Taken in October, 2016, this shot is one of my luckiest. Like every other self-respecting overgrown child, I’ve always had a fascination with lava. My girlfriend grew up in Hawai’i, and we’d made a couple trips out to Oahu to visit her family. Before our 3rd trip, I joked that if I didn’t see any lava this time then that was it, we had to break up! So, we booked our tickets to the Big Island—the only island with active lava flows. When I started to do research on the best way to see lava on the island, I discovered that the active flow was hitting the water for the first time in 3 years. While the ocean entry lasted for a little while, there hasn’t been one in the last couple years—and there haven’t been any surface flows at all since the major eruption in 2018. I got very lucky that the conditions were perfect for this shot—and that my girlfriend’s family was willing to hike out across a lava delta at 3 in the morning (we had a local guide with us and heeded all the posted warnings and boundaries). An incredible site, and one of my favorite shots!
Critique the Community
Luck
Show Us Your 'Luckiest' Photo
Submission Deadline: Mon, 17 Aug 20 17:00:00 +0000
This contest has ended.
Voting is closed.
Congratulations to the winners!
Looks Like you had the high ground!
Yes! don't think I'd want to go much lower or closer than this--though even up where we were it can be pretty unstable. There were some boat tours that we saw out there that morning that got surprisingly close.
I like the picture, I was just making a reference to Star Wars. This place looks almost identical to mustafar, where Anakin and obi wan had their fight in episode 3.
Haha yes, of course! I think my brain likes to pretend episodes 1-3 don't exist sometimes. And you're right--it definitely gives off some birth of Darth Vader vibes.