Amazing Winners of the 2021 Drone Photo Awards Celebrate the World From Above

“Pink-Footed Geese Meeting the Winter” by Terje Kolaas. Overall Winner.
“Thousands of Pink-footed Geese roost in central Norway in spring, on their way to the breeding grounds on Svalbard in the Arctic. Probably because of climate change, they arrive earlier every year and often the ground and the fields where they feed are covered by snow when they arrive. The geese tend to use the same paths, so when waiting for them in the air with a drone, photos like this one are possible.”

“Verso l’Infinito Insieme a Te” by Matteo Originale. First Place, Wedding.
“Marina di Pisa, a late summer evening at sunset… I spotted those clouds on the horizon and I decided to place the couple towards their infinity full of love.”

“Gold at the End of the Rainbow” by Phil De Glanville. First Place, Sport.
“I found gold at the end of this rainbow as surfer, Ollie Henry, escapes a monster wave off the coast of South West Western Australia.”

“Metaphorical Statement About City and Winter” by Sergei Poletaev. First Place, Urban.
“A 500-year-old monastery in the Moscow region and a large power plant in the background. The steam from the cooling towers is particularly dense due to severe frost.”

“Fishing in Mangrove Forest” by Trung Pham Huy. First Place, People. 
A fisherman starts his fishing day in the mangrove forest in the lagoon of Tam Giang in the Hue province. Mangroves lose all their leaves and turn white during the winter season.”

“Abstract nature” by Manuel Enrique González Carmona. Runner-Up, Series.
“Minerals, water, and water currents are the ingredients with which nature creates these abstract and ephemeral landscapes. This canvas is actually a pond of toxic waste from a copper mine, located in the province of Huelva. These ephemeral formations will disappear with the next torrential rains and new waste inputs. After an initial human intervention, it never ceases to amaze me how nature molds and paints with the different minerals and colors to create these abstractions worthy of the best abstract painters.”

“Back to Adventure” by Qasim Al Farsi. First Place, Wildlife.
“Green turtle heading back to water after laying down eggs in her peaceful nest at Oman coastline between Ras Al Jinz and Rashad turtle reserve.”

“Fairy Circles” by George Steinmetz. Highly Commended, Wildlife.
“Zebra herd in the Namib Rand Nature Reserve in Namibia. The thin grasses here have a rare speckled pattern known as “fairy circles”, a phenomenon that is poorly understood. Grasses seem to grow higher on the inner rim of the circles due to less competition for water on the inside of the ring.”

“The Kingdom Centre” by George Steinmetz. Runner-Up, Urban.
“Standing 992 feet high, the Kingdom Centre was the tallest skyscraper in Saudi Arabia when completed in 2002—and is considered only the second to have been built in the country—but is now 5th on the list.”

“Collecting Water from Driedout Riverbeds” by Sujon Adhikary. Highly Commended, People.
“Around 263 million people globally have access to water sources that are considered safe, but need to spend at least 30 minutes walking or queuing to collect their water. And the task of providing water for households falls disproportionately to women and girls, especially in rural areas.”

“Sleeping Beauty” by Martin Gregus. Commended, Wildlife.
“Working closely with the bears and getting them used to our behavior meant that by day 5 we were well underway to documenting some truly unique behavior. By this point, we have gotten to know in detail the personalities of 27 different bears, and they in return welcomed us into their lives and let us film around the clock. Utilizing drones, remote cameras, and custom-made gear in order to capture the most intimate footage.”

“Entrance to Another World” by Laura Bennett. Commended, Nature.
“In a remote, rugged canyon in Utah, sunset lit the walls of the canyon to provide a surrealistic impression. It reminded me of cinematic productions of other worlds.”

“Boundless sea of love” by Wujiang Zhu. Runner-Up, Wedding.
“A unique location for the traditional pictures of a newly married couple, in the middle of a beautifully kept garden in the blooming season.”

“Poisoned River” by Gheorghe Popa. First Place, Abstract.
“This is a detailed photograph of one of the small rivers filled with poison. “Poisoned Beauty” is a personal project that tells the story of the natural disaster in the “Apuseni Mountains”, but in a beautifully abstract way. This abstract colorful pattern is created by nature combined with the chemical waste resulted from the copper and gold mining process.”

“Beach Season” by Alexandr Vlassyuk. Runner-Up, People.
“I took this picture in February 2021 on ice hummocks at the Kapchagai reservoir in the Almaty region. The air temperature on that day was -10 degrees Celsius; for our region and season it could be said warm, and so, without waiting for summer, we decided to open the beach season!”

“Caleidoscopio” by Paolo Crocetta. Runner-Up, Abstract.
“This shot was inspired by the colorful patterns of the Navajo people. The bright colors of the containers and the diagonals created by the play of light and shadow give life to an interesting pattern.”

“Blanketed in Fire Retardant” by Adrees Latif. First Place, Series.
“In 2020, Oregon bore the brunt of nearly 100 major wildfires raging across Western United States, one of the most destructive on state record. On the morning of September 8, flames from a human-caused fire started in nearby Ashland. Driven by over 40 mph winds, the Almeda fire quickly spread through retirement communities, trailer home parks, malls, and businesses. In just a few hours, half of Talent was left in ashes. Experts call the fire an urban conflagration, one that burned through dry grasslands, riparian areas with dense fuel loads, and through urban areas with densely packed residences. In apocalyptic scenes, the town of Talent was left blanketed in a red flame retardant dropped by aerial firefighting efforts in hopes of saving the town. Three fatalities were reported, 3000 residents were displaced and nearly 3000 structures over a nine-mile area were destroyed.”