Dronestagram has released their nominees for the best drone photos of 2017, and they’re every bit as glorious and surprising as you’d imagine.

I’m never sure how to feel about camera drones. They turn up periodically in Fire Island, and my first impulse (which I ignore) is to throw things at them until they fall out of the sky. They make me wish I carried a gun. I am troubled by their anonymity, but judging by these beautiful photographs, I can’t fault their vantage point.

However you feel about them, they certainly produce some eye-popping images we wouldn’t ever see otherwise.

You can check out all the nominees on Dronestagram’s blog. Photo credits appear under each picture.