Lava!

[MonikaC]

For those of you who might have gotten a tad bit chilly reading about Jim's Denali climb, here's something to warm you up. These are from this mornings heli ride over the lava on the Big Island. The surface breakouts were quite good (2 years ago when I went, there really weren't any on the heli days) So many shots to go through, hard to know where to start, so these are from the wide angle shots (had 2 bodies with me, one with my 70-200mm lens, the other with a 35mm equivalent lens). I did some minor exposure adjustments (blacks, whites & general exposure), but that's it. I'll post some of my tele shots separately.

 

[AlanLichty]

Makes me want to stretch my hands out over the images to warm them up

 

[MonikaC]

Makes me want to stretch my hands out over the images to warm them up

The smell of the burning trees was like a campfire or bbq - made me hungry!

 

[JimFox]

Very cool looking Monika. They almost look like black lace abstracts. #1 and 3 are my favorites here.

 

[Ben Egbert]

Very crispy. I hiked out there in 1998.

 

[MonikaC]

Very crispy. I hiked out there in 1998.

Did you melt your soles, Ben? The heli pilot had to move us away from the flows to cool the machine down a couple of times!

 

[JimFox]

Congrats on the Daily Featured Post Monika!

 

[Jim Dockery]

Cool

Next time I'm on the big island I've gotta spring for a heli. Looking foreward to the tele shots.

 

[MonikaC]

Congrats on the Daily Featured Post Monika!

Thanks, Jim!

 

[MonikaC]

Cool

Next time I'm on the big island I've gotta spring for a heli. Looking foreward to the tele shots.

Maybe you should catch a commuter flight from Maui over to Hilo this Spring! I go through Bruce Omori at Extreme Exposure as he flies every Thursday (sometimes you can get a discounted flight with him on Thurs) with the same pilots, so they know what he's looking for. It's not just the regular tourist lava tour, but specific for photographers (doors off, hovering by request). Bring 2 bodies, one tele, one moderate -> wide. It's such a blast!

 

[Mike Mancil]

Wow, super shots! Surely you had marshmallows with you .

 

[MonikaC]

Wow, super shots! Surely you had marshmallows with you .

We were almost low enough to toast them! The smell of the trees burning definitely made me hungry.