The Sakurajima volcano in southern Japan has been quite active so far in 2013, and photographer Martin Rietze recently traveled to the site to document the eruptions through photographs. His images capture smoke billowing out of the crater, lava exploding in trails of orange light, and lightning flashing back and forth inside the dark ash cloud.
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Since we’ve been talking about taking pictures of outer space, it only seems right that we share an incredible picture taken from outer space. This photo, taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station, shows the incredible vantage point they were privy to in 2009 when they witnessed an eruption of the highly active Sarychev Volcano. Read more…

Here’s a fascinating video about the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, which was preceded by one of the largest landslides in recorded history. Amateur photographer Keith Ronnholm had set up camp that day at Bear Meadows, roughly 10 miles northeast of the mountain.
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This amazing photograph by Ricardo Mohr shows the volcano Puyehue-Cordón Caulle in southern Chile erupting this past June. After being submitted to National Geographic’s My Shot photo community, the photograph was selected as one of the magazine’s “Pictures We Love: Best of October.” You can download a high-res version to use as a wallpaper here.

Chile Ash Cloud (via Boing Boing via Laughing Squid)

Image credit: Photograph by Ricardo Mohr

When Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980, photographer Robert Landsberg was documenting the changes in the volcano from just a few miles away. Realizing that he couldn’t possibly outrun the approaching ash cloud, he kept shooting for as long as he could before using his body to preserve his film:

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, Landsberg’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. [#]

The photos were published in the January 1981 issue of National Geographic. Many people might think of saving their precious photos in the event of a house fire, but how many photographers would think to use their bodies to protect their photographs?

Robert Landsberg (via Reddit)