Drone photo award winners: Far-out landscapes. Ship recycling. Rugs, rugs rugs!

The Siena Drone Photo Awards for 2026 offer breathtaking bird's-eye views of our planet, revealing landscapes, livelihoods and human stories often invisible from the ground.

<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/8000x5328+0+0/resize/8000x5328!/quality/85/format/webp/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F60%2Fdd%2F7ca94032447789d52228608bf99e%2Fnc-shipbreaking-on-the-mudflats-bay-of-bengal-george-steinmetz.jpg' alt='It's a mega-recycling effort: A crew of 60 men use blow torches and winches to break down a ship that had carried liquid natural gas. Tons of metal parts will be harvested to resell overseas. This photo by George Steinmetz, from the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh, is the overall winner in the 2026 Siena Drone Photo Awards contest.'/><p>The Siena Drone Photo Awards for 2026 offer breathtaking bird's-eye views of our planet, revealing landscapes, livelihoods and human stories often invisible from the ground.</p><p>(Image credit: George Steinmetz)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=g-s1-150698' />