Around 2018 I was able to make a couple of trips out to the Big Island of Hawai'i for the Kilauea eruption. The first trip was an official photo tour with Bruce Omori and Tom Kualii where we hiked in, did a boat tour &, everyone's favorite, heli tour. I returned a couple of times and joined Bruce and videographer Mick Kalber on their helicopter media tours. Bruce would have a GoPro strapped to his foot while he shot stills with his camera. These were all doors-off flights. My legs were too short to reach the bar that the guys planted their feet on, so I was pretty much just hanging out the door held in by the harness straps. You don't want to stabilize against the helicopter frame as it just transmits vibration to you & your camera.
This ohia burst into flames seconds later
A classic ocean entry shot
The toxic fumes from the lava hitting the sea water swirled around
An aerial shot of the lava
Another aerial: the brown is the dead vegetation from the toxic vog.
The story these photos tell propels the imagination. While I think there is more to the wonder about in the last few images, the first two are my favorites. Great work, thanks for providing the background story.
DANBANG_HGC wrote:
What a group of spectacular photos! Love it very much.
By the way, how close did you get to the spot? Must be very hot!
Thanks, Dan. On foot, we could get as close to the 2000 degree F flow as we could stand. In the chopper, the pilot would have to move away as the bird was heating up too much before returning to the spot. There were times when I wondered if we were going to land as we were that close to the ground -- guessing 50'.
jgurbisz wrote:
These are insane! Love the different layers in the fifth photo.
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The Rat wrote:
Super cool! Easy vote for me.
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gregfountain wrote:
Great captures and presentation. Well done.
Greg
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GoodEgg wrote:
Monika, these are all stellar, terrific -- but that first one! Pops of color; 3D; a peek into Dante's inferno.
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Dan Cross wrote:
The story these photos tell propels the imagination. While I think there is more to the wonder about in the last few images, the first two are my favorites. Great work, thanks for providing the background story.
Cheers and mahalo!
Thanks, guys! Shooting lava is an amazing and addictive experience. Right up there with auroras. Hope you get to do it sometime.
Monika, the doors-off detail is what got me — hanging out of the door held only by the harness while Bruce had a GoPro strapped to his foot is not something I'd have the nerve for. The note about not bracing against the frame makes total sense; I've ruined shots in a bouncing truck the same way, you just inherit every vibration. The brown dead vegetation from the vog in that aerial is the frame I keep going back to. I shot a small eruption on the Big Island years ago from the ground and the heat was already brutal at a distance, so I can only imagine what it felt like over the ocean entry with the fumes swirling. Were these all shot handheld, or did you have anything to brace the camera on once you were out there?
danielfen68 wrote:
Monika, the doors-off detail is what got me — hanging out of the door held only by the harness while Bruce had a GoPro strapped to his foot is not something I'd have the nerve for. The note about not bracing against the frame makes total sense; I've ruined shots in a bouncing truck the same way, you just inherit every vibration. The brown dead vegetation from the vog in that aerial is the frame I keep going back to. I shot a small eruption on the Big Island years ago from the ground and the heat was already brutal at a distance, so I can only imagine what it felt like over the ocean entry with the fumes swirling. Were these all shot handheld, or did you have anything to brace the camera on once you were out there?...Show more →
Daniel, the land based shots were on a tripod, everything else was handheld. For the ocean entry shot (#2), we were on top of the cliff across the inlet & I used a 400mm lens. There was a crack/fracture line in the lava that was parallel to the edge of the cliff (that we stayed behind). A couple of female tourists came up & asked if it was safe to sit on the edge (on the cliff side of the fracture) and dangle their feet over. Our guide told them no & explained why. They, of course, did it anyway. Our guide left as he knew that if the cliff collapsed, taking them with it, he would reflexively try to grab them & they would all go over. The next thing they did was to rub some of the pumice onto their faces. Wonder how long it took them to realize that they just rubbed glass shards into their skin........
2 and 4 are my favorites and I love 2. I have a similar image to 2 taken from a helicopter with the window open yet much faster shutter speed. We were so close that my eyebrow singed as I composed the image.
