Clouds of ash spewing from fissures in the volcano caused travel chaos across Europe for months as flights were grounded and holidaymakers were left stranded. Icelandic photographer Ragnar Sigurdsson spent weeks capturing the dramatic scenes as the volcano continued to erupt, including flying over the bubbling crater. Some of his most awe inspiring pictures show lightning storms within the darkened plume of the volcano, caused by water vapour from the nearby glacier releasing energy in response to the superheated ash cloud. He has captured more than 10,000 images of the volcano as red hot lava was thrown into the air and compiled three book volumes entitled Untamed Nature. Sigurdsson, 52, chose to fly into the epicentre of destruction on a mission to record the spectacular wrath of one of nature’s most deadly phenomena. He and geologist co-writer Ari Trausti Gudmundsson have now made a selection from 10,000 of Ragnar’s pictures of the catastrophe. Interest generated by their first two sell out editions of ‘Eyjafjallajokull: Untamed Nature’, spurred the duo to add new personal accounts, giving fresh insight into the drama, in their brand new third edition.

Traveling Iceland in a converted military Land Cruiser Ragnar was able to record spectacular and unique images of the Icelandic eruption as it unfolded on a global scale. ‘Once all the airports started shutting down I knew this was a major story of global significance,’ said 52 year-old Ragnar, from Iceland. ‘This eruption clearly had a great impact on the whole world. However, because of the intensity of the experience it was actually a rush for me and was exciting to be involved in such a hands-on way. ‘Getting the very best shots I can is a great reward. Personally my favourite picture is an aerial shot of the crater taken while flying at low altitude, in high wind speeds and the door of the plane taken off so I didn’t have to shoot through glass.

‘I could feel the heat of the volcano against my face as we made our pass. It was taken with a telephoto lens and an extremely high ISO, which can make pictures grainy, but it turned out to be a pin sharp shot. I couldn’t have been more pleased.’

]]> http://www.crystalkiss.com/fall-into-the-autumn-journey-with-mother-nature-with-these-beautiful-photography/feed/ 5 http://www.crystalkiss.com/amazing-nature-in-black-and-white-photography/ http://www.crystalkiss.com/amazing-nature-in-black-and-white-photography/#comments Sat, 08 Aug 2009 14:51:15 +0000 admin http://www.crystalkiss.com/?p=394 Beautiful and very professional black and white nature photography