The international Siena Drone Photo Awards 2026 competition brought together photographs taken from drones, helicopters, aeroplanes, hot-air balloons and other aircraft.
The entrants' works show familiar landscapes and scenes from unusual heights and at unexpected angles.
The works cover a wide range of subjects, from a dust storm and shipbreaking to flamingos, snow leopards, penguins, a crocodile and a polar bear.
The best images of the competition:
- First place in the “Urban Environment” category — “Mother Nature”, a dust storm sweeps over Mubarak Al-Kabeer in Kuwait / © Abdullah Benayan
- Second place in the “Urban Environment” category — “Where Two Eras Meet”, Mulmangol, Busan, South Korea / © Sanghoon Park
- Photo of the Year — “Shipbreaking on the Mudflats of the Bay of Bengal” / © George Steinmetz
- First place in the “Wildlife” category — “Hidden in Plain Sight”, two snow leopard cubs among the rocks / © Awais Ali Sheikh
- Second place in the “Wildlife” category — “Guard of the Crèche”, a lone adult flamingo among thousands of newly hatched chicks gathered in a natural “nursery” on the salt flat of Lake Tuz. / © Seyit Konyalı
- Highly commended by the jury in the “Wildlife” category — “Hey, Wait for Me!” / © Rick Beldegreen
- Highly commended by the jury in the “Wildlife” category — “Slime Time” / © Joanna Steidle
- Highly commended by the jury in the “Wildlife” category — “Floating Bear”, a polar bear among fragments of ice / © Jeroen Van Nieuwenhove
- First place in the “Nature” category — “Flamingos moving in Maharlu Lake” / © Maharlu Lake by Ali Azar
- Highly commended in the “Nature” category — “Tumpak Sewu’s Majestic Waterfall” / © Colas Decloitre
The competition highlights how greatly a change of viewpoint can alter the perception of a familiar landscape.
