When Worlds CollideMolten lava meets the waves at the ocean entry of Kilauea with explosive results

A river of lava meets the ocean and instantly boils the water unleashing a deadly torrent of steam at the edge of Kilauea in Hawaii

pre-dawn light

I was fortunate to capture the fleeting drama

Days after this image was taken

This area was ground zero for the Eagle Creek fires of 2017 and has been forever changed

Summer wildflowers bloom along a glacial creek bed in the Central Oregon Cascade range

My friend David Thompson forgot the cord to his drone in the car

Unfortunately for me

for good reason

I managed to make this shot before being run out of the canyon by a moose-sized porcupine in South Dakota

On this morning

so we shot this scene essentially blind