Courtesy jcourtial
The world from above: Dronestagram -- the online site showcasing aerial photography -- has announced the winners of its annual photography competition. The chosen photographs are spectacular birds-eye visions of the world from the sky. This gorgeous image of Provence by user jcourtial won first prize in the nature category.
Courtesy calin stan
Vampire view: Second prize in the nature category went to Calin Stan, who photographed the winding road to Transylvania. "As the legend says, this is the view that Count Dracula himself saw on his nocturnal flight," says Stan. "I love nature and shooting in nature."
Courtesy Florian
The world from above: This Arctic image of Greenland was taken by Florian Ledoux, who won third prize in the nature category. Taken during the height of winter, Ledoux says it was difficult to capture the landscape due to extreme weather conditions.
courtesy Martin Sanchez
Match point: The first prize in the people category went to Martin Sanchez who took this image of a tennis player lying on a court in New Jersey. "While driving, I noticed an empty tennis court that just stood out like a treasured story in a book of empty words," says Sanchez. But it was the tennis player who made the image pop.
Courtesy helios1412
Unexpected perspectives: helios1412 took this striking picture of a woman harvesting water lilies in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.
Courtesy Javier Bustamente
Carnival crowds: "I feel excited and free, capturing unique points of view," says Javier Bustamente, third prize winner in Dronestagram's people category. Bustamente's winning image is a snapshot from La Vijanera winter carnival in Cantabria, Spain.
Courtesy Bachirm
Urban outlooks: Bachir Moukarzel won first prize in the urban category with this shot of Dubai. The area photographed "was a literally a desert 10 years back and now became a concrete jungle with the highest buildings in Dubai," Moukarzel says.
Courtesy Alexeygo
High windows: Alexey Goncharov, who captured Moscow window cleaners at work, won second prize in the urban category. "I liked the way their work looked from that perspective: they seemed to wash the city itself, not just the building's windows," he reflects.
Courtesy luckydron
Spanish symmetry: Luis Saguar Domingosays his favorite areas to photograph are "beaches, countryside, cliffs and my city Madrid." His symmetrical image of the Spanish city won third prize in the urban category.
Courtesy macareuxprod
Bird's eye baby : This year, Dronestagram introduced a new category: "creativity", to celebrate unique angles and ingenious ideas. Macareuxprod took this image with his girlfriend as a fun way to announce they were expecting a baby. "I'm sure that our child will be amused by this story when he will be able to understand!" says Macareuxprod.
Courtesy Luke Bell
Shadow beasts: This unusual image depicts the shadow of two cows: "Cows drinking from a nearby dam caught my eye when I saw their long shadows," explains winner Luke Bell. "I launched my drone to capture the scene in a way impossible with any other type of camera."
Courtesy rga
Sand paper: Dronestagram user rga took this imaginative shot with the help of his sons. "As I watched my children playing on the beach and drawing in the sand I had the idea of using the sand as a large sheet of paper," he explains.
CNN  — 

Surely the time of Peak Drone – when the skies over beauty spots become perilous battle zones for hobby photographers – cannot be far away. Until then, we love nothing more than marveling at the word as seen from a buzzing aerial bot.

Especially when Dronestagram, a site for sharing some of the planet’s best bird’s eye images, announces the winners of its Annual International Drone Photography Contest.

Thousands of striking entries were submitted for the contest’s fourth outing, with three winners announced in each of the four categories: nature, people, urban and – new for 2017 – creative.

Click through the gallery to see the full list of winners

“A completely new dimension”

First prize winner in the nature category was Jerome Courtial, who photographed a vibrant image of the harvest in Provence, in the South of France. Courtial describes photographing by drone as like “experiencing the world in a completely new dimension.”

Courtesy calin stan
Colin Stan followed in the footsteps of Dracula to take this aerial image of Transylvania.

His enthusiasm is echoed by second prize winner Colin Stan. “The drone set me free!” he says. Stan’s entry is an atmospheric photograph of a winding road in Transylvania – framed by pine trees and sunlight.

“As the legend says, this is the view that Count Dracula himself saw on his nocturnal flight,” says the photographer.

MORE: Aerial photographs from a bygone era

Urban angles

Courtesy Bachirm
This neighborhood of Dubai used to be desert -- now it's home to the city's highrises.

If Dronestagram’s nature entries have a sense of timelessness to them, the urban entries are firmly grounded in 21st century concrete jungles.

The first prize winner is Bachir Moukazerel’s shot of Dubai. The photographer wanted to capture one of the city’s busiest spots, a haven for high rise architecture – which Moukazerel notes was just a desert a decade ago.

“Every flight for me is a new adventure,” he says of the drone experience.

Courtesy Alexeygo
This spectacular image depicts window cleaners scrubbing Moscow's Mercury Tower.

Moscow-dweller Alexey Goncharov’s image of the Russian capital is particularly striking. The photograph depicts window cleaners washing the glass exterior of the city’s Mercury Tower.

“I liked the way their work looked from that perspective,” says Goncharvo. “They seemed to wash the city itself, not just the building’s windows.”

Goncharvo took second prize in the urban category.

MORE: Inside Dronestagram

Innovative outlooks

Courtesy rga
Drone photographers can play with perspective to great effect.

The judges introduced a new category this year, celebrating the most innovative drone creations.

Cape Town photographer Luke Bell captured the shadows of two cows, creating an unexpected dynamic.

Meanwhile Romain Gaillard was inspired by his children playing on the beach:

“As I watched my children playing on the beach and drawing in the sand I had the idea of using the sand as a large sheet of paper,” he says.

A particularly fun image is Macareuxprod AKA Thibault Beguet’s entry.

Courtesy macareuxprod
That's one way to break the news...

Beguet’s photograph was taken on a beach in Normandy, in celebration of the fact that he and his partner are expecting a baby. The image is a “fun, original and unusual way to announce it to our loved ones, family and friends,” says Beguet.

“I’m sure that our child will be amused by this story when he will be able to understand!”

MORE: Aerial photos highlight Australia’s stunning landscapes