Lava spiraling down a slope
"This is wild. As the drops break out down the slope, the pressure moving the lava, pushing on the cooling skin above it, twists the skin into ropes. This is classic pahoehoe lava. Even where I was standing, the temperature underfoot was a few hundred degrees [approximately 150°C] at least, and there are radiant rocks above me.
"I was looking for the beauty of the incandescence with the silver glass skin. To catch this photo, you just have to show up, work hard, and move fast. One of the big dangers of photographing in a place like this is that it's really easy to get so involved in scurrying around to get the photo.
"On Kilauea, or any volcano, you have to make haste, but you have to do it very slowly and very methodically. Make haste stupidly and you get killed ... or at least very burned."
—Photographer James Balog
Photography Notes
- Camera: Nikon D100
- Lens: 80-200mm
- Shutter speed: 1/60
- Aperture: f/8.0
- Time of day: sunset, 6:00 p.m.
"We weren't sleeping much during this trip—sunrise and sunset were the best light, and we shot everything in between. We'd rarely get a full five hours of sleep in on any given night."
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