Talented photographers across the world have created some stunning images by using drones to capture a bird’s eye view of the world.
The best of these images have been awarded top prizes at the International Drone Photography Contest.
The competition, which was hosted by Dronestagram and organised in partnership with National Geographic, saw four winners emerge from over 8,000 images submitted.
The winner of the ‘Nature’ category was Jerome Courtial who submitted this image Provence, Summer Trim taken in Valensole.
He said: “I thought I would have had a nice picture in the day, but I had no idea this one in particular would be so well received. It has now become my favourite picture ever taken.
“I still feel like I’m experiencing the world in a completely new dimension. It still feels like a magic feeling seeing the world through the drone’s point of view.”
2nd place – Infinite Road To Transylvania, Romania by Calin Stan
3rd place – Ice Formation Greenland by Florian
The ‘Urban’ category was won by 33-year-old Bachir Moukarzel with his image Concrete Jungle, which features his home city of Dubai.
He said: “This picture was shot at sunset time in Dubai at 6pm trying to capture an area which was literally a desert 10 years back and (is) now a concrete jungle with the highest buildings in Dubai.”
2nd place – Dawn On Mercury Tower, Russia, by Alexeygo
3rd place – Urban, Peace, Spain by LuckyDron
The ‘People’ category was won by Martin Sanchez, whose image End Of The Line USA, shows a clever use of an empty tennis court.
He said: “(It) just stood out like a treasured story in a book of empty words. After a few takes things got a little weird. Two people came by to play some tennis on the other court. As they got closer they had no idea what was happening on my end. They didn’t know whether to play or call for help!”
2nd place – Waterlily, Vietnam by Helios1412
3rd place – La Vijanera, Spain by Feelingmovie
Frenchman Thibault Beguet, won the ‘creativity’ category with this image that he took to announce the pregnancy of his girlfriend Manon.
He said: “I’m very proud about winning this contest, all the more in the special category creativity created for the occasion. It’s a beautiful recognition of my work and I hope that this picture will give some ideas to drone photographers.”
2nd place – Too Moo by Luke Bell
3rd place – Ugo Le Marin by RGA
Written by Michael Kehoe @michaelcalling