Taking Amazing Photos Of Waves While Being Chased By Hot Lava

Photographing lava is not for the faint of heart, but for some, standing away from an eruption is neither close nor epic enough. Photographers CJ Kale & Nick Selway, from Kailua Kona, Hawaii, takes this concept to the extreme taking photos of waves while engulfed with Lava.

The concept sounds simple enough: stand in water next to an active eruption; wait for a waive to come in; shoot said waive while engulfed in Laval. A walk in the park.

While the resulting photographs are truly amazing, CJ is only a few feet from the lava flow constantly facing the risk of burn. He has to get away and come back in after each wave, waiting for the water to cool down. It got to the point where they needed to avoid “lava bombs” floating in the water. Here is what it looks like on video:

The results, however, are breathtaking:

[Lava Light Galleries via sploid]