I Photographed Volcano Erupting Under The Milky Way In Guatemala
27Kviews
As a landscape photographer I’ve always been intrigued with nature. A few weeks ago I went to Guatemala to try and shoot the eruption of Fuego, an active volcano on the edge of a little town called Antigua Guatemala. I wanted to not only shoot the erupting volcano, but align the milky way at night with it to create something unique.
I planned everything carefully weeks before making my trip using all the tools that I had at my disposal. First of all I used Photopills to plan the position of the milky way. Then I used the tools I found online to ‘get to know’ the volcano by observing scopes, recent activity logs and webcams. Last I called the local weather station when I finally arrived in Guatemala multiple times to get a recommendation about the weather up there above 3000m. When clear skies were predicted in combination with lots of activity i made my move to try my luck.
Needed ingredients: 1) The right date for the milky way to rise next to the Fuego volcano, seen from the Acatenango volcano. This would be around the end of March; 2) A clear night with no clouds; 3) Close to new moon for good visibility of the stars; 4) Most importantly: luck to get good lava eruptions with the right timing. I say right timing because I figured it would be extremely difficult to get both the stars and the lava properly exposed in one exposure because of the huge contrast difference. To get the perfect shot, I would have to shoot during late blue hour at sunset or early blue hour at sunrise.
After a very tough steep hike I found myself on the Acatenango volcano the next day. I arrived before sunset. It was very cloudy and I couldn’t even see the Fuego next to it. However, clouds were moving fast and I knew it was probably going to clear up. It did. When I saw it erupting up close combined with the powerful sound I was just paralysed. This was amazing. It was literally one of the most impressive things I had ever seen in nature.
The final shots you see here are a result of careful planning combined with a bit of luck!
More info: albertdros.com
Money Shot Of Close Up From Fuego’s Eruption Combined With A Lined Up Milky Way
The Power Of Nature During Sunset
Fuego Spitting Lava At Sunset
Panorama From Campsite Around 9 PM
Panorama From Campsite Around 2 AM
Close Up Eruptions During Morning Blue Hour
Sunrise
Enjoying The Volcano At Sunset
Crazy Morning Eruptions Were A Nice Goodbye
27Kviews
Share on Facebook
Really wonderful and inspiring to view your work and the dedication and homework in preparation. the visuals are stunning. Thank you for sharing! all the best, Len
in my country (Indonesia), eruptions are terrible disaster. But, you turned them into a stunning art. Great!
Just think of all the opportunities he will have in the near future, as volcanic activity increases.
Really wonderful and inspiring to view your work and the dedication and homework in preparation. the visuals are stunning. Thank you for sharing! all the best, Len
in my country (Indonesia), eruptions are terrible disaster. But, you turned them into a stunning art. Great!
Just think of all the opportunities he will have in the near future, as volcanic activity increases.