chrismoyer

In the Beginning

Lava ocean entry point in Kalapana, HI.

Lava ocean entry point in Kalapana, HI.
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Canon EOS 5D Mark II

settings

Aperture f/16.0 ISO 100 Shutter 1/6

upload_date

Nov, 2013

Views

7059

Likes

+1.3k

Awards

Contest Finalist in Everything Nature Photo Contest

Featured

Exposure Bundle

Contest Finalist in Visuals of Life Photo Contest

Contest Finalist in Off The Grid Photo Contest

Contest Finalist in Awesome Destinations Photo Contest

Contest Finalist in Powerful Photo Contest

Contest Finalist in Water Worlds Photo Contest

Featured

Superb Composition

+152

Absolute Masterpiece

+151

Top Choice

+134

Peer Award

+100

Outstanding Creativity

+70

Magnificent Capture

+33

Superior Skill

+22

All Star

+18

Jaw Dropping

+18

Genius

Exceptional Contrast

Great Find

One Of A Kind

Virtuoso

Emotions

Impressed

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Categories

Nice angle. Welcome to View Bug

Terrific capture. Congratulations.

Magnificant capture

congrats, fantastic, please check out my works

WOW, this is a superb shot, Congrats

Beautiful capture.Congrats!

Awesome capture!

PRO

Rad!

Congrats!

Great photo. Congratulations on a job well done.

very nice

nice

Great capture Chris...nice work! :)))!

Amazing shot!! Congrats :)

wow amazing shot

Platinum

Fantastic capture!! Congratulations on your Feature!

Well done

Platinum

Fantastic!

Way cool.. Congrats :)

Wow Nice Capture

amazing

excellent shot

PRO+

Congratulations with this stunning shot! Brian

Platinum

Wow - cool shot! Congrats!

Stunning shot!!!

PRO+

amazing shot

Awesome!

great!

Nice.

WOW, outstanding, congrats

Awesome capture, Chris!! Congrats on getting in the finalist, well deserved .

PRO+

I love the fact that both the waves and the lava flow are racing towards each other. A battle taking place before me. Great shot. Congratulations.

Congrats on your finalist award.

Congratulations on being a finalist!

wonderful moment

I felt the heat ! Amazing ! Congrats !

Awesome shot!!! Congratulations and good luck!

PERFECT CLICK I LOVED IT

Nice shot!!

Congrats on your finalist award.

congrats

Platinum

Congrats on your awards and much sucess in the future. Awesome photo.

We were in Hawaii in June and I absolutely fell in love with the islands. Fantastic shot.

Nice shot...

Platinum

Awesome capture of this hot lava. Well done.

Utterly amazing....brilliant work.
lily

PRO+

Awesome picture - congrats on your all your finalist wins! What time of day did you take this picture?

EXCELLENT title and an awesome shot...congratulations !!!

Just Wow!!!

PRO+

What an amazing capture. You should be so proud! magnificent color and long exposure! keep it up!

Outstanding !

Good job!

Great picture! Getting there to take it is all that and more! Doing both gets the prize!

This is a great "Hot Shot", so good to be in the right place at the right time, well done.

PRO

amazing shot ,love your style

Very creative - great idea!

this is stunning its so beautiful!

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Sunset view over the lava fields on Kalapana, HI.

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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken on the Big Island of Hawaii after hiking in 3 miles from Kalapana to the ocean entry point of the lava fields. We hiked in with a group of about 10 people and had 3 guides that led us to this area.

Time

This was taken during the golden hour about 30 minutes before sunset. Initially I was hoping to shoot this area with a great sky and sunset in the background but there were no clouds or drama in the sky so I chose to focus on the action where the lava met the sea.

Lighting

For this particular photo I knew that I wanted a slightly longer shutter speed to capture the movement of the waves and get the streaks in the water. Shooting during the last 30 minutes before sunset allowed me to do this whereas if I was shooting with the sun overhead I would have needed an ND filter to achieve these results and the lighting would not have been as even as it was.

Equipment

I shot this with a Canon 5D MKii with a Canon 24-105 L lens, and Manfrotto tripod. An interesting note is that I left my rubber feet on the tripod and the ground was so hot where we were that two of the feet melted and deformed.

Inspiration

I traveled to the Big Island of Hawaii with my family for vacation but I knew that for me personally I wanted to photograph lava more than anything. Things worked out so that my brother in law and I could make the trip out and hike the long way out with our guides to get here. I am a huge fan of long exposure photography and I wanted to incorporate some of that into this scene. The lighting was perfect and the conditions were great. The wind was blowing away from us which allowed me to really focus on capturing the battle between the flowing lava and the ocean waves pushing in. I took many photos dragging the shutter and hoping to capture a great curling wave as it prepared to slam into the lava. Luckily I got was I was hoping for.

Editing

Only basic post processing was used. I had to color correct because of the setting sun. The raw photo had a strong warm tone that did not look natural. I adjusted to bring back the blue of the water and retain the natural color of the lava. I also cropped the photo slightly to get a better composition and ran some noise reduction. Otherwise no major adjustments were made.

In my camera bag

I always carry my camera and a few lenses but in addition I usually have various polarizers and ND filters available. For landscape photography these are a must. The other thing that my bag is never without is a good cleaning cloth. I shoot a lot at the ocean and sea spray is unavoidable. You always need something to clean your lens.

Feedback

Hire a guide! For this and many other photographs in nature there is an element of danger involved. To get to this area in Hawaii it requires hiking over miles of dried lava beds which are brittle and very rugged. Not to mention there are spots where lava has been recently and if you do not know where you could walk right into a recent flow which can very well result in death or serious injury. The guides are experienced and can help you avoid serious pitfalls while also helping you learn more about the local landscape and culture. Be safe and never go alone!

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chrismoyer

chrismoyer

In the Beginning

Lava ocean entry point in Kalapana, HI.

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow chrismoyer

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