Best Aerial Photo of the Year Features a Red-Crowned Crane on Ice
SkyPixel, the world’s largest aerial photography and video community, announced the fantastic winners of its 10th annual Photo and Video Contest. Held in partnership with global drone leader DJI, the competition’s winners showcase the best in aerial visual storytelling.
Since the first SkyPixel Annual Photo and Video Contest in 2014, it has become a leading competition for aerial creators. This year’s competition received nearly 140,000 entries across its photo and video categories, each demonstrating the power of aerial imagery, which promises dynamic and distinct perspectives and compositions.
“We are incredibly proud to celebrate 10 years of creative excellence,” says Christina Zhang, Senior Director of Corporate Strategy at DJI. “This contest not only highlights the talent of our global community but also showcases the transformative power of aerial and handheld imaging in storytelling. We look forward to another decade of innovation and inspiration.”
This year’s judges include some heavy hitters in the industry. On the video side, the jury includes Academy Award-winning cinematographer Claudio Miranda (Life of Pi, Top Gun: Maverick), Director of Photography Chenyu Jin (Blossoms Shanghai, Like a Rolling Stone), Director of Photography Tianhong Pan, and travel filmmaker Sam Newton.
On the photo side, the jury panel includes editors and photographers Anne Farrar from National Geographic, Luke Stackpoole, Weimin Chu, and Daniel Kordan.
2025 Annual Best Photo Prize
Photographer Gangerqia’s mesmerizing image Mysterious Realm seen above took top honors in the photo category. This remarkable photo shows a red-crowned crane shortly after it landed on snow and ice. Its landing location and footprints are visible behind the bird. It is a fantastically composed image that tells an entire story in a single frame.
“This aerial photo works beautifully because it almost tricks you at first glance — like you’re looking at a drawing rather than a real landscape. There’s a frozen pond shaped like an eye that immediately grabs your attention, and the neat line of footprints from the bird adds a playful sense of movement. It’s simple, clean, and has a bit of mystery to it. The minimal colors and subtle textures make the whole thing feel calming but intriguing at the same time,” says judge Luke Stackpoole.
Alongside Gangerqia’s overall winning photo, the judges selected the 10 best other photos entered in the contest, all showcased below.
Best Video Winners
The complete set of video winners is available on the SkyPixel contest website. However, Bashir Abu Shakra’s Grand Prize-winning Aerial video is also available on DJI’s YouTube channel and embedded below.
The winning video, The War — My Transformation Journey, shows beautiful, vast landscapes and delivers a strong sense of solitude.
“The opening shot is truly captivating, marked by its elongated duration, graceful camera movements, and the serene beauty of the time of day. The composition stands out as particularly noteworthy. It’s one of my favorites, and the overall quality is exceptional,” says Claudio Miranda.
“The War is an admirable film. Landscape photography is never a simple record, and every shot taken by this cinematographer is refined, precise, and captivating. The angles, the light all show his persistence and perseverance. It is a film where technique and the creator’s inner vision are highly aligned. I really liked the ending,” adds Chenyu Jin.
The 2025 Annual Best Video Prize (Handheld) goes to Henry Yue for his excellent travel film from Japan, Japan Travel Cinematic.
The rest of the winning videos from the 10th annual SkyPixel Photo and Video Contest are available on SkyPixel’s website.
Image credits: SkyPixel. All photographers are credited in the image captions.
