Sometimes, the world looks completely different when viewed from above. Familiar landscapes become fascinating patterns, busy cities reveal unexpected symmetry, and everyday moments take on a new look. Aerial photography lets us discover details and perspectives we can't appreciate from the ground.

The 2026 Drone Photo Awards celebrate this unique approach to photography, recognizing talented photographers worldwide who capture extraordinary images from the sky. Organized as part of the Siena Awards, the international competition focuses on aerial photography and video, showcasing the creativity and technical skill required to capture the world from a different angle. Recently, we shared a selection of the winning photographs from the 2026 Siena International Photo Awards, which celebrated outstanding photography across a wide range of subjects. This time, we’re turning our attention to the Drone Photo Awards, another competition within the Siena Awards family that offers a completely different perspective on the world around us.

Below, we’ve gathered a selection of the winning, honorable mention, and commended photographs from this contest. Take a look at these impressive aerial perspectives, and don’t forget to upvote your favorites. We’d also love to hear which photograph caught your attention the most!

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#1 “Floating Bear” By Jeroen Van Nieuwenhove

Honorable Mention in the Wildlife Category Description: “A polar bear, on the prowl for his next prey, was swimming in-between the shards of ice near a remote, calving glacier front. The polar bear paused every now and then. He floated around while scanning the area and sniffing to find food in-between the glacial slush ice.”

The competition features nine categories: Wedding, Nature, People, Urban, Animals, Abstract, Sport, Video, and Series. Despite the name, the awards aren’t limited to drone-shot photographs. Photographers can also capture submissions from aircraft, helicopters, balloons, kites, and other aerial platforms, giving them plenty of opportunities to experiment with perspective and composition.

#2 “Sleeping Beauty” By Felix Belloin

Honorable Mention in the Wildlife Category Description: “In the Arctic pack ice North of Svalbard in summer 2025, I noticed a polar bear fast asleep, nestled in a crack near a beautiful piece of blue ice. I made sure to stay high enough not to interrupt its sleep. I captured the moment and retreated, leaving behind a happily sleeping bear.”

#3 “Mother Nature” By Abdullah Benayan

1st Place in the Urban Category Description: “In early May, as summer approached, a massive dust storm swept toward Mubarak Al-Kabeer in Kuwait. The sky turned orange and thick, swallowing the horizon and blanketing the area. Visibility vanished, and the stillness felt eerie, as if the world were fading away.”

This year’s overall title of Drone Photographer of the Year went to George Steinmetz for his photograph “Shipbreaking on the Mudflats, Bay of Bengal,” depicting a massive vessel being dismantled for scrap metal. Alongside the overall winner, the competition recognized numerous other remarkable photographs, highlighting everything from natural wonders and wildlife to human activities and striking geometric compositions.

#4 “Valley Of Forgotten Rivers” By Ollie Watts

2nd Place in the Nature Category Description: “After an overnight storm in Kyrgyzstan, fresh snow clings to the surrounding mountains while forgotten river channels wind through the golden valley, revealing the quiet scale and beauty of this remote landscape.”

#5 “Shipbreaking On The Mudflats, Bay Of Bengal” By George Steinmetz

Photo of the Year Description: “An old LNG carrier in the final stage of disassembly for scrap metal on the mudflats of the Bay of Bengal. Breaking a ship like this takes about a year, with a crew of 60 men using blowtorches and winches to drag the larger pieces ashore for cutting into smaller pieces.”

#6 “In The Presence Of Giants” By Abdullah Abdulaziz

Highly Commended in the Urban Category Description: “Between glass facades that embrace the sky, the Liberation Tower stands as a symbol of power and modernity. Below, a small group of workers clings to the tower's façade, a silent reminder that humanity, almost imperceptible in comparison to these massive structures, is what gives them life and meaning.”

#7 “Mom And Baby” By Jie Fischer

Honorable Mention in the Wildlife Category Description: “A family of three from Baffin Island, Canada, polar bears, cold winds from snow and ice, their mother playing on the snow with their two newborn cubs who are just three months old, learning life skills while playing, climbing mountains and uphill, and their mother guiding the little bear every step.”

#8 “Aisle Of Salt” By Shimon Perlstein

Honorable Mention in the Wedding Category Description: “A couple walks along a rare salt path in the Dead Sea, revealed as the water level drops. The path does not always exist, turning a changing landscape into a natural aisle and a brief, unusual wedding moment surrounded by water and salt, in the lowest place on Earth.”

#9 “Out Of Sight” By Abstract Aerial Art

Honorable Mention in the Wildlife Category Description: “Photographed near the remote outback town of Kununurra in Western Australia, this overhead drone image shows a young bull shark swimming through submerged aquatic vegetation in the Ord River.”

#10 “Slime Time” By Abstract Aerial Art

Highly Commended in the Wildlife Category Description: “A large saltwater crocodile slithers in the wetlands of the Mary River floodplains. Seen from above, the crocodile’s powerful form carves an elegant, almost serpentine path through the exposed mud flats.”

#11 “Motherhood” By Joanna Steidle

Honorable Mention in the Wildlife Category Description: “This is a mother and calf bottlenose dolphin. The way the calf’s shadow falls on the mother’s womb where it once resided touches my heart strings and represents the forever place in a parent’s heart, all while constantly keeping an eye on the little one guiding it with her pectoral fin.”

#12 “Camel Trail” By Khalid Alsabt

Honorable Mention in the Nature Category Description: “The Seasonal Migration: Every year, these camels embark on a rhythmic journey across the vast desert, chasing the scent of rain and the blooming of spring. It is a timeless migration that dictates the pace of life in the heart of the peninsula.”

#13 “The Shepherd's Path” By F. Dilek Yurdakul

Honorable Mention in the People Category

#14 “Tumpak Sewu's Majestic Waterfall” By Colas Decloitre

3rd Place in the Nature Category Description: “The stunning Tumpak Sewu cascades like liquid silver from the cliffs, with the majestic Semeru Volcano rising in the distance, sending smoke into the sky as the landscape unfolds in all its natural glory.”

#15 “Where Two Eras Meet” By Sanghoon Park

2nd Place in the Urban Category Description: “Mulmangol, a hillside settlement built by refugees in the aftermath of war, stands in contrast to the modern skyline rising beyond it. Here, in the same district of Busan, two vastly different eras of the city exist side by side. Seen from above at night, both landscapes share the same sky while revealing different stories.”

#16 “Treble Clef” By Tim Demski

1st Place in the Wedding Category Description: “The groom, a professional guitarist, wanted a special photo for their wedding. Captured from above, using an enormous veil and his collection of guitars, this image shows how music surrounds their life together and gives it even more meaning.”

#17 “Bunker Breach” By Joanna Steidle

Highly Commended in the Wildlife Category Description: “A small school of bluefish makes its way over a school of menhaden bait fish, which appear across the entire background. Menhaden are a keystone species on the northeastern coast of the United States and feed on plankton and algae, forming very tight schools to protect themselves.”

#18 “Journey To The Summit” By Beytullah Eles

Honorable Mention in the People Category Description: “A challenging struggle for survival at an altitude of 2500 meters. A journey with their animals to the high plateaus. As the weather warms up in the plains, people travel with their animals to the cooler, high pastures and meadows.”

#19 “Transition Point” By Tamara Susa

Highly Commended in the Sport Category Description: “A group of skiers transitions to uphill mode at the end of the glacier in Antarctica, showing the dangerous conditions for skiing on this remote continent, with hidden crevasses and sharp ledges.”

#20 “Against The White Noise” By Volker Gehrmann

Highly Commended in the Sport Category Description: “A lone surfer in red navigates the churning aftermath of a breaking Atlantic wave off São Miguel, Azores. The human figure becomes a single point of color against a vast field of foam and dark water.”

WHATS CRACKIN

The World Looks Different In These 20 Winning Images From The 2026 Siena Drone Photo Awards