Siena, Italy—A flock of thousands of Pink-footed geese flying over snow-covered ground, immortalized by the Norwegian photographer Terje Kolaas, is the winner of the Drone Photo Awards 2021. The international contest celebrates aerial photography.
The image, titled Pink-Footed Geese Meeting the Winter, was shot in central Norway. It captures the geese flying toward Svalbard, in the Arctic, with the landscape still snow covered. Poignantly, the birds’ early arrival is likely linked to climate change.
The photo was selected from tens of thousands of images submitted by photographers from 102 countries. Moreover, it will showcase in the Above Us Only Sky exhibition along with the first–place shots in the Drone Photo Awards’ eight categories. The exhibit, in Siena, Italy, will span from October 23 to December 5 as part of the Siena Awards festival dedicated to the visual arts.
Drone Photo Awards 2021 Category Winners
Urban
First place in the Urban category went to the photo titled Metaphorical Statement About City and Winter, by Russian photographer Sergei Poletaev. The image portrays an old monastery near Moscow with a large power plant in the background.
Wildlife
In addition, Oman photographer Qasim Al Farsi won the Wildlife category with Back to Adventure. This aerial shot captures a green turtle ready to return to the water after laying its eggs on the coast of Oman, between Ras Al Jinz and Rashad turtle reserve.
Sport
Gold at the End of the Rainbow, by Australian photographer Phil De Glanville, captures a striking rainbow above surfer Ollie Henry. It is the winning image in the Sport category.
People
What’s more, Fishing in Mangrove Forest, taken by Vietnamese photographer Trung Pham Huy, won the People category. It portrays a fisherman who begins his working day in the mangrove forest of the Tam Giang lagoon, in a white winter atmosphere.
Nature
Also, the Nature category first–place award went to American photographer Martin Sanchez and Extragalactic. The image, shot in Iceland, captures the extraordinary moments of the eruption of a volcano from above. Moreover, it offers an exclusive view of the interior of the crater.
Abstract
Poisoned River, which portrays many small channels full of poisons, by Romanian photographer Gheorghe Popa, won first place in the Abstract category. It describes the natural disaster produced by chemical waste generated by the mining of copper and also gold in the Apuseni mountains in Transylvania.
Wedding
Additionally, at Marina di Pisa on the Tuscan coast, Italian photographer Matteo Original captured Towards the Infinite Together with You to win the Wedding category.
Storyboard
Finally, Pakistani-American photographer Adrees Latif won the Storyboard category with Blanketed in Fire Retardant. The sequence of apocalyptic images depicts the city of Talent, Oregon, completely covered in red flame retardant. Aerial firefighters dropped the retardant in hopes of saving the town from the fire. The disaster resulted in three fatalities, displaced 3,000 residents as well as destroyed nearly 3,000 structures over a nine-mile area.
Video
What’s more, in the Video category, Greek photographer Nestoras Kechagias won with Ice Ballet.
To visit the award winners’ gallery, click here.
Siena Awards 2021
The Siena Awards 2021 animate the city and its surroundings with a rich program of exhibitions, workshops, photo tours, seminars, lectures, projections as well as guided tours. This year’s special guest is American photojournalist Steve Winter. His Big Cats is an excellent retrospective of the famous National Geographic photographer’s work. 
In addition, the visual arts festival will give space to the works of other great international photographers. For example, the solo exhibition of Brent Stirton, an icon of photojournalism, will display in Sovicille. Moreover, collective exhibitions set up in Siena are dedicated to two important international photographic awards. The exhibition Imagine all the People Sharing all the World showcases the most beautiful images of the Siena International Photo Awards. Conversely, the I Wonder if You Can exhibit is dedicated to artistic and creative photography; it features the images awarded at the Creative Photo Awards.
