Photographing Volcanoes: We are going to Hawaii next month and will be visiting the Volcanic National Park on the Big Island. I wonder if any of you with experience photographing...

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

We are going to Hawaii next month and will be visiting the Volcanic National Park on the Big Island. I wonder if any of you with experience photographing volcanoes could give me a little advice on how to to that. I will be using my Sony RX100VII and iPhone 11. Thanks in advance.

Leitz Loc: Solms

Wingpilot wrote:

We are going to Hawaii next month and will be visiting the Volcanic National Park on the Big Island. I wonder if any of you with experience photographing volcanoes could give me a little advice on how to to that. I will be using my Sony RX100VII and iPhone 11. Thanks in advance.

Generally you need to meter, focus, compose and shoot. With your phone, point and shoot.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Mike Mezeul is a photographer who has done a lot of impressive work with the active volcanoes in Hawaii. I met him when I attended one of his night sky workshops, but he also has led workshops doing what you are going to do. Here is the link to his website for examples of his work:

https://www.mikemezphotography.com

Here is the link to the section devoted to his volcano photography

https://www.mikemezphotography.com/volcano

You should also be able to search through his blog for hints and suggestions:

https://www.mikemezphotography.com/blog

You won't have the access that he had when he was there on assignment, but the principles will be the same.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

A volcano is a mountain with a hot temper. Photograph it as you would any mountain. Unless it is erupting than stay far away with a loooooooooooong lens. Say a clone of the Hubble from the Space Station. Yes, I am weird - just ask my wife and family.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Leitz wrote:

Generally you need to meter, focus, compose and shoot. With your phone, point and shoot.

Anything useful beyond that?

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

larryepage wrote:

Mike Mezeul is a photographer who has done a lot o... (show quote)

Thanks. Looks like there’s a lot of hiking involved. I got some ideas.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

robertjerl wrote:

A volcano is a mountain with a hot temper. Photograph it as you would any mountain. Unless it is erupting than stay far away with a loooooooooooong lens. Say a clone of the Hubble from the Space Station. Yes, I am weird - just ask my wife and family.

I would say that using discretion is a good start.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Perhaps I should have been more specific. Does anyone have any particular hint, tips, tricks, etc., to get great pictures of a volcano or the lava?

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Wingpilot wrote:

Perhaps I should have been more specific. Does anyone have any particular hint, tips, tricks, etc., to get great pictures of a volcano or the lava?

I'll take a shot here and try to remember some of what Mike told us...

If you notice, many of his most dramatic images were taken at dawn or twilight. A few even later. Daylight will seriously diminish or even overwhelm the glow from the molten lava. Some of his shots are merges of two exposures...one for the lava and one for the sky. Depending on the level of activity, you will probably be shooting from quite some distance, so a longer lens is necessary. If you look for Mike on NikonUSA's website, you may still find some shots with the technical information posted.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

larryepage wrote:

I'll take a shot here and try to remember some of ... (show quote)

Thanks, Larry. I got to doing some reading and that was a common suggestion that early morning or twilight are good times to get those shots. Our tentative plan is to spend the night there, so there’s the possibility of a nighttime show of lava, too. My RX100VII zooms out to 200mm, and clear image zoom doubles that, so I should be ok for the long distance shots. This should be fun.

525erving

Wingpilot wrote:

We are going to Hawaii next month and will be visiting the Volcanic National Park on the Big Island. I wonder if any of you with experience photographing volcanoes could give me a little advice on how to to that. I will be using my Sony RX100VII and iPhone 11. Thanks in advance.

Good shoes , large water bottle , back pack it does get very warm on a hike through the lava fields

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Lava shooting... This is not different from shooting a fire in your backyard, just hotter.

wireloose

Boat tour is pretty cool; I took the sunrise one, which I think left at 3am. Most of my shots were with the 70-200 2.8. Open door helicopter was not great photographically. Tripod shots at sunset can be good but the dynamic range is huge, HDR is helpful. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1494755955?ref=myi_title_dp Is a bit dated but had some useful tips.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

Be careful where you walk! Hot lava melts shoes in seconds.

dsnoke Loc: North Georgia, USA

From a photographic perspective, the thing to watch out for is the metering. Lava is flat black, reflecting very little light. That means the camera will tend to over-expose if there is much lava in the composition. You'll need some trial and error to work out how your camera is reacting.

But seeing a volcano up close is a wonderful experience. Enjoy yourself.