To the chronically down to earth, geysers are just smelly things that send water into the air and take it all back. Some have equated them to natural tea kettles. I was at a geyser in Iceland and there is a unique majesty in the way the Earth spews the water into the air, generates steam and recycles the lot. Geysers are quite hot and temperatures range around 160°C. We were not permitted to get close to any of them. There were walkways built and we were able to move around in relative safety.

From a photographer’s perspective, the Crown jewel was a blue bubble that is created during the start of a geyser’s eruption. The attached images have descriptive filenames and are sequential.

If using the vOICe, set the color filter to blue when viewing image number 3 and you will catch the start of the blue bubble at the top right of the image.

A significant part of the fun is watching people waiting for the geyser to erupt. Take what the tour guide says about aching arms seriously. You need hair trigger reflexes and do take your time to get into position. A tripod may help too.

Note:

If the first two or three irruptions are lackluster, do not lose hope. Mother nature knows she is on display and will oblige.

With thanks to Pedro Alvarez and Helen Cherry forphotography tips, image classification and editing.