Cross-country skiers racing in Poland, crabeater seals lying on ice in the Antarctic peninsula and flowers blossoming in the waters of Vietnam were among the winners in the 2019 Drone Awards contest.
Now in its second year, the photo competition, sponsored by the Art Photo Travel Association, celebrates the work of aerial photographers from across the world.
This time around, more than 4,500 entries from 107 countries were received across seven different categories – Abstract, Nature, People, Sport, Wildlife, Urban and Video.
Different genre
Approximately 44 photographers were awarded prizes in each of these sectors of the competition, which is “dedicated to a different photographic genre deliberately separated from being compared to traditional photography.”
The rules state that submissions can be captured using fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, balloons, blimps and dirigibles, rockets, kites, parachutes and of course, drones.
Jacek Deneka from Poland was named the overall winner by the judging team, made up of a panel of photography professionals.
“A Shoal of Colorful Fish”, his spectacular image of skiers competing during the Bieg Piastow Skiing Festival in Jakuszyce, earned him the “Drone Awards Photographer of the Year” title.
Meanwhile, Marc Le Cornu from Jersey topped the Abstract category for “Infinity Eight,” which captured the eight-shaped pattern left by a boat crossing still water.
Sky’s the Limit
Florian Ledoux’s “Crabeater Seals on Ice” was the winner of the Wildlife section while “Island of Love,” Jeremiasz Gądek’s photo of a heart-shaped patch of oilseed rape in the middle of a Polish field, triumphed in the Nature segment.
George Steinmetz was crowned the winner of the Urban category for “Beni Isgue,” his aerial picture of the ancient hill town in Ghardaia, Algeria, while “Flowers on the Water”, Khanh Phan’s depiction of three women washing water lilies in Vietnam, prevailed in the People category.
Finally, “After the Snow Storm” by Jo Son from the US succeeded in Sport while “Bolivia by Motorbike and Drone” by Alex Chacon won the Video prize.
Each of the winning images from the 2019 Drone Awards competition will be on display at the “Sky’s the Limit” exhibition during the Siena Awards Photo Festival, which begins on October 25.