How I Planned And Shot An Erupting Volcano With The Milky Way

by

Albert Dros

Panorama of the valley with the milky way stretching over it and an erupting Fuego.

Sony A7R2, Samyang 14mm f/2.8, wide open at f/2.8, 25s, ISO 4000, panorama of multiple images

Nature has lots to offer for landscape photographers. We love to shoot nature’s paintings. Storms, rainbows, tornadoes, lightning strikes: they’re all a gift from nature that we can play with as a landscape photographer. Volcanoes are one of them, too, especially when they’re erupting. I have been fascinated by volcanoes; they have been on my list to shoot for quite a while. My younger brother recently went to Guatemala for some backpacking and learning the Spanish language. When he sent me some photos of an erupting volcano, my photography senses were immediately triggered. The erupting volcano was called ‘Fuego’ (literally “Fire”). I managed to find webcams and activity on scopes and checked how active Fuego was. According to the history, the volcano has remained quite active, but you had to be lucky to see a lot of eruptions. Still, the idea of meeting up with my brother and shooting a volcano seemed like a good enough reason to go.

When I decided I wanted to go to Guatemala to try and shoot the volcano, I started doing my research on how I wanted my shot to look. Erupting lava is best visible in evening and night, so I was obviously going for that. I researched other shots from this volcano. Most good shots were during a full moon so that you could see the scenery well, lit by the full moon in combination with the lava eruptions. I wanted to try something different. I have always been intrigued with planning and photographing the Milky Way at particular locations. How awesome would it be to shoot the erupting volcano with the Milky Way?...http://www.albertdros.com/single-post/2017/04/11/How-I-Planned-And-Shot-An-Erupting-Volcano-With-The-Milky-Way