Best Drone Photography: 20 Astonishing Aerial Shots from around the world

The winners of the SkyPixel contest were recently announced, and the best drone photography will take your breath away. The world’s most biggest aerial photo and video sharing platform conducted a global competition in search of the top drone photographs of 2016. The competition featured over 27,000 entries from 131 countries around the world.

The winning photos were selected by a panel of photojournalists from TIME and Condé Nast Traveler, as well as prize-winning travel photographers. The 2016 SkyPixel Photo of the Year went to “Fishermen close the net,” a photograph by Ge Zheng shot in Fujian Province in China.

In addition to the Photo of the Year winner, SkyPixel picked winners in categories such as, Beauty, 360, Drones in use, and even “most popular” (which was dependent on the number of likes the photo received on SkyPixel).

The best drone photography winners:

Fishermen close the net

Grand Prize – 2016 SkyPixel Photo of the Year: Fishermen close to the net by Ge Zheng shot in Fujian Province in China, in which reflections, colors and the unique aerial perspective create a startling composition from netting, poles and water.

Photo: Ge Zheng / Skypixel

Exploration

This stunning photo of the camel caravan in the desert by Hanbing Wang won the first prize for Professional Beauty.

Photo: Hanbing Wang / Skypixel

Spillway Selfie

This incredible shot won the second prize for Professional Beauty. The photo was taken while filming at a local dam. Was there ever a better spot for a selfie?

Photo: dixonltd_user / Skypixel

The Earth

The Earth by Heng Li won the third prize for Professional Beauty. We love!

Photo: Heng Li / Skypixel

The Starry Night

This amazing shot by Jingwen Chen won the first prize in the Professional 360 category.

Photo: Jingwen Chen / Skypixel

Hidden Lakes in 360°

This shot by Paul Oostveen won the second prize in the Professional 360 category. As he says, “Many people drive along these lakes in Iceland without knowing about them: most of the lakes are not visible from the road.”

Photo: Paul Oostveen / Skypixel

Sunset in Danxia

Shoushan’s Sunset in Daxia won the third prize in the Professional 360 category.

Photo: Shoushan / Skypixel

Overbridge

This amazing photo of a road bridge in the US won the first prize in Amateur Beauty.

Photo: Chenghan / Skypixel

Green Waves

This gorgeous green photo by Mauro Pagliai taken in Italy won second prize in Amateur Beauty.

Photo: Mauro Pagliai / Skypixel

Ice River

Shot in the northeast of China, this photo by Canloker won the third prize in Amateur Beauty.

Photo: Canloker / Skypixel

Despectus

The photographer of the winner of the first prize in Amateur Drones in Use says, “This fascinating forgotten structure from the sixteenth century houses seven hundred stone nestboxes arranged in tapering tiers towards the apex.”