In pictures: The world from above

The winners of this year's aerial photography competition run by online site Dronestagram have been announced.

The winning pictures taken using drone cameras were selected from thousands of entries by the judges, including National Geographic Deputy Director Patrick Witty and Emanuela Ascoli, photo editor of National Geographic, France.

Here we present the winning images from three categories.

Nature and Wildlife

Michael Bernholdt's picture of a pine wood in Denmark won first prize in the Nature and Wildlife category. He said: "I search for patterns and lines created by nature like the creek that surrounds the pine forest in my winning image. But I also look for man-made patterns and lines like curvy roads and tracks from agricultural equipment."

Second place went to Ignacz Szabolcs, he said: "We wanted to present the traditional Romania in its full beauty. We were travelling by car and suddenly along the road from the distance I've spotted the sheep herd."

Jonathan Payet flew his drone above the Piton de la Fournaise volcano on Reunion Island. To take the shot he had to cope with the ascending hot air and wind. He took the shot just after sunrise and had to get permission from the authorities to fly.

Travel

The Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi in Umbria, Italy, is the focus of Francesco Cattuto's winning image in the Travel section. The picture was taken during a walk on Boxing Day. He said: "After the drone came out from the clouds, the view was spectacular and got me completely astonished and, without breathing, I had the time to take some shots before the sun went down and the cloud got higher hiding everything."

Todd Kennedy was on his honeymoon when he took this drone shot of Cable Beach, Western Australia. He said: "When we arrived in Broome, we booked a sunset camel tour which was a beautiful experience and a great opportunity to get a new addition to a series of shadow images I have been collecting since entering into drone photography."

Karolis Janulis took third place in the Travel section with his picture of a beach in Gran Canaria.

Sports and Adventure

Max Seigal was climbing Moab Rock in Utah with friends. He said: "We hiked for miles looking for the perfect line and then spotted this amazing crack that was about 400 feet off the ground. Using the drone, I was able to capture images that would have never been possible before."

Juan Pablo Bayona works as a photojournalist for the local newspaper, La Opinion, in Cucuta, Colombia in South America. He was assigned to cover the swimming competition and opted for a drone shot rather than a more conventional angle. His picture took second place in the Sport and Adventure section of the competition.

TJ Balon used his drone to capture this picture of his friend and guide Jason Bilek on the Chugach mountain range outside Cordova, Alaska. He said: "One of my big dreams would be to take the drones down to Antarctica and capture some of the magic that exists down there before the ice melts away and climate change changes everything forever."

All photographs courtesy dronestagr.am.