The Best Pictures Of 2021 Drone Photo Awards Are They’re Truly Powerful (29 Pics)

"A spectacular aerial view of the famous Duoyishu terraces where rice is grown. The shades of colors of the different levels of the rice fields create a unique effect."

"A green turtle heading back to the water after laying down eggs in her peaceful nest at Oman coastline between Ras Al Jinz and Rashad turtle reserve."

"The Vaccanonesa is a small train that connects the city of Trento with the villages of Val di Non and Val di Sole in Trentino. During its ride through the apple orchards, the train makes this breathtaking passage above a gorge over 150 meters high."

"Like people, each wave has a unique journey with the power to inspire. Photo captured off the southwest coast of Western Australia."

"Every year in May, during the pouring season in the terraced rice fields, the water pours from one field to another, merging with the color of the earth and the clouds in the sky. The light reflections that are created on the surface of the water mix together to create colorful images."

"Flying the drone over the ocean, I spotted the approaching camels, with human guests on board, and noticed the beautiful light, and shadows, and also the eloquent wave patterns on the shoreline."

"In the full moon of July, as part of the Vietnamese culture, women put on the traditional costumes called "Ao Dai" to join the colored lantern and flower-garland releasing festival on the river to pray for happiness and good luck to their families. May the souls of their dead relatives and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace in heaven."

"Hippopotamus group from above creating an amazing pattern. All hippos are adults except one baby who is in the center."

"The intense and glorious moments during an erupting volcano with an exclusive view from the inside. Captured in Iceland."

"I found gold at the end of this rainbow as a surfer, Ollie Henry, escapes a monster wave off the coast of South West Western Australia."

"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."

"Ice sheets drift apart on a glacial-fed lake providing a brief opportunity for exploration. With one path to continue moving forward, moving towards hope, this vast expanse of ice provides a look into the power and grandeur that nature possesses."

"Thousands of Buddhists are praying on the occasion of the New Year at Hoang Phap pagoda in Hoc Mon District. They light thousands of candles and pray in the night."

"The football field of the fishing town called Henningsvær at Lofoten is a special one. The green artificial grass stands out from the winter landscape. Would you dare to play here?"

"Polar bear hunting seal from an iceberg in Svalbard during the summer while the sea ice is gone all the way north to 83°N."

"Around 263 million people globally have access to water sources that are considered safe, but need to spend at least 30 minutes walking or queuing to collect their water. And the task of providing water for households falls disproportionately to women and girls, especially in rural areas."

"Hong Kong basketball player Hui Huen Hang Hyman practicing his shoot during Siu Hei sports ground opening event on July 4, 2020."

"This series is about human architecture rising up from the wild. Nature, in its finest shape, with a human touch that ends up adding balance to the scene. Places where humans live inside dream lands. I am essentially a nature photographer, and the search for pure nature’s beauty has been one of my main life goals for more than ten years. Along this search path, I got surprised a few times by getting driven into a deep state of joy when finding balance between the natural landscape and human elements. That is usually not very common, and when it happens, it is worth taking some time to contemplate. And that is the idea of this series: I would like to invite your eyes to perceive all the elements of these complex compositions, and the way they fit to one another."

"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."

"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."

"The power of nature! Used fallen tree. Lake, tree, and an extremely brave bride. Abstraction combined with the beauty of nature and fantastic autumn climate."

"The Kunene River travels through Angola and surges over a mighty precipice on the Namibian border at the Ruacana waterfalls. Here a young baobab tree clings to a rocky outcrop as the waters of the Ruacana rage around it."

"White parasols at the beach of the Dead Sea. I was flying my drone at the beach when I noticed a field of parasols in a beautiful shape."

"I took this picture in February 2021, on ice hummocks at the Kapchagai reservoir in the Almaty region. The air temperature on that day was -10 degrees Celcius; for our region and season it could be called warm, and so, without waiting for summer, we decided to open the beach season!"

"Aerial view of a private beach in Mamaia. Seeing the aligned umbrellas, I was sure that the view from above would be interesting, once the shadows will be in the right spot. In order to take this shot I had to wait for the sun to be high enough in the sky."

"Ice Anatomy is an aerial series of photos of Cuejdel Lake just before it froze completely. The fresh snow and the ice cracks created these shapes that resemble neurons or just cells. My project Ice Anatomy follows the transformations of the ice on the lake over several winters."

"An extraction in an arid terrain together with a cold white balance gives us back a figurative 8-finger hand, which would have been Dali's Dream."

"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."

"This shot was inspired by the colorful patterns of the Navajo people. The bright colors of the containers and the diagonals created by the play of light and shadow give life to an interesting pattern."