Taking an amazing picture at the exact right moment and with the right angle can be a tricky exercise; this obviously did not deter Chris Hirata when he caught his friend and colleague photographer Kawika Singson as his tripod and his shoes caught fire while shooting lava in Hawaii.
Kawika Singson is not only a photographer with a love story for Hawaii, but he is also quite an adventurer who now has his own TV program. When this picture (which I found on Bored Panda) was first posted on social media, it literally caught fire (pun intended) and went absolutely viral.
Reacting to the buzz, a number of comments pointed out that it could not be instant combustion. Kawika later ‘confessed’ during interviews that, although the flames and the surrounding elements were as real as could be, he and Hirata had indeed staged the whole scene and used fire accelerant on his shoes and on the tripod legs.
Kawika wanted an interesting shot and creative genius combined with photographic talent, not to mention sheer guts just did that! This is one case where we can say that a photographer first shot to fame by being a model. Now, if you are ready to take risks in order to get your best shots, Kawika’s story may perhaps seem rather extreme and well… it is, and he did get a little bit concerned that others may just try the same stunt. He is quick to point out that he has become used to visiting volcanoes to take pictures; he recalled that on this picture he barely managed to stand the heat for a few seconds and that the whole set-up was a very calculated risk.
So next time you take a holiday that would include a volcano tour, please don’t even think of trying this stunt! There are many other ways to take awesome wacky pictures which I will be happy to share with you in the near future.
As this picture certainly touched me, I tried to find out more about Singson. To be honest I didn’t go very far. He seems to have settled in Hawaii for a while and loves to share his adventures around the island on his Facebook account and on TV. The man has an obvious passion for Nature; to quote the man himself “In the short amount of time I’ve lived on the island, I’ve been so unbelievably impressed by the wildlife and the culture.”
