If you have a passion for photographing the world from above, the International Aerial Photographer of the Year Awards offers a global stage to share that vision, welcoming both professionals and hobbyists with few restrictions beyond showing a compelling aerial perspective. From drones, planes, helicopters, balloons, or even mountaintops, the competition celebrates all forms of aerial imagery, resulting in over 1500 entries in its inaugural 2025 edition.
Winners included Joanna Steidle of the United States for her striking folio submission, with judges praising the diversity of styles and approaches on display. Chairman of Judges Peter Eastway remarked, “Looking down on our subject produces a novel, intriguing and sometimes ambiguous perspective,” capturing the spirit of a contest that deliberately avoids limiting rules to encourage creativity and imagination.
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#1 Jie Xu, China, Most Beautiful Football Pitch
Nestled on a tiny island in the Arctic Circle, this football field in Henningsvær, Norway is truly one of a kind. It’s a place where sport and nature meet in perfect harmony.
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This year’s top 101 images, selected for their excellence across genres including black and white, abstract, and drone photography, will be showcased in a printed book, offering what Eastway described as “a diverse collection of aerial photographs” that celebrates the breathtaking possibilities of seeing the world from above.
#2 Daniel Viñé Garcia, Spain, Smoking Skull
Iceland’s Fagradalsfjall volcano as it cooled. The cracking pattern of the lava formed a skull, creating an eerie natural illusion for a few moments.
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#3 Lorenzo Passalacqua, Australia, Avalanche
Surfers confronting the immense force of the ocean, evokes the rush of escaping a collapsing mountain.
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#4 Vitaly Golovatyuk, Russian Federation, Hanging On The Bridge
Three bridges in Huzhou, China.
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#5 Jeroen Van Nieuwenhove, Iceland, Cloud Inversion
A cloud inversion is veiling a massive erupting volcanic crater during the 2021 Geldingadalir eruption in Iceland.
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#6 Mike Mezeul I I, United States, New Earth
Nearly 24 hours after the start of the 9 July 9 2023 Litli-Hrútur eruption in Iceland, this three image panoramic showcases the newly formed cinder cone and associated lava river.
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#7 Dipanjan Pal, India, Carpet
Harvesting grass in central Vietnam looks like a carpet from above.
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#8 Ael Kermarec, Iceland, Reclaim
On this morning, Iceland experienced its 6th volcanic eruption in less than 3 years. The speed of the lava flows shows the brutal way this powerful act of nature claims its rights.
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#9 Xiaoying Shi, United States, Ground Vein
Utah’s unique and fascinating geological formations, with low, warm light emphasising its texture.
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#10 Taylor Duncan, United States, Martian Sunrise
At sunrise under overcast skies, the bentonite hills of Utah reveal a Martian-like landscape sculpted by time and water.
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#11 Joanna Steidle, United States, Diving
A humpback whale diving back under the surface of the Atlantic Ocean after taking a breath of air. This was taken within 500ft of the coast in Southampton, NY, USA.
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#12 Talor Stone, United States, Tree Of Ice
An aerial perspective of glacial calving reveals an unexpected organic pattern in the water. Northeast Greenland National Park.
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#13 Marco Di Marco, Iceland, A Powerful Beginning
The 7th eruptive episode of the 2023-2025 Svartsengi volcanic system, in southwestern Iceland.
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#14 Chris Ha, United States, Threads Of Tradition
A Vietnamese artisan weaves a fishing net by hand, surrounded by flowing green threads, a tradition passed down through generations.
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#15 Thomas Vijayan, Canada, Austfonna Ice Cap
The Bråsvellbreen glacier, part of the Austfonna Ice Cap in Svalbard. Early melting and powerful waterfalls reveal the urgent reality of climate change—reminding us what’s at stake if we fail to act.
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#16 Patrick Abraham, United States, Crown Jewel
The Namib Desert, ancient and unyielding, wears the light of dawn like a crown. As the sun comes out the masterpiece is revealed.
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#17 Guichard Laetitia, France, Pink Landscape
Mont Saint Michel in the morning, France.
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#18 Xiaohui Li, China, Flamingos By The Lake
Flying flamingos by the lake.
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#19 David Mierowsky, Australia, Heart Of Africa
A flock of flamingos form a heart flying over Lake Logipi, Northern Frontier District, Kenya.
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#20 Andro Loria, United Kingdom, Autumn Light
Late autumn light highlights moss (lichen) on the mountain slopes contrasting dark blues of the craters’ lakes. Southern highlands, Iceland.
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#21 Joanna Steidle, United States, The Gateway
A spinner shark hunting in a school of menhaden bait fish in the Atlantic Ocean, Southampton, NY, USA.
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#22 Ignacio Palacios, Australia, Cono De Arita
Anti crepuscular rays at Cono de Arita, La Puna, Argentina.
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#23 Craig Parry, Australia, The Chase
Two Bottlenose Dolphins ride the nose of a Humpback Whale. I captured this image three nautical miles off the coast of Byron Bay under permit. NSW, Australia.
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#24 Tomá Neuwirth, Czech Republic, Labyrinth Of Time
A labyrinth in the spa park in the town of Jeseník, photographed in two different seasons (Czech Republic).
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#25 Rakesh Baro, India, Nature’s Palette
I love how this beautiful lake is nestled in the heart of autumn, surrounded by a breathtaking display of fiery reds, golden yellows and deep oranges. Muskoka landscapes can’t get any better.
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#26 David Swindler, United States, Flamingos And Pelicans
Flamingos and pelicans.
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#27 Tim Wrate, Australia, The Alchemy Of Extraction
A remote mining site in South Australia, where vivid colors reveal the dramatic impact of mining on the landscape—an intricate blend of human industry and natural terrain.
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#28 Jim Picot, Australia, Golden Curve
The ever changing sand on the hills at Stockton Beach. Last light shows the textures and designs.
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#29 Daniel Viñé Garcia, Spain, The Nipple Of The Earth
A dormant volcano in the high-altitude Puna of Argentina reveals intricate erosion patterns sculpted by wind and time.
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#30 Katherine Smith, United States, 2024 10 7
Broome, Western Australia.
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#31 Fabien Guittard, France, Above The Ice
Two seals lounging peacefully on a drifting slab of ice in the Jokulsarlon glacial lagoon, southern Iceland.
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#32 Xuehua Jiang, China, A Moving Picture II
Icelandic glacial rivers are fantastic to view from above. This image was shot from a helicopter from at about 1000 ft. altitude.
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#33 David Swindler, United States, Desert Playa
Desert Playa.
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#34 David Mierowsky, Australia, The Plane, The Plane!
The shadow of our plane as we fly over the colours of Hutt Lagoon, Western Australia.
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#35 Vitaly Golovatyuk, Russian Federation, Late Autumn Colors
Checking out autumn colours in a forest on the outskirts of Moscow, Russia.
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#36 Joanna Steidle, United States, Concerto
A small fever of cownose rays stirring up sand along their travels. Taken in Southampton, NY USA, just a few hundred feet from the coast.
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#37 Ray Cao, United States, Veins Of Light And Rivers Of Fog
As the sun sets over the hills, soft waves of coastal fog drift like silk across the ridgeline, wrapping homes and trees in light. A glowing highway carves through the landscape like a lifeline.
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#38 Jay Huang, United States, Red Alignment
Two towers alignment during low fog at sunset at Golden Gate Bridge, USA.
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#39 Sarfraz Durrani, United States, Ancient Dunes
Ancient dunes and worn-out mountains are the essence of Namibia. The oldest dunes in the world glow red in the golden light as life struggles to take hold.
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#40 Sarfraz Durrani, United States, Primordial Earth
This Icelandic landscape reminded me of what the Earth may have looked like as life was beginning to take hold.
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#41 Pawel Jagietto, Poland, Curon Venosta
A 14th-century church tower in Italy stands submerged in an artificial lake near Curon Venosta, due to dam construction in 1950.
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#42 Gheorghe Popa, Romania, The Network
Nestled deep within the Carpathian Mountains, Cuejdel is known for its mystical atmosphere and ever-changing landscapes.
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#43 Andro Loria, United Kingdom, African Dream
Flamingos flying over soda brine patterns shaped by winds on the Magadi lake surface, cloud reflections on the top of the frame. South Kenya.
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#44 Craig Mcgowan, Australia, Winter Mountains
The moving clouds allowed speckled winter sunlight to illuminate and shift across the mountains below.
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#45 Ignacio Palacios, Australia, Rainbow Valley
Rainbow Valley, Atacama Desert, Chile.
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#46 Daniel Reiter, Germany Celestine Pool
The hot springs, geysers and bubbling mud pots of Yellowstone National Park fascinate with their variety of colours.
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#47 Xuejun Bian, United States, Leaf
Aerial view of mountain range and drainage looks like a leaf on the ground.
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#48 Xiaohui Li, China, Flying Flamingos
Flying flamingos.
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#49 David Mierowsky, Australia, Rising
A flock of flamingos flying up from the surface of Lake Logipi, Northern Frontier District, Kenya.
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#50 Juan Lopez, Spain, Golden Cone
Arita Cone, Arizaro Salt Flat, Salta, Argentina.
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#51 Hong Jen Chiang, Taiwan, Fitz Roy
El Chalten, Argentina.
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#52 Andro Loria, United Kingdom, Interference
Silt and mineral coloured glacial streams look like a giant glacial lace or a stretched Hessian-like mesh when seen from 3000 ft above. South coast of Iceland.
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#53 Satheesh Nair, India, Gaias Vertebra
This aerial view of Shark Bay reveals Earth’s artistry—natural forms resembling a vertebra evoke Gaia. Western Australia.
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#54 Colin Leonhardt, Australia, Desert Whirlpool
Mine site near Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.
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#55 Andro Loria, United Kingdom, Autumn Colours
Oasis – moss (lichen) on the mountain slopes contrasts the blue of the crater lake and silt-rich grey of Skaftá river during a glacial run in Southern Highlands, Iceland.
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#56 Wayne Sorensen, Australia, Pink Squadron
Like a squadron of pink bombers, these flamingos fly in perfect formation over an otherworldly landscape around Lake Magadi, Kenya.
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#57 Craig Mcgowan, Australia, Rippled Light
The last light of the day touching the sand dune peaks.
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#58 Pål Hermansen, Norway, Lone Island In Snow
The ice brim was freezing on a lake’s edge as a sudden snow blizzard approached. Norway.
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#59 Gilad Topaz, Israel, Drifting In Space
Swimmers in the frozen Baltic Sea. After a short trip, the icebreaker stopped and passengers were given the opportunity to go into the freezing cold water.
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#60 Xuehua Jiang, China, A Moving Picture I
If the waters of in the world are vast and boundless, the waters in Iceland are then ever-changing and graceful.
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#61 Rositsa Dimitrova, Bulgaria, Eternal Harmony
Iceland is an absolute heaven for aerial photography – the abstract shapes in the seas and rivers are unmatched.
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#62 Peter Coskun, United States, Luminary
An eroded spire sticks out of the rugged badlands of Southern Utah like a beacon of light.
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#63 David Swindler, United States, Flamingos Over The Lake
Flamingos over a lake.
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#64 Gheorghe Popa, Romania, Burning Feathers
In 1977, over 400 families living in Geamana village were evacuated so that this place could be turned into a tailings pond for the waste generated by the copper mine.
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#65 Peter Harrison, Australia, Tidal Flora
The Joseph Bonaparte Gulf Marine Park in the Northern Territory is shaped by huge tides ebbing and flooding across shallow muddy tidal flats.
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#66 Daniela Tommasi, Australia, Salt Works I V – The Eye
Salt extraction operation, Coral Coast region of Western Australia. It reminds me of an animal’s or bird’s eye.
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#67 Colin Leonhardt, Australia, Explosive Moment
Tailings site at Collie’s Alumina mine in Western Australia.
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#68 Nicolas Giroud, Switzerland, Mont-Saint-Michel
A magical moment with the incredible Mont-Saint-Michel rising over the clouds.
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#69 Gilad Topaz, Israel, Perfect Coordination
A team of four rowing men, heating up for a race in the Yarkon River.
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#70 Joanna Steidle, United States, Another World
A fever of cownose rays approaching a school of menhaden bait fish, taken just a few hundred feet from the coast of Southampton, NY. USA.
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#71 Azim Khan Ronnie, Bangladesh, Rice Workers
Workers create a picturesque display from above as they carry rice from a large drying field in Bangladesh.
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#72 Belva Hayden, United States, Flamingos Over Lake Magadi
Above Lake Magadi, flamingos glide over the vibrant, abstract swirls formed by algae and salt in Kenya’s Rift Valley.
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#73 Stuart Chape, Samoa Lake, Cakora
Showing intricate and beautiful dendritic patterns only visible from the air, this is a tannin stained tidal creek in Lake Cakora, northern NSW, Australia.
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#74 Daniel Franc, Czech Republic, Winter Daisy
Following the first snow, a lone coloured tree faces the coming winter. Central Bohemia, Czech Republic.
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#75 Brian Ellwood, Australia, Menindee Water – Cultivated
Planting rows and irrigation lines pretend to bring order to the harsh and challenging environment of the Australian outback at Menindee Lakes, NSW.
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#76 Xiaohui Li, China, Cross Sea Bridge
Cross Sea Bridge.
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#77 Vitaly Golovatyuk, Russian Federation, Night Owl
Looking out for my hotel neighbor late at night in Bangkok, Thailand
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#78 Wayne Sorensen, Australia, Ripples
A group of flamingos take off in the shallows of Lake Natron on the border of Tanzania and Kenya. In their wake, they leave a trail of perfect ripples as they majestically take to the air.
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#79 Olaf Düber, Germany, Desert Wine
The wine-growing district of La Geria on the island of Lanzarote.
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#80 Rositsa Dimitrova, Bulgaria, Gold And Blue
You don’t always need to wait for golden hour – sometimes partially cloudy skies in Iceland provide just the perfect diffused light.
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#81 Craig Mcgowan, Australia, Last Light
As sunset approaches, the shadows lengthen and the sand dunes take on a new form.
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#82 Murray Evans, Zambia, Elephants Of The Flood Plains
A herd of elephants on the Busanga plains in Kafue National Park, Zambia.
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#83 Christopher Harrison, United Kingdom, The Long Shadow
On the first day of meteorological spring, low mist hugged the frosty Oxfordshire landscape.
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#84 Javier Garcia, Spain, Tajogaite Volcano
On 19 September 2021, the Tajogaite volcano (Montaña Rajada) erupted on La Palma (Spain). Intense volcanic activity buried thousands of homes.
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#85 Peter Harrison, Australia, Bonaparte Tide
Low tide in the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, Northern Territory, shaped by huge tides (up to seven metres), ebbing and flooding across the shallow muddy tidal flats.
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#86 Rob Cox, Australia, Inflow Alpha
A ribbon of toxic waste threads through a tailings dam in Western Australia’s Goldfields region.
Image credits: internationalaerialphotographer
#87 Daniela Tommasi, Australia, Salt Works I I I
The wonderful salt lakes of Western Australia, whether natural or man-made (salt extraction operations) are stunning when viewed from the air. Hutt Lagoon’s Pink Lake, WA, Australia.
Image credits: internationalaerialphotographer
#88 Colin Leonhardt, Australia, Twisted Owl
Alumina mine tailings dam near Collie, Western Australia.
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#89 Francisco Fernandez Garcia, Spain, Shadow Volcano
In the high Andes, evaporation, minerals, and salt shape waters in turquoise, brown, and white—forming natural patterns that feel like abstract art shaped by earth, sun, and wind.
Image credits: internationalaerialphotographer
#90 Azim Khan Ronnie, Bangladesh, Travellers Crossing
A busy waterway is filled with boats and their passengers in the morning commute as they try to pass on a river in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
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#91 Ignacio Palacios, Australia, Laguna Hedionda
Laguna Hedionda and flamingos, Bolivian, Altiplano.
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#92 Wayne Sorensen, Australia, Soda Swirl
A squadron of flamingos fly over one of Kenya’s soda lakes, Lake Magadi. A swirl of sodium floating on the surface is shaped by the wind, creating patterns that only Mother Nature can craft.
Image credits: internationalaerialphotographer
#93 Peter Ryan, Australia, Abstract Mound Springs
The stunning array mound springs around Kati-Thanda. This one reminds me of a micro-organism seeping out from the bowels of the ancient lake.
Image credits: internationalaerialphotographer
#94 Barbara Brown, Australia, The Corroboree
Salt lake patterns, Goldfields region of Western Australia
Image credits: internationalaerialphotographer
#95 Cassio Vasconcellos, Brazil, The Beach 3
The Collective uses aerial images to create fictional yet plausible scenes of excess, reflecting on humanity’s impact and urging a shift toward sustainability and environmental awareness.
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#96 Barbara Brown, Australia, The Tempest
Salt lake, Goldfields region of Western Australia
Image credits: internationalaerialphotographer
#97 Pål Hermansen, Norway, Relax After The Meal
Polar bear on Svalbard after eating on a walrus carcass. Thanks to the drone with a telephoto lens, this rare scene could be captured without any disturbance. Svalbard, Norway.
Image credits: internationalaerialphotographer
#98 Neil Vincent, Australia, Dead Whale Beached
Dead whale. Sharks were feeding on it, until it finally washed ashore on Budgewoi Beach, NSW. Its white body was stark against the dark pebbles of the beach.
Image credits: internationalaerialphotographer
#99 Cassio Vasconcellos, Brazil, Airplanes
The Collective uses aerial images to create fictional yet plausible scenes of excess, reflecting on humanity’s impact and urging a shift toward sustainability and environmental awareness.
Image credits: internationalaerialphotographer
#100 Cassio Vasconcellos, Brazil, Over
The Collective uses aerial images to create fictional yet plausible scenes of excess, reflecting on humanity’s impact and urging a shift toward sustainability and environmental awareness.
Image credits: internationalaerialphotographer
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