19 incredible photos taken by drones

The 2017 SkyPixel Photo Contest has recognised the most incredible photos taken by drones last year.

SkyPixel, an aerial photo and video sharing platform, sifted through over 44,000 submissions from 141 countries in order to select the winners.

A panel, made up of professional photographers, filmmakers, and creative directors from the likes of TIME and the International Center of Photography, helped judge the entries from both professionals and amateur enthusiasts.

Winners were chosen in a number of categories, including a Grand Prize for the photo the year, as well as the best landscape, portrait, and story photos.

Scroll down to see the 19 photos that have been named the most incredible in the world taken by drone.

GRAND PRIZE, Professional, Landscape: Above the Polar Bear. French photographer Florian Ledoux used his Phantom 4 Pro to capture a polar bear jumping across ice floes in Nunavut, Canada.

SECOND PRIZE, Professional, Landscape: Sun's Up, Nets Out. The image shows an Intha fisherman set up his net to fish as he paddles his boat with a unique leg-rowing technique in Mayanmar’s Inle Lake.

THIRD PRIZE, Professional, Landscape: Comet Into Darkness. "An early morning in Newfoundland, I was hiking on the East Coast Trail when I heard a bunch of seagulls. I quickly launched my drone to find out what was causing the mayhem. It was a small cod fishing boat steaming towards the harbour, a truly magical moment," said user Drone Hikers.

THIRD PRIZE, Landscape, Professional. This depicts Santa Maddalena village in front of the Geisler or Odle Dolomites Group, Val di Funes, Trentino Alto Adige, in Italy.

FIRST PRIZE, Enthusiast, Landscape: Lobsters Farm. The image shows a baby lobster breeding farm in Tuy Hoa, Phu Yen province, central Vietnam.

SECOND PRIZE, Enthusiast, Landscape: Geometry of Liquid. "In Castilla La Mancha there are numerous fields of olive trees perfectly placed on the ground," according to photographer Javier del Cerro.

THIRD PRIZE, Enthusiast, Landscape: Raising Ducks. "At downstream of BA River (Tuy Hoa City, Phu Yen Province, Vietnam) the farmers are raising ducks in the big numbers," user caokynhan explained. "The white ducks make a nice spot for a peaceful river."

FIRST PRIZE, Professional, Portrait: Balmoral Ball. Photographer Petra Leary captured "Auckland's hidden courts" from above.

SECOND PRIZE, Professional, Portrait: 飞瀑英雄. Photographer 沈旻 said of the diver: "He is over sixty, he is the world record holder for the Guinness waterfall diving. In China's famous spout of the Yellow River and the great falls of the water tower in Heilongjiang province, he surprised the world with his leap. In the air, his action stretches the beautiful. Freeze the moment of the shock, take this leap into eternity.

THIRD PRIZE, Professional, Portrait: The Rebirth. Photographer Andrea said the photo, taken in Italy, makes you "witness to the rebirth of humanity."

FIRST PRIZE, Enthusiast, Portrait: Dancer. This minimalistic aerial photo from user cocoanext took the first prize in this category.

SECOND PRIZE, Enthusiast, Portrait: Free Wheeling. An incredible in-action shot captured by user nigelkwan.

THIRD PRIZE, Enthusiast, Portrait: 晒面忙. The image comes with no description, but it's certainly mesmerising.

NOMINATED, Enthusiast, Landscape: ELEMENTS. The photo was a "Drone pano shot of 12 images," according to photographer Olivier. "We simply couldn’t keep driving without stopping, when we noticed that light, clouds and rainbow... Iceland is really, out of this world. I’ll be back, for sure!"

NOMINATED, Enthusiast, Landscape: The path of camels across the sand. "The camel road across the desert is very hard through sand dunes," said photographer Abdullah Alnassar of this Saudi Arabia scene.

NOMINATED, Enthusiast, Portrait: Fancy Finish. "Always have a fancy finish," said photographer Martin Sanchez, who calls this photo "Visual Drone Art."

NOMINATED, Professional, Portrait: Lost in. The image shows the "Grand Staircase National monument area and Utah Coral sand dunes," according to photographer Marc Lamey, and was shot with a DJI Phantom 4. "AJ (The model) is lost in this world."

NOMINATED, Professional, Portrait. The photo perfectly captured sand dunes in China from another perspective.

NOMINATED, Professional, Portrait. Photographer Bobo shot this appealing image in Taiwan.