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Check out these incredible images taken from above!

Image gallerySkip image gallerySlide 1 of 4, A fever of cownose rays approaching a school of menhaden bait fish, taken just a few hundred feet from the coast of Southampton, NY. USA., Professional drone pilot Joanna Steidle impressed the judges with her incredible collection of four images. This one shows a group of cownose rays approaching a school of menhaden bait fish

Photos can really help capture the beauty of the natural world around us, and the snaps taken for this competition certainly don't disappoint.

Professional and amateur photographers from all around the world were invited to enter the very first International Aerial Photographer of the Year competition.

The contest focuses on the wonders of the world from a bird's eye view.

There were more than 1500 entries and the overall winner was professional drone pilot Joanna Steidle from the US.

You can see more of the incredible photos submitted in this page and in the gallery of images above.

Showing intricate and beautiful dendritic patterns only visible from the air, this is a tannin stained tidal creek in Lake Cakora, northern NSW, Australia.Image source, Stuart Chape/International Aerial Photographer of the Year

This beautiful image may look like a tree, but it's actually water you're looking at!

It's what's called a tidal creek and the photo was taken in Lake Cakora in Australia.

Newly formed cinder cone and associated lava river after the Litli-Hrútur eruption in Iceland. Image source, Mike Mezeul I I/International Aerial Photographer of the Year

Take a look at this jaw-dropping shot.

This photo was taken nearly 24 hours after the start of the Litli-Hrútur eruption in Iceland which happened in July 2023.

Anti crepuscular rays at Cono de Arita, La Puna, Argentina.Image source, Ignacio Palacios/International Aerial Photographer of the Year

How stunning is this image?

It captures the Sun's rays at Cono de Arita, La Puna in Argentina.

Lake in the Muskoka District in Canada. Image source, Rakesh Baro/International Aerial Photographer of the Year

This photo's lovely variety of colours represents the Autumn season so well.

It was taken in the Muskoka District in Canada.

Swimmers in the frozen Baltic Sea. Image source, Gilad Topaz/International Aerial Photographer of the Year

Would you take a dip in these chilly waters?

This image shows a group swimmers in the frozen Baltic Sea...brrrrr!

A herd of elephants on the Busanga plains in Kafue National Park, Zambia.Image source, Murray Evans/International Aerial Photographer of the Year

This photo shows a herd of elephants trekking through the Busanga plains in Kafue National Park in Zambia.

Did you know elephants are the world's largest land animal?

The Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy in France. Image source, Nicolas Giroud/International Aerial Photographer of the Year

This photo looks like it's come straight out of a fairytale.

The magical moment shows the incredible Mont-Saint-Michel rising over the clouds.

Two seals on a drifting slab of ice in the Jokulsarlon glacial lagoon, southern Iceland.Image source, Fabien Guittard/International Aerial Photographer of the Year

This pair look very relaxed indeed!

This image of two seals lounging peacefully on a drifting slab of ice was taken in the Jokulsarlon glacial lagoon in southern Iceland.