“Kilauea Volcano at Night” Big Island, Hawaii

"Kilauea Volcano at Night" Big Island, Hawaii by Joel Addams

VOLCANO NATIONAL PARK, BIG ISLAND, HAWAII

For several nights in a row, I revisited Volcano National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii looking for the shots that I always thought I would get: spewing lava, rivers of molten gold, fantastic pictures. The reality is that Volcano National Park is mostly cool on the surface and hot underground. The beauty for the photographer (in 2012 at least) remains the black formations on miles and miles of lava crust. It is beautiful. For now, the red stuff is limited to drippings that plop into the ocean on the southeast part of the island, accessible only by a long drive to the south out of the park and then walking about 1/2 of a mile to a disappointingly far distance from the spot. You can also hire a boat to take you much closer. The other option is, of course, the glow from the Kilauea Volcano, seen here. The name evidently means “spewing” or “much spreading” and shows that the volcano is still under “Watch” status by the USGS at the time of this writing. The tripod is a must for this late evening shot, as the shutter will need to be open for at least a few seconds, depending on your apertures. I chose a long exposure by stopping down a bit, extending the shutter speed to 30 seconds…enough to blend the light reflecting from the smoke that continues to spew from the cone of the volcano.

Camera: Canon 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon 70-200 mm f/2.8L IS @ 200 mm
Settings: ISO1000, f/6.3, 30 seconds
Filters: None
Other: Cable Release

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Long Boarding, yes please.

Thanks to a friend of mine and some of his long boarding buddies, we were able to grab a few shots the other night as the sun was going down. The flash can really help out in the dusk situation, by the way, not only because it gives the extra light needed for the subject, but it will also freeze a little of the action. You’ll notice a definite slide through the image where the flash froze some action and then the longer shutter speed carried the movement a touch. There is a lot of experimentation in all of this. Keep trying!

Chris Clement on the Long Ride. © Joel Addams.com

Chris Clement on the Long Ride II. © Joel Addams.com

Ethan Evans slides home. © Joel Addams.com

Jason Gill with a hand down. © Joel Addams.com

Three buddies Long Boarding. © Joel Addams.com

Chris Call and his pads. © Joel Addams.com

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Motorcycles – Photography of Motion

Some of the beauty of still photography is that a static image can create a sense of motion. The key here, of course, is long exposure, and finding that perfect balance between the speed of the subject (and you) and the shutter speed is often a challenge. Creighton Lowe and Tandra Steiner fired up their bikes for an evening of motion and still shooting which turned out to be very productive. I wasn’t planning on shooting in black and white, but some of the images certainly had more of a vintage feel in monochrome, some tinted slightly.

Enjoy.