The world from above: Fiery volcanoes, salt farmers and other incredible sights from the 2022 Drone Photo Awards

Big Bang: In the picture, a secondary fissure happening a few hundreds metres from the main crater of Fagradalsfjall volcano, during the very last eruptive phase. It was captured as a storm was hitting west Iceland, with rain and strong winds. Due to the difficult conditions, a drone capture like this is unique. Image Courtesy: Armand Sarlangue

A Love Tale in the Mist: This is the mausoleum of Taj Mahal over an incredible sea of clouds formations on river Yamuna. The eternal monument to love was built in 1632 to homage Mumtaz Mahal, the wife of Moghul Shāh Jahān who died while giving birth to their 14th child. Image Courtesy: Michele Falzone

Spread the Sedge to Dry: Rural women in Phu Yen are busy spreading colourful sedge to dry. They work like puzzle artists, arranging the plants in alternating colours, creating wonderful patterns. Image Courtesy: Nguyen Linh Vinh Quoc

Sleeping on a Boat: Dhaka is located on the bank of the famous Buriganga river. Sadarghat river port of Dhaka is the busiest port in Bangladesh, with services to most of the districts in the country. People from both sides of the Buriganga river cross it using small boats. The boat men working on them, usually sleep at night on the boats themselves. Image Courtesy: Anindita Roy

Learning Life: A young polar bear, a yearling, is playing in the water testing the fresh ice and jumping back and forth in the water with his sibling, while their mother is resting nearby. This image is the result of five months in the field, living with and near the bears in a remote camp on the east coast of Svalbard. Image Courtesy: Florian Ledoux

I’m Married! After the bridal party shoot was all done and dusted, the photographer added something a little different to the gallery. Initially wanting to toss the groom up but decided it would be more fun to do it with the bride this time. And so here is the flying bride portrayed with the party guests and then framed by a field of autumn leaves. Image Courtesy: Wenyuan Kuang

Washing Time: A man by himself is busy washing a huge number of fishing nets. The picture is perfectly divided in two: on the left side we can see a mass of dirty and dusty blue nets; whilst on the right side, on a reddish floor, the man is washing the nets with plenty of soap under the scorching sun. Image Courtesy: Myo Thet

Sunny and Rainy: In the picture, dark clouds from the southeast and the sunset light in the northwest create a great contrast. The scene is very intense. As the drone had just landed on the ground, it started pouring rain. Image Courtesy: Donghui Chen

Blue: The blue whale is not only the biggest animal on earth but the biggest that has ever existed. During the 20th century thousands of blue whales were killed by both legal and illegal hunting. After such a big drop on their population, and a lot of effort from international organisations, for the first time their population is increasing. Image Courtesy: Fernando O’farrill

Solidarity: Flamingos sleep together at night for greater security and stay close together during the day, thus protecting each other. In this crowd of bodies the colourful nuances of the plumage and the reflections of the light stand out. Image Courtesy: Mehdi Mohebipour

Beautiful life – Princess Taiping: After years of efforts, more than 2,000 mu of desertified land has been turned into forest resources. On a slope of the park, which covers an area of nearly 5 mu, the most representative and iconic landscape of the park: the “Princess Taiping”, made up of plants of different colors and shapes. Image Courtesy: Jingkun Yang

Salt Farm Workers Harvesting: Some labourers at work in a salt pan where they move the salt to form circular lines allowing a slow evaporation under the hot sun. At the end of the day the salt will be collected in baskets: it’s a really hard job! Image Courtesy: Saurabh Sirohiya

Volcano in the Clouds: Thousands of earthquakes shook the Reykjanes peninsula in an orchestrated prelude to an eruption, until at 20:45 on 19 March 2021 the floor of the Geldigadalir valley gave way to the uncontainable magmatic pressure and split open, letting molten rock gush forth in an awe-inspiring spectacle. Image Courtesy: Luis Manuel Vilariño Lopez

Aftermath of La Palma’s Volcano Eruption: The impressive eruption of volcano Cumbre Vieja hit the island of La Palma at the end of 2021. For three months the lava river destroyed over 3000 buildings, 90 kilometres of roads and endless hectares of banana plantations, leaving more than 2000 people homeless. The landscape changed completely. Image Courtesy: Enrico Pescantini

Meeting: This picture is the result of a dream come true: the meeting of the desert and the ocean. As the drone climbed higher, the photographer noticed a particular atmosphere, where the light highlighted the delicious shapes of these dunes flowing into the South Atlantic Ocean. Image Courtesy: David Rouge