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Mike Mezeul II: Natural High

December 1, 2018

Mike Mezeul II is a photographer specializing in landscapes, aerials, natural disasters, and the night sky. His work has appeared in National Geographic, BBC Magazine, Yahoo News, and more. Growing up with a father in the U.S. Air Force, Mezeul was enamored with aviation. That attraction to aviation shows in his photography: "I'm completely fascinated by the science of aviation and the variety of aircraft," he says. "My favorite aviation-related activity is photographing incredible landscapes from a helicopter with the doors off." This photo of Fissure 8 in Kilauea, Hawaii, erupting at 28,000 gallons of lava per second was shot from a Robinson R44 helicopter. When he's not on assignment, Mezeul travels the world and teaches photography workshops.

Web: www.mikemezphotography.com

Mike Mezeul II

Erupting Volcano, Kilauea, Hawaii, Lower East Rift Zone
Mike Mezeul II, Kilauea Volcano, Leilani Estates, Hawaii: "There are no words to truly describe what it’s like to witness the power of nature right in front of your eyes. From beautiful supercell thunderstorms and blinding lightning to tornadoes spinning like tops across the horizon to erupting volcanos, it’s simply amazing out there."
Cracks in lava, Kilaeua, Hawaii with 4K Camera: "This telephoto image shows the surface of a lava river, approximately one-quarter of a mile wide, cooling and crusting during Kilauea's most recent eruption in Hawaii. The cracks in the lava crust, which reveal the red glow below, are an indication that the lava flow is slowing and stalling out."
"A view looking straight down at the area where multiple rivers of lava enter the Pacific Ocean, forming the newest land on Earth. In order to get this image, we had to hover between multiple layers of laze [toxic gas and glass shards] and sulphur dioxide."
Tornadic supercell thunderstorm, Leoti, Kansas: "This storm produced a brief tornado along with hail the size of baseballs and 80 mph winds. The storm structure shows just how much wind shear was in the atmosphere that day. To see a tornado is a pretty special moment as many storms never go on to produce them. We get a glimpse of a supercell as a whole and it's an amazing scene as the whole thing looks like a spaceship from "Independence Day.""
Napali Coastline, Island of Kauai: "This is a nine-image panorama shot as we put the helicopter into a hover above the coastline. This was one of approximately one dozen rainbows we saw that day, but the only one that stretched over the entirety of the Napali coast."
Highlands of Iceland Cessna over glacial rivers: "This was an extremely difficult image to capture. I wanted to capture the aircraft flying above the glacial rivers in a manner that showed scale and the direction of the airplane needed to be approaching me. I was in another Cessna and it took nearly 30 minutes and six attempts to successfully execute the orientation and location of the other airplane in the frame."
Leilani Estates, Kilauea, Hawaii: "A lone piece of land becomes an island of its own as lava takes over much of the farmland in Leilani Estates in Kilauea's lower East Rift Zone. The eruption had destroyed more than 800 homes and covered nearly 12.5 square miles since its start on May 3, 2018."