Arenal Volcano

Gallery: LandscapePosted June 2, 2010407 views13 comments

This is a shot of the Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica. Arenal does not spew molten lava, rather it spews glowing hot rocks that bounce down the side of the volcano. Shooting at night is a great experience. Not only can you see the results, but you can hear the rocks as well. Very cool!! I usually spend more time over the Avian forum, but wanted to share this image from my recent trip to Costa Rica.

Canon 50D, 70-200 f/4 @ 70mm
50 seconds at f/4
ISO 1000
Noise Reduction applied to the sky

Larger image included for critique

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Comments

13 comments

Comment posted by Kory Lidstrom on June 2, 2010 at 10:20 PM

This gets points simply for the rarity of the scene. I like it.

Registered on November 19, 2008, 49 Posts, 1035 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on June 2, 2010 at 11:12 PM

Spectacular scene Keith! Love the earthy fireworks display.

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments

Comment posted by Raymond Marlow on June 3, 2010 at 12:54 AM

Interesting image here, Im surprised at the glow at the top of the mountain but I guess it just shows off the intensity of the light even though you were at 50 seconds. good work

Registered on October 15, 2008, 158 Posts, 531 Comments

Comment posted by Doug Roane on June 3, 2010 at 1:04 AM

very cool, spectacular scene, Keith. Wish I could see some detail in the mountain, but you made the right exposure choices for the scene.

Registered on December 12, 2008, 213 Posts, 2226 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on June 3, 2010 at 1:05 AM

Keith,

Incredible nature story. Thanks for the explanation too - without it, I was wondering how all the lines could have been formed if this was simply the standard lava flow. Quite a fascinating capture of nature. Thanks for sharing.

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Verena & Georg Pop on June 3, 2010 at 3:12 AM

Sweet. volcanoes are almost alwaays great subjects.
ok, I'd still have two suggestions: I love images like this one taken during the "blue hour" to see some color of the sky, or when taken in the dark to go with a slightly shorter lens to include a bit more sky (and stars maybe) and - in this case - leave some room at the bottom for the glowing tracks.
but, no question, its a sweet image all of its own!
georg

Registered on July 5, 2006, 272 Posts, 2823 Comments

Comment posted by INGOMA on June 3, 2010 at 11:07 AM

This is great, Keith. I love how you captured the details in the flow patterns and the included stars is a bonus. Really wonderful work here!

Registered on July 2, 2004, 231 Posts, 3110 Comments

Comment posted by Kah Kit Yoong on June 3, 2010 at 12:01 PM

Photographing this at night has created a pretty remarkable looking shot. Wow!

Registered on September 27, 2006, 636 Posts, 10682 Comments

Comment posted by Paul Marcellini on June 3, 2010 at 5:17 PM

Sweet! I would love a touch more detail, as someone suggested, in the blue hour, but this is still really cool.(Hot) The stars are a great touch.

Registered on November 27, 2007, 250 Posts, 2468 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Budde on June 3, 2010 at 7:29 PM

Flaming stars, flaming rocks.. wow. This is pretty awesome!

Registered on May 19, 2008, 39 Posts, 246 Comments

Comment posted by Daniel Cartamil on June 3, 2010 at 8:14 PM

Very cool! I stayed at the Arenal lodge a few nights but never got a show like this. One day we hiked about halfway up the mountain to a sign that said 'DANGER - DO NOT PASS THIS POINT'. Well, we passed that point but a few minutes later one of those rocks that come flying out of the volcano landed about a quarter of a mile away. Needless to say, we turned around!

Registered on November 15, 2007, 50 Posts, 601 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on June 3, 2010 at 8:30 PM

What a story. Wicked place for sure. Oozing lave isn't enough for this volcano. It hurls hot rocks. I certainly see what's going on here, but the rock-trails tend dominate the scene, which isn't all that bad, really. The mountains and stars, thought, sort of get lost in the glow. Would love to see these as stronger elements in the frame too..

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on June 3, 2010 at 9:23 PM

Cool.

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments