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From bustling city skylines to out-of-this-world natural landscapes, the winning images from Agora’s #Aerial2020 competition are showcasing some of the most beautiful destinations in the world—all from a bird’s eye point of view. Dutch photographer @by_ewold beat the other 9,018 submissions to win the $1,000 prize with his breathtaking shot 'A magic morning in The Netherlands'.

Agora’s latest photo competition invited the global community of photographers to participate with their best aerial shots for a chance to win the $1,000 top prize. As a result, 9,018 photos showing the earth from above have been submitted to the online contest, resulting in an impressive panorama of some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world.

Agora launched the #Aerial2020 photo competition through its free-to-use mobile app on May 8th. Photographers had until May 22nd to participate for the chance to be selected in the Top 50 finalists and make it to the final voting rounds.

@by_ewold’s magical aerial shot of Zaanse Schans, the village with the most famous windmills in the Netherlands, gathered the highest number of votes from the global community through the different voting rounds in the app, awarding him the #Aerial2020 contest’s $1,000 top prize.

Agora is a mobile app where photographers, whether amateur or professional, can participate in photo contests for a chance to win international recognition and cash prizes (from $1,000 to $25,000). The app’s global system enables its global audience to vote and pick the best images from each competition, making the process more inclusive and democratic than any other traditional photography contest.

"When you see the world from above, you realize how important the point of view can be. These 50 works of art turn us into birds to admire the planet earth from above. Thanks to all the photographers of the world who participated in #Aerial2020!" said Octavi Royo, Agora's CEO & Co-Founder.

More info: agoraimages.com

#1

Magic Morning In The Netherlands

Magic Morning In The Netherlands

Location: Zaanse Schans, Zaanstad, Netherlands
@by_ewold’s magical aerial shot of Zaanse Schans, the village with the most famous windmills in the Netherlands, gathered the highest number of votes from the global community through the different voting rounds in the app, awarding him the #Aerial2020 contest’s $1,000 top prize.
"I was waiting for a long time to capture this typical Dutch scene with low fog. And finally, on the 10th of May, the weather forecast looked perfect: no wind and low night temperatures are the ideal ingredients for low fog. My alarm went off at 4:00 am to drive to the Zaanse Schans; when I got there the fog was everywhere except around the windmills. I decided to check first some other spots, after 1 hour I came back and wow! The wind had turned and blown the fog in the direction of the windmills. I had only 50% battery left on my drone and took off to find a unique angle to capture this place. When I looked on my phone to see the drone view it was like a dream!"
@by_ewold (Netherlands)

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

`Beautiful picture and thanks for not calling the Netherlands Holland.

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    #2

    Rice Paradise

    Rice Paradise

    Location: Bali, Indonesia
    "I had to wake up at 5.30 am to take this shot. The early morning light bathing the rice terraces with the 2 volcanoes in the background made my day."
    @carlesalonsophotography (Spain)

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    #3

    Floating In The Air

    Floating In The Air

    Location: Zhangjiajie National Park, China
    "This is a cable car ride inside Zhangjiajie National Park. Within the park, there are altogether more than 8,000 cliff mountains, towering into the sky. During our ride, it was a misty/cloudy morning which is why this scenery looks even more mysterious. We couldn't believe our eyes when we raise above the clouds and this view appeared. I wanted to capture this the best way possible, putting my GoPro through the small window because shooting through the scratched glass wouldn't turn out good at all. 1 minute later, the view disappeared again. Turned out we got lucky! I absolutely love the result and the feeling it transmits, cause when I look at this photo I get this mysterious feeling and "wow-effect" back immediately."
    @sjoerdbracke (Netherlands)

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    #4

    Overcrowded

    Overcrowded

    Location: Dameisha beach, China
    "This is a public beach next to a five stars hotel. The hotel had its own private beach right next to it, which was empty. I was initially interested in capturing that contrast. The crowd density was so high, I had to gain quite a lot of altitude to make it fit in the frame. At that point, those indistinguishable people started to create a pattern that I found even more powerful and fascinating."
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    #5

    Life On Mars

    Life On Mars

    Location: Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, USA
    "I wanted to show that our planet has landscapes that look like they are out of this world. We don’t need to go to Mars to find these kinds of landscapes. Like in most of my photos, I want to make people realize we can find beauty on this planet. We need to take care of nature, lots of times you see that when a location gets popular, tourists overcrowd the place and basically ruin it. If you decide to visit these kinds of places just leave nothing but footprints!"
    @tomdewaart (Netherlands)

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    Bardhi's Dad
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Can't believe there is place like this on Earth! Those colors belongs to our fantasies about Mars and Jules Verne's fantasies in his novels

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    #6

    Desert Sunset

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    Location: Tatacoa desert, Colombia
    "On this ancient rock formation, you can see how the drought slowly scraped out these patterns and structures. Imagine the time that has been needed to create this. Layer by layer... that's just mind-boggling. You'd expect that this is a huge mountain range, but look at the green trees for scale reference..."
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    #7

    Magical Mood

    Magical Mood

    Location: Mont Saint Michel, France
    "One of the most beautiful places I've ever seen: it was a cold sunrise, but certainly worth it. On top of the rock, you can see a church overlooking the village of 70 residents. The strongest tides in Europe rule here, with the water going back kilometers."
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    cassiushumanmother
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The Mont saint Michel has 30 residents (monks and sisters included), it become slowly a crowded museum and a chinese souvenir supermarket since the 70'. Very sad.

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    #8

    Wind Farm

    Wind Farm

    Location: Denmark
    "See the sailboat for scale!"
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    Megan Ten Broeke
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is beautiful and breathtaking. Is there some way to order a print? The effects wind turbines have on bird populations are widely misunderstood. The National Audubon Society's (USA) official stance is strongly pro wind power. Data show that one wind turbine on average five birds per year. In contrast, cats kill 2,000 x more birds per year. The second biggest manmade killer of birds is the humble window.

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    #9

    Racing The Tide To Safety

    Racing The Tide To Safety

    Location: Sandy Cape Light, Australia
    "Cruising the Fraser Island highway at the sandy cape: an ever-evolving landscape where Giant dunes meet crystal clear water."
    @lukeylove (Australia)

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    Daria B
    Community Member
    4 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It reminds me.... Here in Korea, near the city where I live (Siheung), there is a small island (Jebudo) accessible only during specific schedules due to the speed and differences of the low/high tide exchange. High tides cover the only car road that connects the island to the rest of the land, and my husband and I drove over as it was just starting to fill with water. Thankfully, we were fast enough and didn't get too much water on our car, neither inside it, but the experience of being stranded on a non deserted island was surreal.

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    #10

    Road In Winter

    Road In Winter

    Location: Allgäu, Germany
    "It was such a cold day. There was fresh snow and I wanted to take my dream shot. A lot of people around the world have never experienced snow so I wanted to show them the beauty of winter through my photo."
    @imkaphotos (Germany)

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    #11

    Crazy Road

    Crazy Road

    Location: Tianmen Mountain, China
    @rakia10 (Spain)

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    #12

    Fortress Of The Dragon

    Fortress Of The Dragon

    Location: Basque Country, Spain
    "A tiny island joined to the mainland by a bridge clung to rocks and stacks; one of the best places I’ve ever visited! That day was super windy, I flew my drone about 3 km away to get this shot and I was so worried that I would never see it again! Fortunately, it came back and it was definitely worth it."
    @sixthlens (Italy)

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    Laura Blumenthal
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Beautiful photo - there is a similar place in Greece, on the island of Skopelos - it's called Ai (or Agios) Yannis, on the Northeast side of the island. Here's a shot I took on a grey day in 2005. PICT0013_1...3-jpeg.jpg PICT0013_1-5ee93b2d71b43-jpeg.jpg

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    #13

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    #14

    Bridge Topdown

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    #15

    The Rock In The Middle Of Nowhere

    The Rock In The Middle Of Nowhere

    Location: New Mexico, USA
    "This has to be one of the highlights of my US trip. Shooting this rock with the drone was pretty epic, I had to fly it directly into the wind for 3km to capture this."
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    #16

    Bangkok Market From Above

    Bangkok Market From Above

    Location: Bangkok, Thailand
    "Nearby this market was a parking garage. We climbed almost to the top and were amazed by its beauty from above. The lesson to learn from this photo: if you're in a place to do some photography, don't just stay at the location itself. Do some research beforehand and look around the area to find unique points of view."
    @michelle.wandering (Netherlands)

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    #17

    Lost In The City

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    Location: Whampoa, Hong Kong
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    #18

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    Warm Summer Evening In Budapest

    Warm Summer Evening In Budapest

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    Location: Lago Di Braies, Italy
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    #21

    Old Castle Ruins In Upper Austria

    Old Castle Ruins In Upper Austria

    Location: Austria
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    #22

    Whales

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    #23

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    Patterns Of Death Valley

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    #25

    The Road North

    The Road North

    Location: Iceland
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    @joncleave (UK)

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    #26

    Like A Chess

    Like A Chess

    Location: Barcelona, Spain
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    @mikhail_derevyanov (Russia)

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    Marlene Ricker
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    So beautiful and symmetrical. Now I want to see it from street level.

    #27

    One Of The Most Amazing Sunsets In Barcelona

    One Of The Most Amazing Sunsets In Barcelona

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    @alvarovaliente_ (Spain)

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    #28

    Sunrise On Gunung Bromo

    Sunrise On Gunung Bromo

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    @ghislainfave (France)

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    miten sasmita
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Went there, indeed a breathtaking place. There is a vast endless sand with "little" volcanoes lined up.

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    #29

    The Dreamscape

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    @jsrpixel (China)

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    #30

    Collecting Salt

    Collecting Salt

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    @jassensf (USA)

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    #31

    Early Morning Trip

    Early Morning Trip

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    @markcure (Netherlands)

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    #32

    Who Doesn’t Love Train Trips?

    Who Doesn’t Love Train Trips?

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    @andreieye (Romania)"

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    #33

    Men's Toys

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    #34

    Singing Dune

    Singing Dune

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    #35

    Going Up

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    Location: Seceda-2500m, Italy
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    #36

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    #37

    The Road Back Home

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    Jus
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I find the car surprisingly big, but the view is indeed spectacular.

    #38

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    @blairsugarman1 (UK)

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    #39

    Exploration Trip

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    #40

    Aerial In Hong Kong

    Aerial In Hong Kong

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    @jackyy_wch

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    #41

    Vibrant Hong Kong

    Vibrant Hong Kong

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    @leemumford8 (UK)

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    #42

    Freight Ship Inbound

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    #43

    Boats On Marina

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    Location: Agios Nikolaos, Crete, Greece
    "The sailing regatta in Agios Nikolaos gathers hundreds of participants and spectators from all over the world."
    @nikybwd (Russia)

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    #44

    LEGO Technic

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    "I wanted to confuse the viewer into thinking it's a real formula 1 car."
    @izlemus (Spain)

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    #45

    Norway Road Trip

    Norway Road Trip

    Location: Norway
    "We drove this serene mountain road in Norway after an exhausting and cold rainy day. But when we saw this lake and the big snow resting on top of it, we had to stop our campervan and explore the area. We stayed for a while, drank tea, read a book, and took pictures. The picture was long gone in the folder, but somehow a few months ago we had a different feeling when looking at it and were fascinated. I was glad that we went through all the old photos again, maybe we wouldn't have paid so much attention otherwise."
    @kveikjan (Norway)

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    #46

    Real LEGO

    Real LEGO

    Location: Saint Petersburg, Russia
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    @ataevruslan (Russia)

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    #47

    An Inverted Diamond

    An Inverted Diamond

    Location: Hong Kong
    "Architectural roofs in HK can be boring, but sometimes gems like these show up. The diamond-shaped roof of the 'Entertainment building' is reflecting light in different directions, amidst the busy Central skyline."
    @visualspassport (Hong Kong)

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    La Petite Morte
    Community Member
    4 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Some of the other roof shapes are more interesting to me, like the oval and rhombus one.

    #48

    Pindi Bypass

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    @talhaarshad124 (Pakistan)

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    #49

    Retired From Service

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    @ylee (Malaysia)

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    Megan Ten Broeke
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I am wondering, what will become of those planes? I never thought about what happens to a plane when it is retired.

    #50

    Cold Cars

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    @wunderbilder (Germany)

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