World's best drone photography celebrated

7 September 2021

The winners of the Drone Photo Awards 2021 have recently been announced with Norwegian photographer Terje Kolaas being named overall winner, Photographer of the Year, with an image of a flock of thousands of pink-footed geese flying over a snow-covered landscape. Winners were also announced across the eight competition categories.

Kolaas’ winning image, Pink-Footed Geese Meeting the Winter, was shot in central Norway, showing geese flying towards Svalbard, in the Arctic. The image was selected from tens of thousands of images submitted by photographers from 102 countries.

© Terje Kolaas. Pink-Footed Geese Meeting the Winter. Overall winner.
© Terje Kolaas. Pink-Footed Geese Meeting the Winter. Overall winner. "Thousands of pink-footed geese roost in central Norway in spring, on their way to the breeding grounds on Svalbard in the Arctics. Probably because of climate change, they arrive earlier every year and often the ground and the fields where they feed are covered by snow when they arrive. The geese tend to use the same paths, so when waiting for them in the air with a drone, photos like this one are possible."

Across the other categories, Russian photographer Sergei Poletaev won first place in the Urban category with his image, Metaphorical Statement About City and Winter, of an old monastery near Moscow with a large power plant in the background. Oman photographer Qasim Al Farsi won the Wildlife category with Back to Adventure, an aerial shot that immortalises a green turtle ready to return to the water after laying its eggs on the coast of Oman. Australian photographer Phil de Glanville took out the Sport category with Gold at the End of the Rainbow, of a striking rainbow above surfer Ollie Henry struggling with a frightening wave.

An image of a fisherman who begins his working day in the mangrove forest of the Tam Giang lagoon, Fishing in Mangrove Forest, taken by Vietnamese photographer Trung Pham Huy, won the People category, while American Martin Sanchez won the Nature category with Extragalactic, shot in Iceland, capturing the moment of the eruption of a volcano from above.

© Phil de Glanville. Gold at the End of the Rainbow. Winner - Sport.
© Phil de Glanville. Gold at the End of the Rainbow. Winner - Sport. "I found gold at the end of this rainbow as surfer Ollie Henry escapes a monster wave off the coast of South West Western Australia."

Romanian photographer Gheorghe Popa won first place in the Abstract category with Poisoned River, which shows the natural disaster produced by chemical waste generated by the mining of copper and gold in the Apuseni mountains in Transylvania. The Wedding category was won by Italian photographer Matteo Original with an image of a late summer sunset in Marina di Pisa, titled Towards the Infinite Together with You. Pakistani-American photographer Adrees Latif won the Storyboard category with Blanketed in Fire Retardant, a sequence of apocalyptic images depicting the city of Talent, Oregon, completely covered in red flame retardant dropped by aerial firefighting efforts. In the Video category, Greek photographer Nestoras Kechagias took out top honours with Ice Ballet.

© Matteo Originale. Verso l'Infinito Insieme a Te.
© Matteo Originale. Verso l'Infinito Insieme a Te. "Marina di Pisa, a late summer evening at sunset... I spotted those clouds on the horizon and I decided to place the couple towards their infinity full of love."
© Qasim Al Farsi. Back to Adventure. Green turtle heading back to water after laying down eggs in her peaceful nest at Oman coastline between Ras Al Jinz and Rashad turtle reserve.
© Qasim Al Farsi. Back to Adventure. Green turtle heading back to water after laying down eggs in her peaceful nest at Oman coastline between Ras Al Jinz and Rashad turtle reserve.
© Trung Pham Huy. Fishing in Mangrove Forest. A fisherman starts his fishing day in the mangrove forest in the lagoon of Tam Giang in the Hue province. Mangroves lose all their leaves and turn white during the winter season.
© Trung Pham Huy. Fishing in Mangrove Forest. A fisherman starts his fishing day in the mangrove forest in the lagoon of Tam Giang in the Hue province. Mangroves lose all their leaves and turn white during the winter season.
© Gheorghe Popa. Poisoned River. This is a detailed photograph of one of the small rivers filled with poison. “Poisoned Beauty” is a personal project that tells the story of the natural disaster in the “Apuseni Mountains”, but in a beautifully abstract way. This abstract colorful pattern is created by nature combined with the chemical waste resulted from the copper and gold mining process.
© Gheorghe Popa. Poisoned River. This is a detailed photograph of one of the small rivers filled with poison. Poisoned Beauty is a personal project that tells the story of the natural disaster in the Apuseni Mountains, but in a beautifully abstract way. This abstract colorful pattern is created by nature combined with the chemical waste resulted from the copper and gold mining process.
© Martin Sanchez. Extragalactic. The intense and glorious moments during an erupting volcano with an exclusive view from the inside. Captured in Iceland.
© Martin Sanchez. Extragalactic. The intense and glorious moments during an erupting volcano with an exclusive view from the inside. Captured in Iceland.
© Sergei Poletaev. Metaphorical Statement About City and Winter. A 500-year-old monastery in the Moscow region and a large power plant in the background. The steam from the cooling towers is particularly dense due to severe frost.
© Sergei Poletaev. Metaphorical Statement About City and Winter. A 500-year-old monastery in the Moscow region and a large power plant in the background. The steam from the cooling towers is
particularly dense due to severe frost.

 

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