shot with a DJI Spark, this  image was one of the shortlisted nominated entries SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
曾新民/SkyPixel
A stack of shared bicycles. This drone shot made the top ten of the Popular Prize in SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
陈紫翔/SkyPixel
This shot titled "White Wonderland" made the top ten of the Popular Prize in SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
Eberhard Ehmke/SkyPixel
Guangdong's largest Hakka Wai Long House, a unique Chinese residential structure built in the 1600s. This drone shot made the top ten of the Popular Prize in SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
天空之城上帝之眼/SkyPixel
The jetliner home of electrical engineer Bruce Campbell in the forest of Oregon. This drone shot made the top ten of the Popular Prize in SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
mark calayag/SkyPixel
Coastline in Barcelona. This drone shot made the top ten of the Popular Prize in SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
David/SkyPixel
Off the coast of southern China. This drone shot made the top ten of the Popular Prize in SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
Anter/SkyPixel
Indonesia's Mount Bromo. This drone shot made the top ten of the Popular Prize in SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
7555486/Depositphotos
Sunrise in the Chinese city of Dongguan. This drone shot made the top ten of the Popular Prize in SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
深蓝大魔王/SkyPixel
Selfie captured by a Phantom 4. This drone shot made the top ten of the Popular Prize in SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
henter liu/SkyPixel
Snow-capped mountains in Tibet, captured with a Phantom 4. This drone shot made the top ten of the Popular Prize in SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
川味烤地瓜/SkyPixel
This drone shot claimed third place in the Professional "Story" category of SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
lalienware/SkyPixel
This image of a Chinese village claimed second place in the Professional "Story" category of SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
"Land of the Earth." This image claimed first prize in the Professional "Story" category of SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
在那片更高的天空/SkyPixel
View gallery - 36 images

Like competitor Dronestagram, SkyPixel is a platform dedicated to drone photography, and like Dronestagram, SkyPixel holds an annual photo contest that brings out the very best imagery from this emerging art form. Here is the class of 2017, in all its high-flying glory.

SkyPixel received more than 44,000 submissions from 141 countries for its 2017 Photo Contest, which it runs in collaboration with drone-making giant DJI. These submissions were sorted into Professional and Enthusiast groups, and awarded prizes across categories of Landscape, Portrait and Story, along with nine additional "Nominated Entries" and ten "Popular Prizes," the platform's ten most liked photos of the year.

The winners were adjudged by a panel of photography professionals, including multimedia editor at Time, Josh Raab. Showing the majestic beauty of Iceland, mountaintops in China and fields of olive trees in Spain, every one of the shortlisted images is spectacular in its own way. But none astound like the Grand Prize winner, a shot of a polar bear skipping between icebergs in the Arctic circle.

A polar bear skips between icebergs in the Arctic circle. This incredible drone won the Grand Prize in SkyPixel's 2017 Photo Contest
Florian Ledoux/SkyPixel

"There are images that might impress you with their technical mastery, and then there are images that make you feel something," said Jarrad Seng, a SkyPixel judge, photographer, filmmaker and creative director based in Australia. "This photograph floored me. It's especially poignant given the climate crisis our world is facing right now."

The man behind the lens, French photographer Florian Ledoux, caught the leaping polar bear with his Phantom 4 Pro, and has earned US$15,000 worth of prizes for his troubles, including a shiny new DJI Inspire 2.

"I have witnessed incredible moments and scenes of the wild but I can guarantee you that this, by far, is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen," he said. "I hope that future generations will still be able to witness the beauty and grandeur of the Arctic wildlife the same way we do today."

Check out the rest of this stunning photo collection.

Source: SkyPixel

View gallery - 36 images
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1 comment
msisrael
There is a similar contest - this one for drone videos not photos - from the AirVuz drone video sharing website. Here is a link to the winners:
https://www.airvuz.com/category/2017-drone-video-awards-winners?id=HydNbRhrM