Guyserman Loc: Benton, AR

Excellent. You do a good job of clarifying the obvious.

BadPhoto Loc: Maryland

We took a helicopter ride and flew around bubbling cauldrons. I was shooting through the helicopter plexiglass, so using a large, oversize, rubber lens hood would help with reflections (and getting right up against the plexiglass). It is wise to bracket exposure, just to be safe, because the action is quick and you don't have time to fiddle.

We also did an evening hike into the lava flows with the Park Service. You need heavy shoos and a head lamp. At night, the contrast is great, so again you should bracket exposures. We were walking right up to the lava flows; I stuck a stick in the lava and it caught fire (reminded me of burning marshmallows). And the lava flowed right up to this bush which proceeded to catch fire (the bush was maybe 10 feet from me). With slow moving lava, the lava will cool and darken, then the pressure will crack it showing the red underneath, and it will creep forward and cool again. In the distance, the lava flows on the steeper part of the mountain were clearly visible.

No need for a flash; you want to see the red glow of lava and a flash will just wash it out.

It is the coolest place I've been.

alberio Loc: Casa Grande AZ

You probably won't see any flowing or boiling lava because they won't let you get close enough, but if you find a viewing place to overlook the caldera, you will capture the smoke and steam. If you go at night to that viewing area you can get some awesome pictures of the glow from the lava lake 500 feet below lighting up the steam and smoke plume. If its a clear night take a few long exposures...5-15 sec with a wide lens 14mm-50mm and you get the stars in the night sky. It is an incredible experience. I believe the Jagger Museum is closed, but if you ask the rangers, they will tell you the best places available.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

I always Photograph active volcanoes from a distance.

rskoba Loc: Honolulu, Hawaii

Here's a link from the National Park Service.
https://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/lava2.htm

You'll see the steam rising from the crater but won't get a direct view of lava. View the webcam views and read the Ranger tips in the link to get an idea of what to expect. The view is much more spectacular at night when the steam reflects the color of the heated lava.

JBRIII

Shot one in the Galapagos (pure luck it was erupting) at dusk using Canon SX70, don't remember any problems, used video. Pretty far off, so I can see where daytime could be a different story.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

You might do a search on youtube for

photographing volcanoes

--Bob

Charlie157 Loc: San Diego, CA

Call the Park and find out what is accessible to the public. In the past there were fountains that were accessible to the public. If you are planning to walk/hike on the lava fields to see the openings of the lava travelling underground, get some very good shoes like leather. Don't wear Nike's or similar sport/walking shoes, The lava fields will just cut them up.

Just a point of interest, Hale ma'u ma'u is the home of Pele the goddess of the volcanos.

In and along the forest you can find some interesting plants and flowers.

Good luck and have fun.

Bultaco Loc: Aiken, SC

We had great luck using a chopper, had a little trouble finding a Co that would take the doors off.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

A helicopter out of Hilo may be your best option for photographing Kīlauea's Halema‘uma‘u. The cameras are OK but your ability to get close to the Halema‘uma‘u crater at Kīlauea without a gas mask will be very limited and dangerous. The Jaggar Museum and Observatory point is still closed at this time. Anyway, it is very hard to shoot with a gas mask on and the sulfur dioxide combines with water to make sulfuric acid if it rains (go to HVO and check out hazards). There are no sea entries at this time. All other areas of the park and recent previous eruption areas are covered by your two cameras also. The lava trees park was spared from the last major eruption and can still be visited. You can add in a regular DSLR or mirrorless (I'm assuming you own a full frame), but it will just increase your traveling weight.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

These are all great suggestions and tips. I appreciate the replies. It looks like it will take some time experimenting with exposures to get good photos, especially at night. We probably won’t do the helicopter tour, and helicopter pilots tend to make lousy passengers!! 😄 Since we will be spending one night at the park, I’ll have some time to play with shooting the volcano. To be certain, I will be looking at some YouTube videos about it. Thanks for all your input.

jimmol

If you can handle the expense, take a helicopter tour over the volcano. My son and I did that, with the helicopter doors off for better photography. (Fasten your seatbelt well!) He did stills with his new Nikon and I did videos. It was all well worth it. Auto exposure worked fine: the solid lava is dark but the liquid lava is bright red; steam from the ocean water where the lava hits it is white. It all seems to work out.

JohnR Loc: The Gates of Hell

Close ups are not a good idea

peter.zimmerman

Yes. You’ll be shooting red hot luminous lava. You can easily burn out the highlights, so underexposed by one or two stops compared with what your meter reads. I’m assuming you’re using an overall metering (averaging) or matrix metering. If you do underexpose, and with a digital camera you can see when you’ve got it right, you can get spectacular photos.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Thanks for that tip.