M&N - 1st HM

Agni's Throne

Perhaps one of the most surreal and mind blowing experiences I've had as a photographer happened on this early morning at Kalapana. The hike in was quite exciting. Everything was blanketed in darkness, but an orange glow in the distance guided my way in. I wasn't alone, I had two of the best lava photographers with me and I could see why they were excited by every opportunity they got to photograph this phenomenon. When we eventually made our way to the cliff's edge, There was a rising plume of orange and yellow smoke. Everything else was consumed by it's vastness. Over the course of the next few hours, I witnessed the plume dance rhythmically in the wind, and in brief spells when the winds calmed, I saw molten lava entering the ocean, trickling down an 80 foot cliff. There were moments when an arriving wave would collide with its counterpart of fire, and cause an explosion that flew high into the air before depositing debris all around. I photographed several exposures catching this phenomenon. In terms of technical difficulty, this has to be one of the hardest images I've ever captured and processed. They lava was so bright that it blew out if the exposure was too long (pun intended). The explosions needed a slightly longer shutter speed and the land was pitch dark, so getting detail there meant waiting for morning twilight to arrive. This image is a blend of atleast 4 exposures if I remember correctly. Also, without that daring human standing atop the cliff, there is a sense of scale that is missing, atleast for me. 

P.S  : During the 4 hour window I just mentioned, I heard an almighty crack near the lava flow. A part of the cliff gave way and the lava began to spout out like a fire hose. It was one of the craziest, I repeat craziest things I have ever seen in my life. 

Appreciate any thoughts you have on this one.