For anyone interested in drone photography: the fifth annual Dronestagram photo contest recently took place and announced three winners. The contest challenges entrants to use drones to photograph our planet from new and unique perspectives, attracting thousands of submissions from around the world.
Dronestagram is a major international social network for drone photography. For the fifth edition of the contest, the Dronestagram jury selected the three best photos regardless of category or the number of likes each image had received.
The quality of the submissions was at a historically high level. With a wide range of categories—including cities, nature, people, and creative work—the judges faced some difficult decisions.
The No. 1 winner that year was Hungry Hippos by Zekedrone. The American drone photographer captured the image from a low altitude, showing a large group of hippos gathered together in the mud.
The story behind the photo:
"Towards the end of the year I was planning on going to Utah USA until last minute my friend Ty Poland asked me if I wanted to go on assignment to Tanzania and capture wildlife. As exciting as it sounded I almost turned this opportunity down. Fast forward to finally saying yes to this trip we ended up in some isolated area in Tanzania where we came upon a small body of water. As we approached closer my eyes couldn’t believe the surprise that was in front of us. I knew in that instant moment I needed to get the most unique perspective of this once in a lifetime experience."
Fishing Net in Vietnam by Trung Pham was selected as the second-place winner. The photographer had traveled 500 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City to Tuy Hòa when he captured the image.
The story behind the photo:
"It was a such memorable moment when I was driving from Ho Chi Minh city to Tuy Hoa, a small city in central Vietnam, with distance of 500Km. I planned to take a photo of lobsters breeding village nearby. When I take off my drone, I saw a fishing boat with a huge fishing net. I did not miss the moment to capture it."
The jury awarded third place to 2 People, 2 Dogs & 4 Shadows by qliebin. qliebin is a drone photographer from Ukraine.
The story behind the photo:
"This photo was captured at the morning on the Black Sea beach (Odessa, Ukraine). I live near this place and nearly each day walking near the sea with my drone. The day before I took this picture, I noticed that at certain at morning time the shadows from people fall exactly perpendicular to the water line. The next day I came specially at this time – I flew along the surf and searched for interesting plots. At this time, people walked with their dogs and I took a few photos, and then chose the best shot, where the silhouettes are best visible."
The jury’s criteria were that a strong drone image should have a pronounced vertical perspective and show scenes up close from a viewpoint that only a drone can provide. It should also be artistic in its approach and style and, where possible, depict life through people or animals.
