Varina Patel
Fire and Water
This week, Jay and I visited the Big Island of Hawai'i and hiked out to see the lava for ourselves. This was, without question, the highlight of the trip. We spent a couple of hours photographing the lava on the first night, and we were so impressed that we returned for another go around the next day. Shooting the lava was a challenge as night got darker. Here's what I recommend for getting great shots in a place like this...
1. Give yourself time to figure out which lenses will work best - based upon the distances you are working with. I used a 70-200mm lens with a 1.4x converter. This gave me the length I need to capture lava far away - but also let me work with the flow right in front of me without having to change lenses. My photos from the second night are much better than those from the first night because I knew exactly what I wanted and how to get it.
2. I found that focusing on distant lava was difficult because of heat distortion. The solution was to focus on a cooler rock nearby or to focus manually.
3. Experiment with different shutter speeds. I liked the long shutter speed effect for this shot because it showed the smooth flow of the lava as it fell. For other photos, I preferred a fast shutter speed so that I could capture the incredible details in the cooling lava. The patterns were amazing. I'll post some more photos soon!
If you are planning a trip to the Big Island, give Cheryl a call for her awesome Poke-A-Stick Guided Lava Tours. Please keep in mind that this is private land, and you can not go out there without a guide. As it says on her business card, this trip is "Not fo' Wimps!"
Fire and Water
This week, Jay and I visited the Big Island of Hawai'i and hiked out to see the lava for ourselves. This was, without question, the highlight of the trip. We spent a couple of hours photographing the lava on the first night, and we were so impressed that we returned for another go around the next day. Shooting the lava was a challenge as night got darker. Here's what I recommend for getting great shots in a place like this...
1. Give yourself time to figure out which lenses will work best - based upon the distances you are working with. I used a 70-200mm lens with a 1.4x converter. This gave me the length I need to capture lava far away - but also let me work with the flow right in front of me without having to change lenses. My photos from the second night are much better than those from the first night because I knew exactly what I wanted and how to get it.
2. I found that focusing on distant lava was difficult because of heat distortion. The solution was to focus on a cooler rock nearby or to focus manually.
3. Experiment with different shutter speeds. I liked the long shutter speed effect for this shot because it showed the smooth flow of the lava as it fell. For other photos, I preferred a fast shutter speed so that I could capture the incredible details in the cooling lava. The patterns were amazing. I'll post some more photos soon!
If you are planning a trip to the Big Island, give Cheryl a call for her awesome Poke-A-Stick Guided Lava Tours. Please keep in mind that this is private land, and you can not go out there without a guide. As it says on her business card, this trip is "Not fo' Wimps!"