SkyPixel, the drone photo/video competition co-organised by DJI has announced the winners from the 7th edition of the annual awards and the winning imagery is absolutely jaw-dropping. This year’s competition saw nearly 30,000 entries from photographers and videographers across 124 countries and regions.
This year’s Grand Prize winner in the Photo Category was this epic capture by Zhu Jianxin, who framed up an otherworldly sight of a frozen lake after a heavy snow fell in the Taklamakan Desert. With a simple change in perspective, several cracks on a frozen lake magically come together into a portrait of an elegant orchid. Jianxin said: “Photography as an art form always comes from life. It is born from nature. I am amazed by how a drone changes my perspective and helps me capture the beauty of our world.” Stephen Foster commented on the work: “The real art in photography is to capture a photograph people have to analyse longer than a few seconds to see what the picture really shows.”
Ranked in the First Place awards spot was this image by Russian photographer Dukhnik Nikita. Entitled Scream, the image was captured using a Mavic Pro drone and shows an eerie face in a lake thanks to the overhead composition.
Also taking a First Place award was this epic image by Italian travel and aerial photographer Sara Zanini. Entitled ‘Perfect Chaos’, the image boasts a fine-art, painterly feel to the colouring in the frame and was captured using a DJI Mavic 2 Pro drone.
This colourful frame by a SkyPixel member called Binhd7, who hails from China took a First Place award and shows the accessibility of drones to capture imagery over water that photographers would normally struggle to access.
Colours and shapes can play a big part in a successful aerial image and this amazing frame from Ekaterina Polischuk from the Ukraine took a First Place award. Entitled Shadow Basketball, the fantastic image was captured using a DJI Mavic 2 Pro drone.
Among the images to be awarded Second Place in the competition was this epic frame by a SkyPixel member called Mark. The image shows the clever use of a vertical panorama to show the vast scale of the mountain range and was captured using a DJI Air 2S.
Juxtaposition is another creative tool photographers can employ to make images stand out from the crowd and that’s exactly what a SkyPixel member called 行者. The white snow contrasts beautifully with the dark water, which is further complemented by the swimmer.
