Monika C Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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I was fortunate enough to join Tom Kualii, Bruce Omori, Ryan Dyar and Miles Morgan on a lava tour on the Big Island last month. I'd never seen lava flowing before and it was probably the most difficult thing I've tried to photograph, so I was very happy to have help from these 4. Tom and Bruce welcomed us 4 participants into their ohana, kept us safe (after suitable intimidating us with stories of hapless tourists who died out there looking for the lava flows) and set us up in good positions in which to shoot. It was a surreal experience, enhanced by lack of sleep and supplemented by good food.
The first shot was from helicopter (another first for me).
The 2nd is from the delta. It seemed particularly dark that morning (we met at the hotel at 1am and were probably walking by 2am), walking on the black pahoehoe flows with lots of steam from the lava coming up, mostly obscuring the views. I felt like we should be returning the Ring to Mordor. The steam would part just long enough to tease us. I know that some of you will say that this shot is soft, but I was shooting through the steam & heat distortions. Everybody else was packed up & starting to leave. I really wanted a shot from here, so stubbornly stayed until the steam parted just enough as the sun came up &, along with the reflections from the lava, painted the steam this wonderful color.
#3 is an abstract, shot from land
#4 Was with both borrowed lens and tripod/ballhead. I had decided to give myself a break & not carry my Sigma 150-600mm S that morning to make myself shoot wider landscape shots. But these guys all brought extra gear for people to use (nobody needed to bring a back-up body, and Bruce had a prototype RRS set-up for people to try. And they even carried peoples gear if it was too heavy for them!).
#5 yes, it's soft. Another aerial. Useable? Let me know what you think.
C&C, please. These are my 1st edits.
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