- Kilauea, the most active of the five volcanoes on Hawaii, has been erupting continuously since 1983
- Daredevil photographer Sean King scrambles to within inches of molten lava to capture the amazing images
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Fire spits high into the air as rivers of lava ooze from a Hawaiian volcano that has been erupting continuously since 1983.
Taken
under starlit skies, the stunning images of Kilauea, the most active of
the five volcanoes that form the main island of Hawaii, could easily be mistaken for scenes from another planet.
They
are the work of daredevil photographer Sean King who regularly
scrambles to within inches of molten lava at temperatures of up to
1,500C, dodging poisonous fumes and burning off the soles of his shoes
along the way.
Hot in Hawaii: A river of molten lava flows
menacingly from the crater of Kilauea , the most active of the five
volcanoes that form Hawaii's main island
Lava lover Mr King, 47, who is colour blind, has dedicated his life to documenting hauntingly beautiful images of volcanoes on his island home of Pahoa, Hawaii.
Mr King spends hours waiting for the ultimate eruption and has even had to dodge fountains of lava bubbling at over 1,500C.He has not only captured eruptions, but skies filled with glowing red clouds, otherworldly pictures of the milky Way, meteors, moon bows and lava waterfalls.
Molten lake: A huge flood of lava streams down the side of the live volcano in one of photographer Sean King's brilliant images
Fire and smoke are belched into the starry sky
from a crater on Hawaiian island of Pahoa, home to Kilauea, one of the
most active volcanoes on earth
Alien land: Molten lava glows from cracks as the surface layer begins to harden into solid rock
Cooling off: Huge plumes of steam are created as lava from the Kilauea Volcano flows into the Pacific ocean
Sean said: 'I usually shoot wide angle
15 to 25 second exposures of the flow during the night time, so I need
to get extremely close, usually about an inch away.
'Flows
can move at around five miles an hour and can really make you sweat or
melt your gear. You can hear the lava churning, popping, hissing from
the distance and the plume from the Halemaumau volcano is usually pretty
big, it's amazing to witness.
'It's
pure magic to watch new land being formed and watching how it reacts
with the ocean. It's definitely worth every pair of hiking boots that I
have melted the soles off to get there.'
In Hawaiian folklore, all the five
volcanoes on the island are sacred with Kīlauea's Halemaumau Crater
serving as the body and home of Pele, the goddess of fire, lightning,
wind, and volcanoes.
Dramatic spectacle: Flames shoot out from the
crater of the Kilauea volcano underneath the Milky Way to create a
unique, other-worldly image
Photographer Sean King, 47, dedicates his life
to documenting hauntingly beautiful images of the erupting volcano on
his island home of Pahoa, Hawaii
Daring: Photographer Sean King sets up his
camera on the edge of the crater. He has been known to spend hours
waiting for the ultimate eruption and has even had to dodge fountains of
lava bubbling at over 1,500C
Lava from creeps slowly towards the ocean in
another of Sean King's incredible shots. The photographer dodges
poisonous fumes and the unimaginable heat to capture the stunning images
Sean is colour blind, but uses this to his advantage as it helps him to avoid overcompensation of certain colours and tints in his photos.
Safety is paramount and coming home to his wife and mother is what spurs him on to be diligent during his adventures.
He added: 'If I'm out taking photos I have to be super careful, poisonous fumes and the unimaginable heat from the lava is extremely dangerous. Where the lava meets the ocean it spills down 45-foot-high cliffs sending boiling water bouncing back.
'The flow builds lava shelves at the coastline and becomes unstable meaning it can collapse into the boiling hot ocean at any time.
Fire shoots into the twilight sky from the crater of the Kilauea, the most active of Hawaii's five volcanoes
Smoke billows from the Kilauea crater. The volcano has been erupting continuously since 1983
Another of photographer Sean King's stunning pictures showing Kilauea erupting beneath the Milky Way "In the past I've seen up to 50 acres of land drop off into the sea at any one time. When I am taking the shots it always feels like the first time every time - it never gets old."
Originally from New York, Sean is a carpenter by trade but moved to Hawaii with his family nearly eight years ago.
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