The Winning Aerial Photos and Videos from SkyPixel’s 7th Annual Contest

Every year, Skypixel’s annual Aerial Photo & Video Contest showcases some of the very best drone photos and videos from around the world.

The contest was launched back in 2016 to celebrate SkyPixel’s two year anniversary and DJI’s ten year anniversary. (DJI owns Skypixel.)

Now on its seventh year in a row, the contest continues to grow in size—last year it had over 26,000 submissions, and this year it had over 30,000 submissions from professional photographers, videographers, aerial enthusiasts, and content creators. The contest is truly international, including work created in 124 countries.

In addition to awarding prizes in categories for aerial photos and aerial videos, this year’s contest also featured a special category for work created with the new DJI Mavic 3, called the “Mavic 3 Limited Award.”

Without further ado, here are the winning photos and videos from this year’s contest.

Grand Prize

SkyPixel Video of the Year

“Urban Village” by SkyPixel contributor Wenrui Ye.

Urban villages show a unique way of urban inclusion. I revisited Guangzhou, a city where I have lived for nearly thirty years, and explored it with my interpretations, memories, and a brand-new perspective. The dramatic contrast between the city and the villages looked almost surreal, and I can’t help thinking about the countless possibilities of Guangzhou in the future.

Watch the video on the Skypixel website.

SkyPixel Photograph of the Year

“Orchid” by SkyPixel contributor Zhu Jianxin.

A rare heavy snow fell in the Taklimakan Desert in Xinjiang. Several cracks appeared on the ice surface. When viewed from the air, it looked like a fresh and elegant orchid.

1st Place Photographs

“Scream”

Created by SkyPixel contributor Nikita Duhnik.

“Perfect Chaos”

Created by SkyPixel contributor sarazanini.

“Collecting Bang Grass”

By SkyPixel contributor binhd7.

“Shadow Basketball II”

Created by SkyPixel contributor Ekaterina Polischuk.

1st Place Videos

“Iceland—Feel the Elements”

Created by SkyPixel contributor Dronographer.

Watch the video on the Skypixel website.

“Madeira, Portugal”

Created by SkyPixel contributor Rory Watson.

Watch the video on the Skypixel website.

“Island of Madeira”

Created by SkyPixel contributor Łukasz Jaros.

Watch the video on the Skypixel website.

“My Year 2021”

Created by SkyPixel contributor be_mesmerized.

Watch the video on the Skypixel website.

“SEA”

Created by SkyPixel contributor Parker.

Watch the video on the Skypixel website.

“My Shanghai 2021”

Created by SkyPixel contributor Lao An.

Watch the video on the Skypixel website.

Mavic 3 Limited Awards

Video winner—”The Realm of Western Yunnan”

Created by SkyPixel contributor Stark’s (斯塔克的斯).

Photograph winner—”China Animation Museum in the Mist”

Created by SkyPixel contributor tension vision (张力视觉).

Keep in mind—the photos and videos featured here are only the Grand Prize and 1st place winners.

Make sure to check out the 2nd and 3rd place winners, as well as the Nominated Entries and People’s Choice winners, on the SkyPixel 7th annual contest results page.