Shore excursion to hell...

[pierces]

Not "from". "To",

 

If you are cruising the Hawaiian Islands and make the usual Big Island stops at Kona and Hilo. Book a Lava Ocean tour out of Hilo (near Hilo).

 

I can now openly mock those who overuse the word "awesome". I have seen a friggin' lava flow hitting the ocean from 30 feet away and it was awesome!

 

awe·some

[ˈôsəm]

ADJECTIVE

1. extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring great admiration, apprehension, or fear:

"the awesome power of the atomic bomb"

synonyms: breathtaking · awe-inspiring · magnificent · wonderful ·

 

Yup... Best. Photo-op. Ever.

 

I am on the way home with no editing capability. These were shot from a rocking boat in steaming breakwater, shifting late afternoon light and are straight-out-of-camera JPEGs uploaded to my Kindle. So, apologies to the horizon-obsessive and pixel-peepers. :)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 8, 2016 by pierces

[philsmum1]

Just "Wow" !!

 

 

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[easyboy]

Wow, the closest picture shot i've ever seen. How far off were you and have you been a scared for just a bit with your proximity? Thanks for the photo (without even an edit).

 

 

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Edited December 8, 2016 by easyboy

[grandmarnnurse]

Wow! Fabulous! And, yes, awesome! [emoji4]

 

 

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[Glaciers]

Fantastic shots! Would love to do that.

[Mr. Click]

We got a few hundred yards away more years ago than I want to think about it was pretty cool but this is amazing.. Great stuff. Now I need to go back to Hawaii....

[PoppyandNana]

Not "from". "To",

 

If you are cruising the Hawaiian Islands and make the usual Big Island stops at Kona and Hilo. Book a Lava Ocean tour out of Hilo (near Hilo).

 

I can now openly mock those who overuse the word "awesome". I have seen a friggin' lava flow hitting the ocean from 30 feet away and it was awesome!

 

awe·some

[ˈôsəm]

ADJECTIVE

1. extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring great admiration, apprehension, or fear:

"the awesome power of the atomic bomb"

synonyms: breathtaking · awe-inspiring · magnificent · wonderful ·

 

Yup... Best. Photo-op. Ever.

 

I am on the way home with no editing capability. These were shot from a rocking boat in steaming breakwater, shifting late afternoon light and are straight-out-of-camera JPEGs uploaded to my Kindle. So, apologies to the horizon-obsessive and pixel-peepers. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While you're there try this excursion on for size:

Edited December 9, 2016 by PoppyandNana

[Victress2007]

We'll be there in March, thanks for the recommendation!

 

Vic

[pierces]

Wow, the closest picture shot i've ever seen. How far off were you and have you been a scared for just a bit with your proximity? Thanks for the photo (without even an edit).

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

At times we were only thirty feet or so from the smaller flows. The shelf drops off into pretty deep water almost immediately. You could feel the heat on you face. As for scared... I'm not sure. It was sort of a blur. I had cameras and lava and waves and steam and an hour and was trying not to giggle with the sheet joy of it all! :)

 

Dave

[DENNICH]

Awesome shots. That must have been a great experience. Thanks for sharing your images.

[framer]

Timing the key to everything in life:cool:

 

Maybe someday I'll get to see that.

 

Thanks for the looksee.

 

framer

[pengu1n]

Wow, wonderful shots, Dave! About 20 years ago, we cruised by at night and it was amazing to see even at a pretty good distance. Our kids, about 10-12 years old, were too tired to wake up, and I felt bad that they were missing the sights, but I was too interested in seeing it myself to spend much time on them that night! Oh well, you snooze, you lose!

[easyboy]

At times we were only thirty feet or so from the smaller flows. The shelf drops off into pretty deep water almost immediately. You could feel the heat on you face. As for scared... I'm not sure. It was sort of a blur. I had cameras and lava and waves and steam and an hour and was trying not to giggle with the sheet joy of it all! :)

 

Dave

30ft is just about 3 cars away. I am really impressed. Congrats again on those awesome pictures!

[Dan_K]

This must have been one of those experiences where you are holding the camera, and praying. Please, no camera malfunction. Please no memory card malfunction. Please let me have my settings correct. Please let me get the exposure right. Am I composing well? Is it in focus? Then, you get back and look at the picture on the computer. Hallelujah! Great pictures!

[MarTex]

My wife wants to go back to the Big Island to do this tour. I, on the other hand, want to go to the other side of the island, Kona, for the night time dive with the manta rays.

 

I'd also like to do the lava excursion. Nice photos!

[pierces]

This must have been one of those experiences where you are holding the camera, and praying. Please, no camera malfunction. Please no memory card malfunction. Please let me have my settings correct. Please let me get the exposure right. Am I composing well? Is it in focus? Then, you get back and look at the picture on the computer. Hallelujah! Great pictures!

 

Right after I booked the tour (at 1:00 pm for a 4:30 pm departure the same day) I inspected the sensors on both cameras, cleaned the imaginary dust off of the lenses, agonized over the second lens choice, put fresh batteries into both bodies, checked the charge on the four spares, checked the primary settings to make sure I hadn't changed anything, agonized over the second lens choice, put fresh cards into both cameras and formatted them, agonized over the second lens choice...etc.

 

After a pounding ride over the waves in the 1000 hp tour boat, we got there and the moment we first drifted into the outskirts of the main flume, EVERYTHING fogged up! Lens, viewfinder, LCD...my glasses! That was an "OS" moment. A few seconds later the captain oriented the boat and started repeatedly making passes back and forth upwind of the main flow and all was well. From there I just trusted the continuous AF and shot short 8 fps bursts and composed the best I could with the boat bobbing in the breakers and waiting for the steam to clear after each wave. We were there for about an hour and I didn't think about equipment or much of anything else beyond pointing the camera at probably the most amazing thing I had ever seen.

 

I had checked focus on some of the shots in camera to make sure I didn't need to bump the ISO for a faster shutter but the first pass after the files were loaded onto the tablet was a very happy time! :)

 

I am glad I got the opportunity and strongly recommend the tour to anyone that has the chance to do it.

 

 

This is the tour company I used: http://www.lavaocean.com/

 

Their Lavaone tour boat is a beast of a machine made by a company that makes Coast Guard rescue boats and the captain and crew were great.

 

 

Dave

[gottagoacruzn]

Wow!! Looks beautiful.

[tommui987]

So, apologies to the horizon-obsessive and pixel-peepers. :)

 

No comment on that sentence!

 

I've given you a bad time of busting my budget before - but here I am just $200+ away from Hawai'i Island and those pictures are an inspiration to go and take that trip!

 

About a hundred years ago (Actually 50+) I flew up and watched huge fountains of lava from the rim of Mauna Kea! But this was at a safe distance!

 

What can I say besides AWESOME!

[pghsteelerfan]

I'm speechless!!! Those are beautiful. I'd love to see this in person. And here I thought you were talking about that other hell, the one in Grand Cayman. :)

[pierces]

I'm speechless!!! Those are beautiful. I'd love to see this in person. And here I thought you were talking about that other hell, the one in Grand Cayman. :)

 

Thanks!

 

Been there too...no comparison! :)

 

 

 

Dave

Edited December 9, 2016 by pierces

[4x4bob]

You De Man

 

you just re-enforced my life long position, If you don't have your camera with you, don't tell the story.

 

Thanks for sharing with us.

 

Bob

[boeckli]

AWESOME!! (and then some ....)

 

Thanks for sharing these amazing images with us, Dave :)

[wmjivey]

Noticed big price difference if going twilight/night vs daytime. What do you all think about a daytime excursion?

 

John

[pierces]

Noticed big price difference if going twilight/night vs daytime. What do you all think about a daytime excursion?

 

John

 

The lower light at sunset/twilight makes it easier to see the glowing lava but it is bright enough to see in daylight, just not as easy to see it behind the steam. If it is overcast, there might not be as big a difference. If I had to do it over, I'd still spend the extra for the twilight tour. My guess is that there's a reason for the price difference.

 

Dave

[ski ww]

You're right Dave awesome pictures, thanks for sharing. If we ever get back to Hawaii that is a tour not to be missed.

Allan