Photographer Dies Photographing an Erupting Volcano

Robert Emerson Landsburg (November 13, 1931 – May 18, 1980) was an American photographer who was killed while photographing the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. Landsburg was born in Seattle, Washington and lived in Portland, Oregon at the time of the eruption. In the weeks leading up to the eruption, Landsburg visited the area many times in order to photographically document the changing volcano.

On the morning of May 18, he was within a few miles of the summit. When the mountain exploded, Landsburg must have realized that he would not survive the rapidly approaching ash cloud, but he kept snapping pictures as long as he could.

He managed to rewind the film back into its case, replace his camera in its bag, put the bag in his backpack, and then lay himself on top of the backpack in an attempt to protect its contents. Seventeen days later, Landsburg's body was found buried in the ash with his backpack underneath. The film could be developed and has provided geologists with valuable documentation of the historic eruption." (Via Wiki)

Here are the images as they appeared in National Geographic:

Stunning Photographs of Northern Lights Over Erupting Icelandic Volcano

23 year old Photographer James Appleton from Cambridge risked his life trekking solo to the site of the volcano to capture these incredible shots. Well worth it I'd say. Despite the warnings from local guides, Appleton spent seven hours battling biting wind and freezing temperatures to get as close to the eruption as possible. He managed to get within a 100 feet of the active volcano

"watching the volcano spew out lava and growling with the peaceful Northern Lights flickering was just incredible." ~ Appleton
[via DailyMailUK]

Purple and blue lights in the sky contrast with bright yellow and red lava flowing from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, erupting from beneath its ice cap.

The Northern Lights, a natural phenomenon called aurora borealis, is created by the sun's super hot atmosphere, which blasts particles into the protective magnetic field surrounding the Earth.
The magnetic field forces the particles toward the north and south poles.
About 60 to 200 miles overhead, the particles bump into the Earth's atmosphere and become electrically 'excited' - throwing off light of various colours.
Although the phenomenon occurs around the clock, the lights are only visible at night.
The best time of year to see them is during winter, when darkness in the upper latitudes stretches up to 24 hours.

Jaw-Dropping Images of Erupting Volcano In Chili

visa Boston Big Picture