Hoa trên mặt nước (Flower on the Water) a photo by Khánh  Phan has won f2019 Drone Awards, frst prize in the People category. — Photo courtesy of the artist

HÀ NỘI — A Vietnamese photographer has won one of the top prizes at the world-famous photo contest, the 2019 Drone Awards.

Khánh Phan from HCM City won first prize in the People category for her image Hoa Trên Mặt Nước (Flower on the Water).

Her photo features three women washing water lilies in the southern province of Long An.

The picture was taken during water lily harvesting season in Tân Lập Village in Mộc Hóa District.

This was the second year of the photo competition, sponsored by the Art Photo Travel Association.

It is held to honour the work of aerial photographers from across the world.

The contest rules insist photographs must be taken from a fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, balloons, blimps and dirigibles, rockets, kites, parachutes and of course, drones, according to a CNN report.

More than 4,400 photographs by both professional and amateur drone photographers from 107 countries entered seven different categories of abstract, nature, people, sport, wildlife, urban and video.

About 44 photographers have been awarded in each category of the competition, which is "dedicated to a different photographic genre deliberately separated from being compared to traditional photography", the CNN reported on Tuesday.

Earlier in March, Khánh was also among three Vietnamese photographers who won a prize at the 2018 SkyPixel Aerial Storytelling Contest – an annual contest held by SkyPixel, one of the world’s popular aerial photography communities.

Her "Flowers on the Water" won first prize in the Fun Category.

“They put flowers into a circle that looks very beautiful. Although it is hard work, the women have fun. They were talking and laughing while working. It’s a really lively scene,” Phan said.

Among with Khánh’s work, this year drone awards include "A Shoal of Colorful Fish" by Jacek Deneka from Poland. His work depicting skiers competing during the Bieg Piastow Skiing Festival in Jakuszyce, earned him  "Drone Awards Photographer of the Year" title, the CNN reported.

Marc Le Cornu from Jersey topped the Abstract category for "Infinity Eight" while Florian Ledoux's "Crabeater Seals on Ice" won the Wildlife title.

Florian Ledoux's "Crabeater Seals on Ice" wins in the Wildlife section. — Photo edition.cnn.com

The "Island of Love", Jeremiasz Gądek's photo of a heart-shaped patch of oilseed rape in the middle of a Polish field, triumphed in the Nature section, the US news cable network reported.

George Steinmetz was crowned the winner of the Urban category for "Beni Isgue," his aerial picture of the ancient hill town in Ghardaia, Algeria and finally, "After the Snow Storm" by Jo Son from the US succeeded in Sport while "Bolivia by Motorbike and Drone" by Alex Chacon won the Video prize, the news network said.

This year’ winning images will be on display at the "Sky's the Limit" exhibition during the Siena Awards Photo Festival on October 25. — VNS