The featured image above is of Assisi in Umbria, Italy, and was taken by Francesco Cattuto on Christmas Day.

It’s one of the many beautiful photographs included in Masters of Drone Photography, a book that explores the art of drone photography and the photographers behind it.

Drones have become increasingly popular over the last few years, and the 16 professionals showcased in this book represent the best of the best in the field, sometimes waiting months to get the perfect shot.

Here’s the Daily Mail:

Open the pages and you’ll be hit by stunning image after stunning image taken over an intriguing array of environments – from snow-covered fields to misty jungles and from higgledy-piggledy coastal villages to Arctic seas.

Scroll down and enjoy the sublimity:

Jerome Courtial journeyed through the jungle in Sri Lanka and got up early to capture this breathtaking image of an ancient palace at first light. He said it was hard to find a spot to fly his drone, as the jungle was so thick that it covered the road completely. He said it was also rather stressful flying the drone, because a group of inquisitive monkeys joined him. He said of the above image: ‘I was blessed to get a beautiful soft light, and the small cloud on the left makes it a pleasing composition’

This image by Bachir Moukarzel won first prize in the ‘urban’ category of the Dronestagram International Drone Photography Contest of 2017. The photograph features Dubai Marina, which has been named as the ‘tallest block in the world’ as it is home to six of the ten tallest residential buildings in the world. Bachir said it took him months to capture this image as he had to wait for the clouds to clear. He said: ‘For me, the image symbolizes the evolution of Dubai, from a desert to a concrete jungle’

Photographer David Hopley took this striking shot of a lone tree in a field near his home on a chilly afternoon. He said the cold temperatures caused his tablet to die and he lost the data link with the drone. Fortunately, he still had control of the craft via the controller, and managed to return it safely.

Jerome Courtial said he spent three ‘glorious days’ in Cinque Terre, Italy, but the weather hadn’t been kind. It was only on his last evening there, while visiting Vernazza, that the sun broke through for a few minutes. Jerome said he climbed all the way to the top of a hill and had just enough time to capture the village ‘bathing in the soft sunset light’

Photographer Amos Chapple said of this golden shot he took in Saint Petersburg, Russia: ‘I had attempted this picture six times, but had always been foiled by clouds. The Hermitage Pavilion is a long way from the center of Saint Petersburg, so it was getting increasingly hard to commit to a 90-minute commute in the hope that I’d get a clear autumn sunrise. That morning, I remember sitting in an old bus surrounded by migrant workers, all sleeping off their night shifts, while I was chewing my nails and watching this perfect purple dawn getting brighter, hoping I wouldn’t be too late.

Karim Iliya’s photograph from a drone shows sunseekers relaxing on the beaches of Barcelona. He says: ‘As you get closer to the water, the real estate is better and the density of people increases, making it increasingly difficult to find a place to sit. The beach is an interesting place, as there are plenty of colors and people are lying down’

JP and Mike Andrews say that they love to find and photograph interesting and unusual shapes that have been created by familiar objects. This image shows one of the many marinas across the UK that are full of colourful canal boats. The photographers titled the image Shuffle, relating to how tricky it must be to navigate the boats in such tight spaces

Florian Ledoux came across a polar bear crossing the melting ice while flying his drone during the summer. Commenting on the Arctic animal, he said: ‘I will always remember my first polar bear encounter. I cried during the three hours we stayed close to them! It is such an incredible animal, a combination of power and control. They walk with majesty and stand with wisdom’

For more incredible shots and some live drone-flying footage check out the trailer for Masters of Drone Photography.

Yes, apparently books get trailers now:

[source:dailymail]