The Power of Nature at Work

A bit of a lay over here in Brussels, has me thinking about the land of fire and ice......Iceland. Shot below was two weeks ago on the Hawaii from the water. Every time I look at this image, I recall how much energy and heat I felt at the edge of the water. The intensity of the wave and lava action as well as the shear heat, made working this close to the lava a challenge. Attention to your surroundings and your equipment is an understatement. I'm gald I only had to focus on my photography and not operating the boat.

I arrived long before sunrise and just watched the immense motion underway. Soon I was in awe of the power of nature and quickly concluded that wanted to create an image that displayed motion, power, fire, and uncertainty. 

Using the low ISO settings of the D810, I knew I could obtain a low speed exposure without using ND filters – this would allow for the motion of the water. I also knew that the steam would be blurred and concluded that this motion would add another dimension to the image. Focusing in near-dark conditions was a challenge, forcing me to concentrate on the only area of contrast that I could find - the edge of the rocks. BTW, a 3.8 mile hike (each way) took me to this location.

Nikon D4, Nikon 70-200mm @ 170mm, ISO 800, f/8 at 1/200 sec. Exposure bias -1