These stunning aerial shots are the winners of the 2022 Drone Photo Awards

A shot of a secondary fissure on an Icelandic volcano took the competition's top prize

With the aerial shot which shows the hard work of some labourers in a salt pan in Habra, India, photographer Saurabh Sirohiya wins in the Abstract category.

An evocative encounter between the desert dunes and the South Atlantic Ocean, photographed by Swiss photographer David Rouge, won first place in the Nature category.

The People category was won by Bangladeshi photographer Anindita Roy, with an image from Dhaka taken on the Buriganga River.

This image titled 'Big Bang', immortalised by French photographer Armand Sarlangue, is the overall winner of Drone Photo Awards 2022. It shows a secondary fissure happening a few hundred metres from the main crater of Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland.

Russian photographer Dmitry Kokh with 'Abandoned Weather Station' won in the Storyboard category. All photos: Drone Photo Awards 2022

First place in the Urban category was won by Ukrainian photographer Serhiy Vovk, with this photo of rooftops as far as the eye can see, in Kartoffelraekkerne neighbourhood, in Copenhagen.

An aerial view of the participants of the Bieg Piastow ski event held in Poland, by Polish photographer Daniel Koszela, won in the Sports category.

Polish photographer Krzysztof Krawczyk won first place in the Wedding category with a photo which portrays the sun's rays on a body of water, a felled tree and a daring bride lying on top.

Lots of flamingos close to each other are the protagonists of the aerial shot by Iranian photographer Mehdi Mohebi Pour, winner in the Wildlife category.

An aerial picture of a secondary fissure happening a few hundred metres from the main crater of the Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland during its eruptive phase has won the Drone Photo Awards 2022.

The image, titled Big Bang, was captured by French photographer Armand Sarlangue and was chosen from thousands of entries by the competition’s jury members.

The Drone Photo Awards are among the world’s most prestigious celebration of aerial photography, taking place as part of the Siena Awards — the Festival of Photography and Visual Arts, and attracted submissions from 2,624 participants from 116 countries.

Scroll through the gallery above to see the winning images

There were nine winning images chosen in total across different categories. First place in the Urban category was won by a photo of rooftops in Kartoffelraekkerne neighbourhood in Copenhagen, shot by Ukrainian photographer Serhiy Vovk. The People category was won by Bangladeshi photographer Anindita Roy for his image Sleeping on a Boat shot on the Buriganga River in Bangladesh.

The People category was won by Bangladeshi photographer Anindita Roy, with an image from Dhaka taken on the Buriganga River. Photo: Drone Photo Awards 2022

Solidarity, an image showing a large cluster of flamingos in Mazandaran, Iran, shot by Iranian photographer Mehdi Mohebi Pour won in the Wildlife category, while Meeting, by Swiss photographer David Rouge, taken in the Namib Desert, won first place in the Nature category.

An aerial view of participants in the Bieg Piastow ski event held in Szklarska Poreba, Poland, shot by Polish photographer Daniel Koszela, topped the Sports category, and Indian photographer Saurabh Sirohiya’s shot of labourers in a salt pan in Habra, India took top spot in the Abstract category.

Like a Painted Picture, an aerial shot of a bride lying on a felled tree across a river, shot by Polish photographer Krzysztof Krawczyk, won in the Wedding category, while Russian photographer Dmitry Kokh’s Abandoned Weather Station won in the Storyboard category.

All winning images will be showcased at the Above Us Only Sky exhibition, which will run from October 1 to November 20 in conjunction with the Siena Awards Festival at Siena’s Museum of Natural History.