I'm so thrilled to announce that I was awarded the 1st prize in the Nature Category in the Drone Photo Awards 2025, hosted by the Siena Awards in Siena, Tuscany, Italy.
I am simply blown away to receive such an accolade. The Drone Photo Awards has been running since 2018, and is one of, if not the most prestigious, drone photography awards in the world. It was attended by some of the most well respected and successful photographers of the current era, from Steve McCurry to Steve Winter, from Ami Vitale to Shane Gross. To be surrounded by such incredible photographers was extremely inspiring.
The awards ceremony was held in the beautiful Piazza del Campo in Siena, inside the Teatro di Rinnovati. The ceremony was so well done - going through the three awards ran by the organisation - the Siena International Photo Awards, the Creative Photo Awards & the Drone Photo Awards.
My Winning Nature Photograph - The Long Shadow
My photograph that won the 1st Prize in the Nature category of the Drone Photo Awards was 'The Long Shadow'.
This was captured in my local area, near Oxfordshire, England, on March 1, 2025. There was rare low mist sat across the landscape, just at the right height with this clump of trees on a small hill (a bronze age barrow).
As the sun rose above the horizon, it cast warm striking light through the mist, casting a beautiful, long shadow behind the trees. This results in a simple yet impactful scene, where the closer you look the more you see.
I captioned the photograph as follows:
"On the first day of meteorological spring, the warm sunrise light filtered through the low-lying mist, casting a striking long shadow behind this small cluster of trees atop an ancient Bronze Age burial mound."
I'd like to congratulate all other winning photographers throughout the Drone Photo Awards, the quality and standard of the photographs this year is really incredible. I'm humbled to be amongst such an incredible group of photographers!
You can find the winning images of the Nature Category 2025 here: 2025 Nature Category
You can browse the overall Drone Photo Awards winners and categories here: 2025 Winners
Christopher Harrison's Media Coverage for the Drone Photo Awards 2025 Nature Category
I'm pleased to have been featured in several publications including:
On the BBC - "Misty morning shot wins drone photography award"
The article discusses the Siena Awards with some quotes from my interview with my local radio BBC Oxfordshire, from the 30th September.
In Gardenia magazine, an Italian gardening magazine which has a curated Nature feature by Lello Piazza. I have to say, this feature is very well done, and the words beside my photograph were rather beautiful. I've included a translation here:
"The SIPA–Siena International Photo Awards (www.sienawards.com) has in just a few years become one of the most prestigious photographic competitions in the world. As is often the case with major events, the Drone Photo Awards—linked to aerial photography (especially taken via drones but also from other flying vehicles)—is associated with it. This year we celebrate the 11th edition (2025) with The Long Shadow, an extraordinary image by Christopher Harrison.
Christopher’s “long shadow” is not only among the finalists in the drone photo competition, but has also been included in the “Top 101” of the International Aerial Photographer of the Year 2025 (internationalaerialphotographer.com). Christopher (charrison.photography) is a young English photographer passionate about landscape, and in 2024 he was the winner of the British Photography Awards–Landscape and of the Sigma Art Photographer of the Year, thanks to his works focused on landscape photography.
The landscape is solid, visible, almost tangible. It is made of elements of crossing: waters, roads, vegetation. Drone photography has allowed us to look from above and represent the world in an even more concrete and omnipresent way. Yet, Christopher’s creativity and spirit as an author succeed in transforming it into something that cannot be seen or touched. In his works, the landscape can become an immaterial entity, a phenomenon as fleeting and transitory as the shadow that creates it.
The Long Shadow transformed Brightwell Barrow, in Oxfordshire (England), into a very long shadow that lasted only a few moments at dawn. Brightwell is a circular Bronze Age barrow (burial mound) about 30 meters in diameter, surrounded by a ditch and with a small group of beeches on its summit. The photo was taken with a DJI Air 2S equipped with an FC3411 camera. The photographs selected for the various sections of the Siena International Photo Awards 2025 will be on display in Siena until November 23rd."
The Henley Standard published an article in the 17th October
The 'Nature' Nominees for the Drone Photo Awards 2025
The first thing to mention is that the Nature Category in this competition almost stands as the Landscape Category. It's highly competitive and receives entries from some of the biggest names in drone photography from around the world. For me to be included in the final six of this competition is such a humbling experience, and one that I am extremely proud of.
You can see the nominated photographers in the image shown to the left, each from a different country. No doubt their photographs are extremely impressive - I cannot wait to see what they are at the ceremony in Siena on the 27th September!
Good luck to all other entrants - and hopefully meet you in Siena!
Reviewing the 2024 Nature Drone Photo Awards Winners
When I was notified of making the list of Nominees, the first thing I did was go back to the gallery of the 2024 winners. I have to say, the quality of the photographs is superb.
The 2024 winner of the Drone Photo Awards Nature Category was Xiaoying Shi with their photograph "Ground Vein".
What a brilliant photograph! Xiaoying captured this over the otherworldly geological formations of Factory Butte in Utah. The photograph is a textural treat, with a wonderful edit emphasising the warm light and patterns in the geology. These textures lead up to the distant peak, providing striking leading lines. I particularly love the distant peaks on the horizon, covered in snow. This gives a further sense of scale, and intrigue.
The runner up for the 2024 Nature category was Miki Spitzer with the photograph titled "The Eye of the Dragon".
It's such a great title for this image, as at first glance it did look like an eye. Only upon further inspection do you realise it is a geothermal pool with intricate patterns in the surrounding area.
A very worthy runner-up.
I'll be sure to check back in here after the awards ceremony on Saturday the 27th September. Again, I am simply humbled to even be included in the Nominees, so anything would be a bonus.
I look forward to visiting the beautiful city of Siena and experiencing the photography weekend lined up for us all.
Good luck to all involved!
