[imagesource: Sebastien Nagy/Aerial Photography Awards]

Sebastien Nagy, whose image above won him first place in the Citiscapes category, cleaned up in the first-ever Aerial Photography Awards.

He dominated a number of categories, as you’ll see below, including the Architecture category and the Hotels category. For his efforts, he also snapped up the title of Aerial Photographer of the Year.

He earned it – his photos are stunning, as are those of the rest of the winners.

For the contest, photographers around the world submitted their best photos from up high.

The winning photos were selected through a 10-day vote by the members of the jury, with the winner receiving $10 000.

The Aerial Photography Awards, despite also showcasing the world from above, differ from the Drone Awards in one key way. Photographers were invited to submit images taken from all manner of vantage points – be that from a plane, a balloon, a kite, and yes, drones were welcome, too.

In a quasi-pun that I can totally get behind, Forbes says that the winning photographs will “lift your spirits”.

“For a first edition, the quality and diversity of the awarded photos demonstrates the evolution of aerial photography and the standards it has reached today,” says Christophe Martin, founder of the Aerial Photography Awards.

“Aerial photographers prove their ability to amaze us. New visual writings are being built.”

Check out more of the winners:

Image: Bachir Moukarzel, Winner of the Constructions category in the Aerial Photography Awards 2020

Image: Duy Sinh, winner of the Daily Life category in the Aerial Photography Awards 2020

Image: Daniel Bonte, Winner of the Patterns category in the Aerial Photography Awards 2020

Image: Sebastien Nagy, Winner of the Hotels category in the Aerial Photography Awards 2020

Image: Prabu Moha, Winner of the World in Lockdown category in the Aerial Photography Awards 2020

Image: Alexander Sukharev, Winner of the Transport category in the Aerial Photography Awards 2020

Image: Thine Nguyen, Winner of the Daily Life category in the Aerial Photography Awards 2020

Image: Yiran Ding, Winner of the Travel category in the Aerial Photography Awards 2020

Image: Joel Jochum, Winner of the Industrial category in the Aerial Photography Awards 2020

Image: Sebastien Nagy, Winner of the Architecture category in the Aerial Photography Awards 2020

It’s good to take a break from the view of your laptop and workspace for a minute.

A little change in perspective can also take the edge off a Wednesday.

Hang in there – just two more days until the weekend.

[source:forbes]