The 2025 Drone Photo Awards have recognized the year's most exceptional aerial photography, with German photographer Dennis Schmelz capturing the top honor of Photo of the Year for his breathtaking image of Cappadocia, Turkey. Organized by the Siena Awards, this prestigious competition celebrates the creative possibilities that emerge when cutting-edge drone technology meets skilled artistic vision.

Schmelz's winning photograph, titled "The Lone Horseman," presents a magical view of Cappadocia during the blue hour, featuring a solitary rider positioned atop a rocky outcropping amid the region's famous fairy chimneys dusted with snow. The image was captured on the first evening of his winter trip and represents a composite of two photographs stitched together in post-production, creating a surreal quality that offers viewers a fresh perspective on this frequently photographed destination. "That's what fascinates me about drone photography—it allows us to discover new perspectives and reveal patterns that are invisible from the ground," Schmelz explained.

The competition featured eight categories for still images plus a video award, providing a comprehensive showcase of contemporary drone photography excellence. Category winners demonstrated remarkable diversity in subject matter and artistic approach. Iranian photographer Mohammad Ataei Mohammadi won the Urban category with "Swallowed," a striking image showing the Artemia pleasure boat stranded in the dried bed of Lake Urmia, Iran, trapped in a crater resembling a monster's belly—a powerful symbol of environmental devastation caused by drought, mismanagement, and agricultural overuse.

In the Wedding category, Oliver and Steph Prince claimed victory with "Eloping above the Clouds," capturing a newlywed couple standing above cloud cover after hiking up a hill on Scotland's Isle of Skye. Their photograph beautifully documents the couple's emergence above an incredible cloud inversion, finding the peace and solitude needed for their intimate elopement ceremony.

The Wildlife category winner, Joanna Steidle's "Another World," presents a top-down perspective of cownose rays dividing a school of menhaden fish off the coast of Southampton. Captured in August under clear skies and calm seas, the image showcases how sunlight enhances the water's depth and the dramatic sand clouds created by the marine life below.

Pawel Zygmunt's "The Eye" earned the Abstract category win with an aerial view of Hveravellir, Iceland, showing a geothermal pool that remarkably resembles an animal's eye, complete with a dark blue center surrounded by rich brown mineral textures. The barren, rocky landscape and layered mineral deposits give the scene an ancient, primordial quality that speaks to Iceland's volcanic origins.

The People category was won by Thibault Gerbaldi's "Aarti Under the Stars," documenting the nightly Ganga Aarti ceremony in Varanasi, India. This sacred ritual unfolds in a blaze of fire and devotion along the Ganges River, with attendees either walking or sitting on neighboring boats clustered together to honor the river believed to cleanse sins and purify souls.

Additional standout images included Christopher Harrison's Nature category winner "The Long Shadow," captured on the first day of meteorological spring, showing warm sunrise light filtering through low-lying mist to cast a striking shadow behind trees atop an ancient Bronze Age burial mound. Shimon Perlstein's Sport category winner "Running on Salt" documented runners pushing forward as dawn breaks over the Dead Sea during the Dead Sea Marathon, reflecting both human endurance and the surreal beauty of Earth's lowest point.

All winners and finalists will have their work displayed at the "Above Us Only Sky" exhibition at the Natural History Museum in Siena, Italy, running through November 23, 2025. The exhibition provides visitors with an opportunity to experience firsthand how drone technology continues to revolutionize photography by offering unprecedented aerial perspectives that reveal hidden patterns and beauty in our world from above.