The International Aerial Photographer of the Year has unveiled the winners of its inaugural photography contest awarding the world’s best contemporary photographs taken from high above.
Professional and amateur photographers worldwide were invited to enter the competition capturing breathtaking and mostly never-before-seen views using modern drones equipped with high-resolution sensors or more traditional modes of transport such as planes, helicopters and even balloons.
Part of the appeal is that the view is new and different from what we see most of the time walking around with our eyes a meter-and-a-half above the ground. Looking down from high above produces a novel, intriguing and sometimes ambiguous perspective.
After a decade running the International Landscape Photographer of the Year awards, organizers Peter Eastway and David Evans noticed an increase in the number of stunning aerial photographs and decided to start a special competition dedicated to the art and practice of aerial photography. For this first edition, they fielded more than 1,500 entries from around the globe showing an array of new perspectives, ranging from wild animals and amazing nature to fairytale hills and landscapes.
To reach the Top 101 and be published in a book, participants needed at least a score of 86.67 points awarded by a professional panel of judges.
The overall winner of 2025 is photographer Joanna Steidle, a professional drone pilot and artist based in the Hamptons on Long Island, New York, with a striking series of ocean wild animal images.
For Steidle, “aerial photography offers so many possibilities not yet explored. I live
in a very flat landscape, so top-down imagery has become quite a theme in my photos,
which happens to work well with my love for marine life.”
Overall Winner Aerial Photography Contest
This aerial drone photo centers on a spinner shark as it creates a gateway into a school of menhaden fish in the Atlantic Ocean.
A drone image of a small ‘fever’ of cownose rays finds them stirring up sand along their travels in Southampton, New York.
Photographers Of The Year Aerial Photography Contest
Iceland’s Fagradalsfjall volcano haunts the viewer as it cools. The cracking pattern of the lava formed a skull, creating an eerie natural illusion for a few moments.
Photograph Of The Year Winners
Anti crepuscular rays at Cono de Arita in La Puna, Argentina create an atmospheric optical phenomenon that appears as beams of light converging towards a point opposite the sun in the sky.
An aerial perspective of glacial calving reveals an unexpected organic pattern in the water in Greenland’s Northeast Greenland National Park.
An aerial view of the BrĂĄsvellbreen Glacier, part of the Austfonna Ice Cap in Svalbard, Norway, stretches like a thinning plate of mint candy. Early melting and powerful waterfalls reveal the urgent reality of climate change.
Category Awards Winners Aerial Photography Contest
A polar bear on Svalbard takes some time to digest after feasting on a walrus carcass. Thanks to the drone with a telephoto lens, this rare scene could be captured without any disturbance.
An aerial view creates a galactic-like vision of alumina mine tailings dam near Collie, Western Australia.
Two seals lounge peacefully on a drifting slab of ice in Iceland’s Jokulsarlon glacial lagoon.
101 Winners Aerial Photography Contest
Above Lake Magadi, flamingos glide over the vibrant, abstract swirls formed by algae and salt in Kenya’s Rift Valley.
Rice workers form a line in a picturesque display as they carry their crop from a large drying field in Bangladesh.
A herd of elephants cross the Busanga plains in Kafue National Park, Zambia.
A busy waterway is filled with boats and their passengers during the morning commute as they try to pass on a river in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
A squadron of flamingos fly over Lake Magadi, one of Kenya’s soda lakes. A swirl of sodium floating on the surface is shaped by the wind, creating patterns that only mother nature can craft.
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.
A flock of flamingos rise from the surface of Lake Logipi, Northern Frontier District, Kenya.
France’s iconic Mont Saint Michel France appears as if in a dream in the pink light of morning,
Workers harvesting grass in central Vietnam look as if they’re gliding across a a soft verdant carpet.
All the winning photos and photographers as well as the top scoring 101 photos appearing in the book of the International Aerial Photography Contest 2025 can be seen here.