earth rising skyward

This was awe-inspiring to look down on in person. It's a special memory for me as I was with my parents when I shot this. Doors off on the helicopter, hands on my Bolex, full trust in the seatbelt as we banked through turns.

chuck and the ranger

three people

click to enlarge:

The photo above was shot by a news photographer who was on the park rangers' helicopter. The type written note Chuck sent back to his parents with the photo.

I asked Chuck to describe what it felt like up on the volcano. Here is part of what he sent me:

"At sunrise we arrived at the foot of the vent, the earth constantly shook, the roar was comparable to a jet at takeoff, and as we got closer we could no longer hear each other. The sight of seeing a volcano up close was beyond description. I took pictures and pictures don’t show what it was like. I got close to take a picture and stopped when I became fearful of catching fire in the scorching heat..."

volcano

More from the collection of Chuck Corbett. The second photo shows what happens to photographs in the tropics. Many of Chuck's old photos are half withered away. I had to look at this one for a while...that's a tree on Kilauea Volcano, with the fiery lava plume behind it. I will have to dig up the shot of Chuck getting scolded by the ranger I mentioned in a previous post, complete with lava shooting into the sky right behind them. It's even more ridiculous than the drinking shot.