Looks like another “volcano hunter” on the Big Island is getting some recognition for his lava photographs. 

Bruce Omori, owner of the Extreme Exposures Fine Art Gallery in Hilo, received the Windland Smith Rice International Award for his photo entitled “Volcanic Vortices.” The photo was selected out of about 20,000 submissions and will be displayed at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History’s annual June exhibition. It will also be featured in Nature’s Best Photography Magazine.

Omori descriped the experience of capturing the photo in its description: “On an early morning shoot at the Waikupanaha ocean entry, lava from the Kilauea volcano poured into the sea. This created a huge escape of steam, and as it rose, multiple vortices began spinning off of the huge plume. A vortex or two is a pretty rare sight—but when one after another kept forming, my fumbling with the lenses turned into a panicked rush to switch my telephoto to wide angle lens to capture this awesome scene of seven vortices in a row.”

The result? Pretty epic.

Photo courtesy Bruce Omori.

— Alice Terry