A brave photographer flew his drone camera within metres of a stream of lava reaching temperatures of 1,000 degrees Celsius – so hot his camera began to melt.
Erez Marom, 36, spent several hours photographing red hot lava close to the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii, just outside the Volcanoes National Park.
The professional photographer, who describes himself as a ‘lava addict’, flew his drone to within 10 metres (30ft) of the molten rock.
Erez Marom, 36, spent several hours photographing red hot lava close to the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii, just outside the Volcanoes National Park
When he returned to his hotel room, he noticed the heat had begun to damage his equipment after several hours in the extreme environment.
Mr Marom, from Holon, Israel, said: ‘We hiked about five miles to reach the red hot lava, which fortunately was flowing outside the boundary of the national park.
‘This enabled me to use my drone and capture unique aerial perspectives of the amazing flows.
‘An hour into our visit, new lava rivers simply burst straight out of the mountain side and flowed, diverging and converging, down the slopes.
The professional photographer, who describes himself as a ‘lava addict’, flew his drone to within 10 metres (30ft) of the molten rock
Pictured: The drone (circled) flying over the larva. Marom said the damage to his camera was ‘worth it’ in order to get unique close-ups of the lava flowing from the volcano
When he returned to his hotel room, he noticed the heat had begun to damage his equipment (pictured) after several hours in the extreme environment
‘We were truly mesmerised by the unusual display, and spent in all about three hours shooting at daytime, sunset and twilight.
‘At some point, I noticed the right side of the drone images was getting darker.
‘I continued shooting but when I went back to the apartment, I was surprised to see the plastic inside the drone camera had melted when I was shooting close to the lava.’
He said the damage to his camera was ‘worth it’ in order to get unique close-ups of the lava flowing from the volcano.
The photographer said he has visited volcanoes all over the world to take photos, including in Ethiopia.
He added: ‘You could say I’m a lava addict. I love the look of it and the feeling of being next to lava.
‘As a landscape photographer, I love the infinite opportunities for unique compositions this changing landscape gives me.
‘It was absolutely fantastic. I kept feeling incredibly lucky that the lava rivers erupted exactly when we were there, and that they flowed outside the park so I could use the drone.
‘When I was getting too close, it felt very, very hot and I had to run away.’
The photographer said he has visited volcanoes all over the world to take photos, including in Ethiopia