Each April, the drone images world will get its equal of the Oscars. DJI and SkyPixel have introduced the winners of the eleventh Annual SkyPixel Picture and Video Contest — and as at all times, the outcomes are a helpful snapshot of the place aerial and handheld visible storytelling is correct now.
The 2025 contest attracted practically 140,000 entries from across the globe. This yr’s eleventh version drew practically 95,000 submissions from 96 international locations — a smaller uncooked quantity than final yr, however unfold throughout a barely extra targeted, DJI-gear-required competitors format. The prize pool this yr topped $200,000.
The competition has come a great distance from its origins. SkyPixel has been round since 2014 as a approach for drone pilots to add, set up and share their work, and the platform now claims greater than 55 million registered customers from 140 international locations.
Right here’s a have a look at this yr’s winners.
Finest Aerial Video: Africa Unseen by ellisvanjason
The highest aerial video prize went to “Africa Unseen” by ellisvanjason — a seven-minute cinematic portrait of Africa’s landscapes and wildlife that the creator describes as his last large-scale ardour undertaking.
The creator used a complete suite of DJI instruments together with the Avata 2, Encourage 3, Mavic 3 Professional, Ronin 4D, RS 4 Professional, and DJI Focus Professional, drawing from over 35TB of cinematic-grade 8K footage. The end result strikes from sweeping desert vistas to grasslands and dramatic canyons, with FPV sequences inserting viewers alongside wildlife in movement in a approach that conventional cinematic drone work hardly ever achieves.
Decide Zeng Jian famous the movie’s “exact composition and powerful visible management,” calling out its excessive degree of professionalism. Ryan Hosking praised the “lovely shade work and glorious use of DJI expertise.” Benjamin Hardman referred to as it “one of the crucial cinematic works within the competitors” for its shade, composition, and narrative impression.
The FPV sequences alongside wildlife stand out, proving that filmmakers can don’t simply vast establishing photographs from a digital camera drone, however immersive first-person views that put the viewer contained in the scene. With the Antigravity A1 and DJI Avata 360 now accessible, anticipate that pattern to speed up significantly in subsequent yr’s submissions.
Finest Handheld Video: Elsewhere The Gaze Can All the time Arrive by AYANG
The Handheld class — launched for the primary time within the 2025 contest as a nod to DJI’s Osmo line and expanded this yr to incorporate 360-degree digital camera views — went to AYANG for “Elsewhere The Gaze Can All the time Arrive,” praised for its poetic narrative and integration of aerial and floor footage.
Decide Ryan Hosking famous the “nice use of a wide range of photographs and composition to assist inform the story effectively,” with a uniform look that makes the piece really feel full. Decide Benjamin Hardman praised the “lovely storyline and artistic shot sorts” and the combination of tight and vast photographs that draw the viewer in.
Finest Picture: The Gate by Filip Hrebenda
The images grand prize went to Filip Hrebenda for “The Gate” — a composition that makes use of a pure rock bridge as a framing system, with a lone human determine offering scale towards atmospheric fog and background peaks.
Decide Daniel Kordan referred to as out the “clear and well-balanced composition with uncommon environmental circumstances that create a novel and unforgettable scene.” Jiang Ping highlighted the “interaction of sunshine, shadow, and mist” constructing a strong sense of depth. Jake Guzman famous that the rock bridge capabilities as “a strong focus, with the lone topic including scale,” whereas the mist “fantastically softens the background peaks, creating depth and separation whereas sustaining a cohesive tone.”
Different notable winners
Among the many High 10 pictures, two stood out:
Carpet Fields by F. Dilek Yurdakul — a top-down composition of purple agricultural fields whose rhythmic repetition transforms panorama into sample. Daniel Kordan praised the “robust use of sample and scale,” whereas Zhu Jiong described it as a “vivid and symbolic purple sea.”
Smoking Cranium by Daniel — a volcanic shot capturing a naturally occurring cranium formation in smoke and ash. Drone timing images of geological phenomena has been a constant thread in SkyPixel contests for years, and that is among the many higher executions of it. Jiang Ping famous the “symbolic energy and rarity of the scene”; Zhu Jiong referred to as it “surreal and theatrical, revealing the hidden character of nature by way of aerial perspective.”
What this yr’s winners inform us
Just a few traits are price noting throughout the 2026 winners in comparison with final yr’s subject and the yr earlier than.
- The successful aerial video this yr is extra bold in scope and manufacturing scale than latest winners. It required 35TB of footage, a number of drone platforms and FPV sequences built-in with cinematic work. The bar for what constitutes a successful aerial video is clearly rising, which displays each higher instruments and a extra subtle inventive neighborhood.
- The hand-held class is maturing shortly. In its second yr it already produced work that stands alongside the aerial entries in craft and intentionality. That is price awaiting anybody who thinks of DJI primarily as a drone firm. In any case, the Ronin and Osmo ecosystems are producing critical inventive work.
- The most effective picture this yr in the meantime stands as a counterpoint to the spectacle-first method that dominated early aerial images contests. The judges are clearly rewarding restraint and compositional intelligence alongside technical achievement.
The complete gallery of winners is out there at skypixel.com/contests/2025.
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