Photographer Michael Shainblum has shared a 15-minute video showing his process for capturing footage of erupting Icelandic volcanoes, a bucket-list trip for him that, unfortunately, ended with his drone getting a little crispier than he would’ve liked. In addition to the video, we chatted with Shainblum about his experience and what it took to get these incredible shots.
‘I think my favorite part about this shoot was witnessing the different textures of the lava rock spewing out of the volcano. But, in turn, one of the huge challenges of capturing that was the heat waves coming from the lava. It made some of my telephoto shots look quite out of focus. I did a lot of close-up shots at 400mm and unfortunately, none of them were usable,’ Shainblum tells DPReview.
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| Shainblum stitched 5 photos together for a vertical panorama, and used AEB, to capture the dynamic range and depth of the landscape in this image. |
‘The drone became my most valuable tool for capturing the lava and showcasing the patterns from above those heatwaves. I think the aerial images and video really became the star of the show. This lava adventure was a great way to cap off my Iceland vlog series. Which ended up being one of my favorite photo trips I have ever taken,’ he concludes.
Shainblum used a Mavic 2 Pro drone to capture the aerial footage. He walks through camera settings, as you would see them in DJI’s GO 4 app, and also employed Auto Exposure Bracketing for most of his shots. Exposure blending was needed to deal with the extreme dynamic range of the lava. He also used the panorama feature to capture entire scenes, as composition is crucial.
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| In his video, Shainblum tells us he always looks for dragons when capturing images. Do you see it? |
One more crucial element in Shainblum’s artistry is capturing ‘dragons’ in his images. He succeeded in finding something that resembles one in the lava patterns, and this was his favorite image in the shoot. Unfortunately, as he got closer, the drone flashed a ‘Critical Temperature Error’ warning on the screen, and he immediately brought in back.
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| Too close for comfort. Drones can only take so much heat, thankfully it didn’t fall into the lava. |
The bottom of it was completely melted, but Shainblum had planned on replacing it anyway. He also reminds us to switch out our memory cards after each flight, as a drone can be replaced but the footage cannot. Learn more about his work on his official site.
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This article comes from DP Review and can be read on the original site.
