Earth From Above: These Drone Images Are Spectacular

Picture perfect

Drone photography offers the chance to capture new – and often startling – perspectives of people, the natural world and man-made structures, and it's becoming ever more popular. Inspired? Here's a selection of winning images from the Drone Photo Awards, which forms part of the Siena Awards visual arts festival.

Fishing, Vietnam

A riot of teal and mustard, this shot of a fisherman in Vietnam’s Binh Dinh province looks a bit like a Monet painting. It was taken off the coast of Vietnamese city Quy Nhon and it shows a swirl of seaweed poking up towards the water's surface. 

City in the sky, Dubai, UAE

Cities often look infinitely more handsome when cloaked in mist and this photo goes some way towards proving that point. Here, Dubai's famous forest of skyscrapers peeps through thick fog in the early morning light. 

The tower, Denmark

Photographer Kristian Stigel took this image of the newly built Forest Tower emerging from the woods at Rønnede's Camp Adventure in Denmark. At 147-feet (45m) tall, the architectural wonder has a distinctive spiral design that contrasts with its leafy surroundings, while beech trees spring up from the structure's center.

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Duoyishu terraces, China

China's Duoyishu terraces look breathtaking from much less heady heights than this. But in this jaw-dropping drone shot from Ran Tian, they appear more like a mosaic than a series of rice terraces. The watery cascades reflect a medley of colors from the bucolic surroundings too. 

Basket crops on the cliff, China

Fall ushers in the annual harvest of red hawthorns in South Taihang, China. After picking the dark red berries, villagers slice them and place them out to dry in the sun on steep cliffs in the mountains. Here, the spectacle is captured by photographer Minqiang Lu. 

Poisoned river, Romania

Gheorghe Popa’s disturbingly beautiful image shows small, toxic rivers in Transylvania’s Apuseni Mountains. Winning first place in the Drone Photo Awards' Abstract category, the image was taken near Geamăna village, which was abandoned after being used as a dump site for waste. "This abstract, colorful pattern is created by nature combined with the chemical waste resulted from the copper and gold mining process," says Popa.

Abyss tentacles, Spain

Known as cárcavas, these otherworldly rock formations were shot in a mountainous area of Aragón. Captured here by photographer Juan García Lucas, a climber navigates craggy rocks that resemble a sci-fi scene.

Tailing Dam abstract, Australia

It's almost impossible to believe that this color-splashed landscape really exists – but it does in a far-out location in South Australia. The photo is taken above a copper, gold and uranium mine, and it features a dam, whose otherworldly colors are created by mining by-products.

Poodle in rapeseed, Poland

Photographer Jan Ulicki captured this cute aerial shot of a little poodle-shaped forest surrounded by gloriously yellow rapeseed fields in Lower Silesia, southwestern Poland.

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Flamingos flying over Lake Magadi, Kenya

This haunting aerial photo was taken from a helicopter above Lake Magadi in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley. The salt lake’s hues shift with the climate – it's just about the color of strawberry milkshake in this shot – and it's an important habitat for wading birds, including flamingos.

Dream or real, Turkey

Photographer F Dilek Uyar says this whimsical image was inspired by an old Turkish movie where a girl asks her friend if it’s possible to take photos of dreams. "Which color would you prefer to paint your dream if you could? Where do the real things start or end?" he writes, "I saw the field and the car and just mixed and fixed the pieces around to create a composition."

Planet marina, Dubai

This dizzying image of Dubai’s ever-changing marina was taken by photographer Aravind Appadurai Kannan. "As you go up, more things can be seen. It's no bother to stop now and again to enjoy the panorama around you. At every meter conquered, you can see a little further so use this [opportunity] to discover things you’d not yet noticed," he writes.

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Fairy circles, Namibia

Photographer George Steinmetz has captured two incredible spectacles in Namibia's NamibRand Nature Reserve in this aerial shot: a galloping herd of zebra and the region's mysterious fairy circles. Experts aren't certain how these fascinating rings are formed, though theories range from termites to grasses competing for water. 

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Fast food, Zambia

Taken in Zambia by wildlife photographer Igor Altuna, this image of hyenas feasting on a buffalo carcass is startling. Two male lions had already enjoyed their kill for a day, before leaving the remains to scavengers such as spotted hyenas and vultures, who gather around to feed on the carrion. 

Dusk at Rohingya refugee camp, Bangladesh

Made up of small temporary homes and tents, the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh is the largest in the world. More than one million Rohingya refugees live here, having fled persecution in Myanmar. From above, its dim lights appear like fireflies in the abyss. 

Sheep in congress, Israel

This aerial image was taken in Ramot Menashe, a kibbutz (unique Israeli settlement) in northern Israel, by Yoel Robert Assiag, who photographed a vast herd of sheep during the summer and winter months. "I followed them when they moved from one location to another mainly searching for fresh grass, but also as they prepared to give birth and have their wool sheared," he says.

Heart of the forest, Taiwan

An ultra-romantic shot, this aerial wedding photo was taken in a forest in Taiwan, in a dreamy location known (for obvious reasons) as "the heart of the forest". The heart shape is formed by stone piles and symbolizes the couple’s eternal bath in the "love river", according to photographer Luo Shengping.

Fishing in mangrove forest, Vietnam

A bracing winter scene has been captured here by Trung Pham Huy. The photo depicts a fisherman sailing through the mangrove forests of Tam Giang lagoon in Vietnam’s Thua Thien Hue province. The trees are white and leafless for the season. 

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Polar bear hunting, Norway

In this photo, taken during summer when the sea ice has drifted further north, a polar bear is on the hunt for seals from its perch on an iceberg in Svalbard. The Svalbard Islands are wonderfully remote, set right out in the Arctic Ocean, north of Scandinavia. 

Winner: pink-footed geese meeting winter, Norway

The winning shot, captured by Terje Kolaas, pictures thousands of pink-footed geese arriving in Levanger, central Norway, on their way to summer breeding grounds on Svalbard in the Arctic. Probably because of climate change, they arrive earlier every year and are often welcomed with ground and fields where they feed still covered in snow.

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