Announced: The Top Aerial Shots from Drones - Winners of the 2025 Aerial Photographer Competition Revealed
The International Aerial Photographer of the Year Awards 2025 have been announced, showcasing the best in drone photography from around the world. The competition, which selects the best wildlife photographs taken with drones, featured a collection of the 14 best black and white photographs of the year, as well as the 12 winning photographs of the Nature Photography Contest, collectively titled "Magic of the Wild."
One of the most notable entries came from Australian travel photographer Ignacio Palacios, who won "Aerial Photograph of the Year" with his shot of "La Puna," a high-altitude plateau in the Andes. His photograph, titled "Cono de Arita," was particularly praised and earned him the inaugural International Aerial Photograph of the Year award.
In addition to Palacios's win, the awards celebrated diverse aerial perspectives captured by drones, medium format cameras, and included genres from abstract to natural landscapes.
U.S.-based professional drone pilot Joanna Stead emerged as the overall winner, taking home the title of "Aerial Photographer of the Year 2025." Stead's winning series includes a photograph of a shortfin mako shark hunting a school of fish in the Atlantic Ocean, as well as an image of a group of rays in Argentina. Contrary to popular belief, the image does not depict a hunt, but rather feeding on sand eels and mollusks, ensuring the nearby Atlantic menhaden are safe.
The winners of the awards are as follows:
- **Photographer of the Year:** Joanna Steidle from the United States. She earned top honors among the overall photographers for her outstanding aerial photography work.
- **Second Place Photographer:** Daniel Viñé Garcia from Spain.
- **Third Place Photographer:** David Swindler from the United States.
In the special award for the "Aerial Photograph of the Year (best single image)," the winners are:
- **Photograph of the Year:** Ignacio Palacios from Australia, for his remarkable image titled "Cono de Arita."
- **Second Place Photograph:** Talor Stone from the United States.
- **Third Place Photograph:** Thomas Vijayan from Canada.
The awards aim to promote and celebrate the art of aerial photography, and the 2025 edition did not disappoint, with stunning images that capture the beauty and diversity of our world from above.
Gadgets played a significant role in capturing the stunning images of the International Aerial Photographer of the Year Awards 2025, with drones being a popular choice among the winners. The advanced technology incorporated in these gadgets enabled photographers to capture unique perspectives of the world from above, showcasing the beauty and diversity of our planet.
