Aerial photographers use drones, a high vantage point or even aircrafts to capture scenes from above.
Aerial photography provides an opportunity to see a scene from an unusual perspective. You may also see details you may not have known existed!
Whether you shoot from above or use a drone, this niche will definitely challenge your technical photography skills.
We’ve collected 25 of the most influential aerial photographers from across Instagram. You’ll see why they’re worth following!
What is Aerial Photography?
Aerial photography is a technique that shows a bird’s eye view of the world. It was originally used for mapping and military purposes. Since the war, it has grown into a popular photography niche.
The secret behind aerial photography’s popularity is that it shows us a completely new angle. This unusual perspective allows us to reconsider what we normally see while creating interesting and unique images.
Aerial photographs, contrary to the common belief, aren’t limited to landscape photography. You can take bird’s eye images for wedding, event, travel, or architecture photography.
Read our list of the most influential aerial photographers if you want to get inspired!
Influential Aerial Photographers You Should Follow
Jordan Hammond
Jordan Hammond is one of the most popular aerial photographers on Instagram. He travels the world and takes images from a bird’s eye view capturing gorgeous landscapes and travel photos.
He is currently located in Bali but has taken photographs all over the world. You can find photos from Myanmar to the Netherlands or the US in his portfolio.
Jordan offers training for photographers in the form of online masterclasses.
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Albert Dros
Albert Dros is a landscape photographer with more than ten years of experience. Silky smooth clouds, fog and mist feature prominently in his aerial photography.
His design background helped him develop his own post-processing workflow to add a special touch to his images. He offers an editing course to those interested in his secrets.
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Karl ‘Shakur’ N.
Karl ‘Shakur’ N is an adventure photographer from the US who specialises in travel, lifestyle, and aerial photography. His images have been showcased on various platforms, such as the Daily Mail, Gizmodo, and Buzzfeed.
He also holds workshops where he covers not only the technical but also the marketing side of photography.
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Peter Yan
Peter Yan is a travel photographer from Australia, focusing on aerial photography. He left behind a successful career at Apple to pursue his passion for photography full-time.
An explorer at heart, Peters work has been exhibited in dozens of galleries worldwide. His online gallery features work from over 20 different countries.
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Stian Klo
Stian Klo is a professional photographer who focuses on photographing winter landscapes.
He photographs in icy places such as Greenland, Faroe Islands, Iceland, and his homeland of Norway.
His work highlights the beauty of nature with a minimal colour palette. His clean images of lines contrasting against pure white snow or deep blue glaciers will stay engraved into your memory!
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Sebastien Nagy
Sebastien Nagy is a full-time photographer from Brussels. He began photographing from rooftops in search of unique perspectives. This led him to drone photography, which he has now mastered.
His stunning aerial photography led him to be awarded the aerial photographer of the year in 2020.
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Alex Noriega
Alex travels around America and captures the gorgeous landscapes and nature. He aspires to create a sense of mystery with his photos while utilising various compositional techniques.
Many of his photos are based on patterns. Certain elements repeat themselves, adding a dynamic feeling to the images.
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Tomás Westenenk Orrego
Tomás Westenek Orrego is an architecture and conceptual photographer from Chile. He is also a professional architect.
Tom shoots with a digital camera, film camera and even his cellphone to create stunning shots of the urban landscape.
He focuses on showing repetitive shapes and patterns throughout his portfolio, including his stunning drone photography. Interestingly, Tomás is colour blind, which you’d never guess from viewing these amazing shots!
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Michael Schirnhofer
Michael is an Austria-based photographer. He is mostly focused on landscapes, many of which are taken with a drone.
Michael also sells Lightroom presets to help his followers add a unique style to their photos similar to his.
He is also a co-founder of CM Visuals, helping customers become successful on social media with creative content and visuals.
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Bachir Moukarzel
Bachir is a multi-award winning aerial photographer from Lebanon, currently based in Dubai.
He is constantly working on new projects, whether it is collaborating with companies or showing his city from a new angle. His photos are colourful and exciting, showing many world-famous cities from above.
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Jay Daley
Jay is an Australian landscape and travel photographer who got into aerial photography to show his adventures from a new perspective.
He travels around the world and visits locations like China or the Arctic, where he takes spectacular night and drone photographs.
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Ben Moore
Ben Moore is an English commercial and architecture photographer. His mindfully composed aerial images capture symmetry and balance in urban areas.
Ben has worked on creative projects with various brands, such as Adidas, Nikon, and Samsung.
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Dennis Polkläser
Dennis Polkläser is a German photographer and educator. His focus is mainly on dramatic Scandinavian landscape photography.
He often works in extreme weather conditions to capture his extraordinary aerial photos. Ben also works as a photo guide for Iceland photo tours.
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Fabien Barrau
Fabien Barrau is excellent in many niches like still life, commercial, and conceptual photography. He takes an interdisciplinary approach, as he combines images from different genres together.
He often uses aerial photos for his composites, resulting in witty portraits or post-apocalyptic scenes.
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Rakesh Pulapa
Rakesh is a travel and aerial photographer whose mission is to ‘explore the unexplored’. His work allows us to marvel at the wonders of our planet.
Rakesh loves exploring new places and catching moments from people’s life there.
He uses aerial photos to capture landscapes and take shots of his subjects engaged in various activities.
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Peter Rajkai
Peter Rajkai is a Hungarian artist who is best known for his travel, architecture, and portrait photography.
He often uses drones as his main technique, to capture the geometric symmetry of cityscapes from above. Among his favourite subjects are staircases, abandoned buildings, and landmarks.
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Arran Witheford
Arran is a photographer from England who specialises in commercial and travel photography. He takes almost exclusively aerial photos when it comes to landscapes.
His images show a wild side of the South-England scenery. He has a bright yet mysterious editing style.
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Sebastian Müller
Sebastian Müller is the first photographer on this list who takes only aerial photographs. Whether it is landscape, abstract, or urban photography, he captures it from a bird’s eye view.
In cities, he often uses patterns as a way to create appealing compositions.
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Tom Hegen
Tom is a multi-award-winning German photographer and designer. His work focuses on the impact that humans have on Earth.
He takes aerial photos of different locations that have been influenced by human presence, and he aims to bring awareness to contemporary environmental problems. His stunning photos remind us of contemporary abstract paintings.
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Søren Thuesen
Søren Thueson works in design and photography as a freelancer, often having commissions with brands like Adidas or Opel.
His portfolio is a combination of architecture, travel, and street photography. He often utilises drones to push the boundaries of these niches. There is a strong focus on line in his aerial photos.
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Julien Grondin
Julien is a French landscape photographer who enjoys playing with light to add atmosphere to his images. Stunning sunsets and sunrises form a notable part of his portfolio.
He has travelled the world to shoot the most breathtaking landscapes. His drone is a piece of equipment that he never travels without.
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Miles Morgan
Miles Morgan, unlike other artists on this list, is an airline pilot. Inspired by his photographer father, Miles takes photography as an opportunity to connect with nature and capture it at its most splendid.
Extreme weather conditions and an extraordinary way of capturing light make Miles’ portfolio really stand out.
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Dimitar Karanikolov
Dimitar Karanikolov is an architect who tried himself in travel and urban photography. In the past years, he has been going on photo expeditions, where he captures authentic environments from a new perspective.
He was awarded the Aerial Photo Awards in 2020. His work has been featured in National Geographic, Lonely Planet, Fubiz and Designboom.
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Ryan Koopmans
Ryan is a photographer who focuses on surreal structures in the world. His interest in architecture led to him getting into urban photography, where he uses patterns and shapes to create visually dynamic images.
He is currently travelling around the world, working on photo and video projects.
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Jeffrey Milstein
Jeffrey was a professional architect before he turned towards photography. He has been using his experience and insight to find a unique style of capturing architecture.
Nowadays, he takes aerial photos of urban landscapes. This aerial photographers’ work has been exhibited and published several times.
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Conclusion
Aerial photos appear in many niches of photography. You can utilise the new perspective in travel, urban, architecture, landscape, and even event photography. It is a tool that will help you create more dynamic compositions.
If you are interested in the field of aerial photography, definitely check out these amazing artists’ profiles!
Do you agree with our list? Drop us a comment with your favourite aerial photographers under this post!
We are always on the lookout for exciting new aerial photographers. If you are an aerial photographer, and you feel like you should be considered on this list, make sure to drop us an email at emma@expertphotography.com with your bio, website, and Instagram link!
