To most people, going down into
an active volcano sounds like an
incredibly risky undertaking...
Personally, I think it’s much more risky to
take the subway alone at night. I’ve never
done that in my home city of Munich,
which is one of the biggest cities in
Germany. I think that is very risky
- I don’t take unnecessary risks.
What kind of specialist equipment
do you take?
With an active volcano, we look very
closely at the volcano before we go. We
work with the local scientists who live
there and measure the volcano activity
over an extended period. When we think
it’s okay, we put on some gas masks and
descend. That’s important and we have
a gas meter to measure if there are any
poisonous gases, just in case. So far, we’ve
not encountered poisonous gases, but the
meter gives us that extra bit of safety.
If we go down to get a sample from the
fresh lava then you go really close to the
lava lake, and for that you need a heat
suit. It’s a full protective suit that you
need to wear when you go closer to the
lake. You don’t need it for abseiling
because the crater rim is far enough away
from the lava lake. It’s mainly for when
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close to it, but you should never go above
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That’s one way of putting it! On
the recent trip to Vanuatu, what
camera gear did you take?
I use the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV and
EOS R. In the beginning, I only used the
R as my backup camera, it was the third
camera in my bag, if something breaks.
But I have started to use the R as a second
camera body now. It took me a while to
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really work for me’, but in combination
with the new lenses, when I looked at
the pictures afterwards on the computer,
I was really surprised. For me, this was a
‘wow’ moment, and then I started to use
the camera a lot more. It takes a bit of
time to get used to the menu and the
different way of shooting, but I love
shooting with the Live View and I shoot
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things combined with the new lenses and
the sharpness make it really cool.Have any of your cameras or
lenses started to melt when close
to a lava lake? I’m just wonderingif you use any special heat-
resistant housings
All the cameras are still working! I was
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I don’t use heat-resistant housings for the
cameras, just heat gloves for my hands
and protection for my face.Do you prefer to use zoom lenses
rather than prime lenses?
In the volcano, I work a lot with zoom
lenses. In general, I work also with the
35mm lens. With the R that’s a really nice
and light combination, especially for
people who aren’t that used to being
photographed. The R with the 35mm
is a very cool combination.(^05) BLOWING RED
The erupting Tavurvur volcano lights up
the night sky in Papua New Guinea
Lens Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM at 70mm
Exposure 5 secs, f/2.8, ISO3200
(^06) HEAT SUIT PROTECTION
The climbers wore aluminized suits close
to the lava lake at the heart of the Benbow
crater for protection from the heat
Lens Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM at 24mm
Exposure 1/400 sec, f/4, ISO2500
(^07) WALL OF LAVA
Ambrym is one of only a handful of
volcanoes in the world that contains
a permanent lava lake
Lens Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM at 126mm
Exposure 1/125 sec, f/8, ISO500
05
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68 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com
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