Drone Photos Reveal the Elegance of Wild Animals from Rare Perspectives

An erupting volcano, slumbering polar bears, and soaring birds are just a few of the majestic sights in line for first prize at this year’s Siena Drone Photo Awards.

To capture these stunning shots, photographers weren’t limited to just drones. The contest guidelines encourage aerial shots from planes, helicopters, balloons, and even kites.

There were over 2,000 entries across nine categories for this year’s awards, Forbes reported.

Here are the 10 finalists in the running for the nature and animal categories. The winners will be announced on September 28, and the first prize winner receives about $550 in photography equipment, among other perks like a statuette and accommodations during the awards.

Pink flamingos as far as the eye can see

Even after years of photographing a species known as lesser flamingos, Paul Mckenzie wrote on Instagram that watching them gather by the thousands takes your breath away “no matter how many times you see it.”

The photographer took shots of the flamingo species at Lake Logipi, Kenya, where they flock for an algae-feeding frenzy. It’s these algae that give the birds their pink feathers.

Pelicans get together for a surprising group shot

While snapping photos of the Estero el Soldado wetlands in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico, Guillermo Soberón was surprised to spot a bunch of white pelicans. He was used to seeing brown ones instead.

“It was such an amazing scene, I couldn’t believe my luck,” he told NPR.

A mountain of migrating birds

Look at the white outline and you might see a familiar peak. The photographer, Mohammad Alqattan, said on Instagram that it resembles Mount Fuji.

What you’re really seeing is hundreds of flamingos. Each white dot is a bird. They were migrating through Kuwait when Alqattan took these photos, according to the BBC.

A pair of bears asleep in the snow

Photographer Florian Ledoux snapped an endearing image of a polar bear couple lying next to one another in the Arctic.

“They find solace in each other’s company, a timeless moment of intimacy during the courtship and mating season,” the photographer wrote in the photo caption on Instagram.

A shark’s colossal buffet

In December 2023, a sperm whale got stranded on a sandbank near Perth, Australia. Sadly, the animal was distressed and underweight, a marine mammal expert told CNN at the time.

After the whale died, at least one animal got a meal, and photographer Toby Nicol got footage. “If you look along the jaw line, you can clearly see the spots” where the shark started taking bites, Nicol wrote on Instagram.

The beauty of the badlands

Though Factory Butte isn’t far from the highway in Utah, Xiaoying Shi’s image makes the formation seem remote and tranquil.

“I seek out these types of locations to experience true wilderness away from crowds, cities, and the stress of everyday life,” the photographer wrote on his website.

Flamingos gliding over emerald green water

Silke Hullmann captured white flamingos soaring above Lake Magadi in Kenya. “The area is incredibly beautiful in an apocalyptic way,” the photographer said in an interview about a similar photo that won an Exposure One Award.

An alien landscape that’s right here on Earth

This mystical view of Iceland looks more like it’s from some alien, unknown planet than Earth.

“By freeing my mind from conditioned and limiting thoughts of meaning that narrow my perception, I can liberate what is seen,” photographer Brynjar Agustsson told The Times.

A hot spring that looks like an evil eye

Iceland is home to over 600 geothermal springs. Miki Spitzer captured this one, describing it on Instagram as resembling a dragon’s eye.

A blazing image of an erupting volcano

Iceland’s Fagradalsfjall volcano was dormant for 800 years before erupting in March 2021. It continued to gush lava for months.

Photographer Daniel Viñé Garcia wrote on Instagram about an “epic morning” filming the volcano and visiting again just before it stopped erupting.

The lava moving through black rock resembles a fiery tongue in a gaping mouth.

Source: Business Insider, Forbes, NPR, BBC, CNN