At this year’s Drone Photo Awards, photographers from 102 countries submitted thousands of gripping images shot from an aerial view. From this stellar mix of entries, some of the most fascinating visuals won top prizes across eight photo categories, ‘Urban’, ‘Wildlife’, ‘Sport’, ‘People’, ‘Nature’, ‘Abstract’, ‘Wedding Photography’, and ‘Series’, in addition to a video category.

Among the regional winners is Omani photographer Qasim Al Farsi, who won the ‘Wildlife category’ with his Back to Adventure photograph that features a green turtle on its way back to the water after laying eggs on the coast near Ras Al Jinz in eastern Oman. Other photographers from the region were also commended for their work, including the City in the Sky photograph by Hugo Healy from the ‘Urban’ category, which showcases the Dubai skyline. 

For his image, Metaphorical Statement About City and Winter, Russian photographer Sergei Poletaev won the top prize in the ‘Urban’ category. The spellbinding image features an old monastery near Moscow with a large power plant in the backdrop. Fishing in Mangrove Forest by Vietnamese photographer Trung Pham Huy won in the ‘People’ category, whilst American photographer Martin Sanchez bagged the prize for his work, Extragalactic in the ‘Nature’ section. The video category was won by Greek photographer Nestoras Kechagias for Ice Ballet.

The coveted ‘Photo of the Year’ title was awarded to Norwegian photographer Terje Kolaas for capturing Pink-Footed Geese Meeting the Winter in central Norway, an enchanting visual that captures the geese on their way to the breeding grounds on Svalbard in the Arctic. Most likely owing to climate change, they arrive early every year when the ground and the fields where they feed are covered with show. 

The winning photographs will be showcased in the ‘Above Us Only Sky’ exhibition, which will take place in Siena, Italy during the Siena International Photo Awards from 23 October until 5 December.

Cover image: Winner, Wildlife category; ‘Back to Adventure’ by Qasim Al Farsi; For more information, visit Droneawards.com.