Eagle shot wins drone photography competition

This staggering shot - the winner of the competition - was taken over Bali Barat National Park in Indonesia

The arrival of cheap drone technology - and small, light high-quality cameras - has given rise to a new genre of beautiful aerial photography and film-making.

A new competition, sponsored by National Geographic, has highlighted some stunning examples of drone photographs taken in the past year.

The winner of the competition was a stunning view of an eagle soaring high above a national park in Indonesia.

More photographs can be seen on Dronestagram, a site dedicated to the images taken in mid-air.

The site's founder Eric Dupin told the BBC drone photography quite literally offers a whole new perspective.

"It depicts a new vision of the world, with stunning images taken from low altitude, near field," he said.

"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'."

Below are the other winners, as selected by a panel of judges.

2nd place:

"I was flying in the park one Sunday morning when suddenly people had become really interested with my drone," says the photographer of this shot which was taken in Manila

3rd place:

The sun setting over the picturesque town of Annecy, south-eastern France

As well as the judges' prizes, awards were also given out for the most popular photographs among visitors to Dronestagram.

1st place:

The Tamul waterfall in Mexico is famous for not only being enormous - 105m (344 ft) tall - but also for the beautiful crystal-clear water found below it

2nd place:

South-eastern France again proving to be a popular location for drone photography - this is a shot of the Paroisse Catholique Saint Nazaire, in the small town of Sanary-sur-Mer

3rd place:

A fireworks display to celebrate the centenary of two of Bulgaria's biggest football teams