Image of Iceland’s Volcanic Fissure Wins the Drone Photo Awards 2022
The Siena Awards has announced the winners of the Drone Photo Awards 2022. Top honors has been claimed by French photographer Armand Sarlangue for his photo of Iceland’s volcano titled “Big Bang.”
The Siena Awards hosts numerous photo competitions throughout the year, the latest is a focus on drone photography. The Drone Photo Awards 2022 saw thousands of images submitted by 2,642 photographers from 116 countries and the winning images will be showcased in an exhibition titled “Above Us Only Sky” during the Siena Awards events at the Museum of Natural History.
The Siena Awards Festival is scheduled in Siena from October 1 until November 20 with eight photographic exhibitions. Three collective exhibitions are dedicated to the Siena Awards contests: Siena International Photo Awards, Drone Photo Awards, and Creative Awards. Four solo exhibitions are dedicated to Danish Siddiqui, killed in 2021 in Afghanistan during one of his reports; Ami Vitale, National Geographic photographer; Dan Winters, an icon of international photography and author of the most popular portraits of celebrities of the past 15 years, and Peter Mather, a member of the International League of Conservation Photographers.
The Drone Photo Awards featured a single overall winner as well as winners in nine categories: Urban, People, Wildlife, Nature, Sport, Abstract, Wedding, and Photo Series. There are also awards given for video entries.
The overall winning image (above) features an overhead view of the main crater of Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland, during the very last eruptive phase. It was captured as a storm was hitting west Iceland, with rain and strong winds. Due to the difficult conditions, a drone capture like this is unique, photographer Armand Sarlangue says.
Below are the winning images for each accompanied by descriptions provided by the Siena Awards.
Urban
Rooftops of Kartoffelraekkerne neighborhood, in Oesterbro. The neighborhood was built in the late 1800s for the working class families. Today, it is one of the most sought for in Copenhagen.
People
Dhaka is located on the bank of the famous Buriganga river. Sadarghat river port of Dhaka is the busiest port in Bangladesh, with services to most of the districts in the country. People from both sides of the Buriganga river cross it using small boats. The boat men working on them, usually sleep at night on the boats themselves.
Wildlife
Flamingos sleep together at night for greater security and stay close together during the day, thus protecting each other. In this crowd of bodies the colorful nuances of the plumage and the reflections of the light stand out.
Nature
This picture is the result of a dream come true: the meeting of the desert and the ocean. As the drone climbed higher, the photographer noticed a particular atmosphere, where the light highlighted the delicious shapes of these dunes flowing into the South Atlantic Ocean.
Sport
The photo taken in March 2022 shows the competitors of the annual ski event: Bieg Piastów held in Szklarska Poręba, at its 46th edition. Skiers whiz in their colorful clothing along the track surrounded by snow-covered trees.
Abstract
Some laborers at work in a salt pan where they move the salt to form circular lines allowing a slow evaporation under the hot sun. At the end of the day the salt will be collected in baskets: it’s a really hard job!
Wedding
The effect of the sun on the water, a felled tree and a brave bride lying on it: a magnificent picture drawn by nature. The surface of the water looks like a starry night sky, while the bride looks seems a dreamy princess.
Photo Series and Video Winners
The photo series category was won by photographer Dmitry Kokh for his fascinating series of photos showing polar bears that have taken over the abandoned buildings of a meteorological station on an island between Russia and Alaska. PetaPixel featured that series in full in January.
The following three videos were named winners of the showreel (general), travel, and photojournalism categories in that order:
To see all the winning images as well as the other finalists, visit the Drone Photo Awards 2022 website.
Image credits: All photos are individually credited and were provided courtesy of the Siena Awards Drone Photo Awards 2022.
