Dronestagram: Award-winning aerial photographs of climate change captured by drones

Until very recently, aerial photography was prohibitively expensive – helicopter pilots don't come cheap. But rapid developments in drone technology mean just about anyone can get a bird's-eye view of the world around them. Princes range from around £350 for a basic drone with a GoPro camera attached, to upwards of £2,500 for a high-tech flying machine that captures cinema-quality footage.

Dronestagram, a site that has been described as "Instagram for drones", allows hobbyists to share their aerial photos. To coincide with the UN Climate Summit in Paris, Dronestagram launched a competition to find the best aerial photographs that illustrate "the effects of pollution on planet Earth and the solutions to tackle the problem".

The judges awarded first prize to an aerial photo of becalmed wind turbines looming out of shallow fog near the German-Dutch border.

Second place went to Alexandre Salem, who photographed a Brazilian village engulfed in mud after an iron ore dam burst in the country's biggest environmental accident. Salem said the drone allowed him to see the big picture: "Drone photography is all about reaching innovative angles. It's amazing when you capture something that you know couldn't possibly be done with any previous technology."

Third place went to an aerial photograph taken in October 2015, when parts of south-east Asia were blanketed in thick smoke from fires burning out of control in Borneo peatlands. Health effects were reported in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore as the pollution event dragged on for three months.