A National Geographic competition has illustrated in stunning detail how increasingly affordable drones can be used to create spectacular images previously impossible to capture.
The future for photographers and film makers alike has never been brighter, thanks in no small part to the (literal) take-off of cheap drone technology. With the addition of super lightweight cameras of the highest quality, these amateur flying machines are being used all over the world to take the kind of snapshots never before seen by human eyes.
In order to highlight the potential of drone photography, National Geographic put together a competition to see what the most talented aerial photographers could come up with. And to say the results were breath-taking would be something of an understatement.
The picture seen here was the undisputed winner of the contest – a unique snapshot taken over a National Park in Indonesia capturing an eagle in flight. Additional examples of what professionals and the public have so far come up with can be seen at Dronestagram.
According to Eric Dupin, the founder of the website, photography is being revolutionized by the use of what are fast becoming simple and widely available aerial drones.
“It depicts a new vision of the world, with stunning images taken from low altitude, near field,” said Dupin.
“It is so different of images taken by satellite or plane or helicopter, or, on the other end, street view images,”
“It represents an ‘intermediary layer’.”