New Zealand: Boiling mud eruption
Speaking of strange shapes reminiscent of objects in Surrealist paintings, how about this eruption in a pool of boiling mud? I took the picture on February 24th at Wai-O-Tapu*, which is in an active geothermal area in the vicinity of Rotorua on the North Island. The sputtering of the boiling mud was unpredictable, so I set my camera to 1/500 sec. and tried to press the shutter release at the first hint of a splatter. Many of my attempts didn’t succeed, but this photo did a pretty good job of capturing the phenomenon.
Today’s image of a geothermal feature is the first one from my New Zealand trip to appear here, but it won’t be the last.
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* After I prepared this post I saw that the Wai-O-Tapu website says TripAdvisor calls the location “One of the 20 Most SURREAL Places in the World.”
© 2015 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
wow…how cool is that
weisserwatercolours
May 5, 2015 at 5:54 AM
Cool in a hot way, you might say.
Steve Schwartzman
May 5, 2015 at 7:44 AM
Now that is very clever. Fabulous shot, Steve! It does look like a piece of modern art.
Jane
May 5, 2015 at 6:09 AM
Now if someone would just give me the amount of money that some works of modern art get…
Steve Schwartzman
May 5, 2015 at 7:45 AM
Amazing photo, Steve. More than a ‘pretty good job’!
Gallivanta
May 5, 2015 at 6:13 AM
Thanks for the compliment. Have you ever gallivanted over to Wai-O-Tapu?
Steve Schwartzman
May 5, 2015 at 7:54 AM
Not that I remember. I was taken to Rotorua when I was very young. I can’t remember much about the visit, except being terrified that I would fall into the steaming hot pools.
Gallivanta
May 5, 2015 at 8:05 AM
We’re glad you didn’t fall in, but people have at Yellowstone, the big brother of Rotorua:
http://www.yellowstonepark.com/2007/01/cautionary-tale/
Steve Schwartzman
May 5, 2015 at 9:05 AM
Crikey! That is a cautionary tale. I am not sure of the statistics for Rotorua but I found this reference to a tragedy at the mud pools. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8251536/No-blame-over-hot-pool-death Even as an adult I would most likely be wary of both Yellowstone and Rotorua.
Gallivanta
May 6, 2015 at 6:08 AM
The last sentence in that article caught my attention for its straightforwardness: “[Coroner] Bain said there were many boiling mud pools and thermal pools around Rotorua and it was impossible to keep the public out of them if people were ‘hell bent’ on getting very close and running the risk of slipping in.”
Several times at Te Puia and Wai-O-Tapu the photographer in me felt the urge to leave a path or bypass a fence to get closer to a geothermal feature for a picture, but I chose prudence and didn’t.
Steve Schwartzman
May 6, 2015 at 6:31 AM
Thank goodness you chose prudence.
Gallivanta
May 6, 2015 at 7:40 AM
As they say: prudence is the better part of valor.
Steve Schwartzman
May 6, 2015 at 2:43 PM
Actually, this photo is better than pretty good. Excellent timing. By any chance did you do a video? I generally don’t but this might have changed my ways.
Steve Gingold
May 5, 2015 at 6:15 AM
I probably should have tried a video (though that would have required a tripod, and I didn’t have one with me). On the other hand, at 30 or even 60 frames a second, a video wouldn’t have been able to render a “still life” like this image.
Steve Schwartzman
May 5, 2015 at 7:58 AM
Interesting phenomena, loved the background info.
Charlie@Seattle Trekker
May 5, 2015 at 7:28 AM
The eternal teacher is happy to provide the background info.
Steve Schwartzman
May 5, 2015 at 8:03 AM
Wow, I’ve never seen mud boil before.
Brenda Davis Harsham
May 5, 2015 at 7:47 AM
If tempers can boil, then so can mud. I’m not sure you’ll find any (boiling mud, not tempers) in New England, but if you head west to Yellowstone you’ll find some good examples.
Steve Schwartzman
May 5, 2015 at 9:50 AM
One day I hope to get there… 😀
Brenda Davis Harsham
May 5, 2015 at 10:17 AM
I finally went two decades ago, and it was well worth the trip. If possible, it’s best to avoid the summer tourist season.
Steve Schwartzman
May 5, 2015 at 10:20 AM
Hmm, hard to do with three school-age kids.
Brenda Davis Harsham
May 5, 2015 at 10:24 AM
Understood. Maybe spring break will be an appropriate time one of these years.
Steve Schwartzman
May 5, 2015 at 10:33 AM
Maybe… 🙂
Brenda Davis Harsham
May 5, 2015 at 1:26 PM
Fabulous! It’s so unlike anything I’ve seen, I’m not sure I ever would have figured it out. The shapes of those splatters are fascinating. I suppose the closest analogy in nature would be lava eruptions. It does looks like a piece of cast metal — almost like those sculptures they make by pouring molten metal into termite mounds.
shoreacres
May 5, 2015 at 7:50 AM
Call this high-shutter-speed image the temporal analogue of what macro photography is in the spatial realm, and that may explain why you (and many other people) haven’t seen anything like it. Speaking of analogies, yours of the molten metal castings from termite mounds is a good one.
Steve Schwartzman
May 5, 2015 at 9:10 AM
Reblogged this on My Choice and commented:
Excellent picture of a natural phenomenon
Herman van Bon Photography
May 5, 2015 at 8:48 AM
It took a bunch of trying, but I managed to get one image that pleased me.
Steve Schwartzman
May 5, 2015 at 9:50 AM
Great capture! Good job!
Lavinia Ross
May 5, 2015 at 12:19 PM
Good to hear that it captured your attention, Lavinia.
Steve Schwartzman
May 5, 2015 at 12:52 PM
My first impression was of a dropped vase or pot shattering upon impact.
Jim in IA
May 5, 2015 at 12:32 PM
I can see it that way, in the tradition of Harold Edgerton:
http://tinyurl.com/n96fhog
Steve Schwartzman
May 5, 2015 at 12:55 PM
Harold indeed. https://seekees.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/edgerton02-a.jpg
Jim in IA
May 5, 2015 at 3:27 PM
Such a fun photo. I tried to take photos of these mini explosions but they were no where near as perfect as this shot. Love it.
Raewyn's Photos
May 5, 2015 at 5:21 PM
I’m glad you find it fun. As you’ve seen for yourself, the phenomenon isn’t easy to catch at the right moment, but I figured that if I took enough pictures at least one would turn out okay.
Steve Schwartzman
May 5, 2015 at 7:01 PM
I suspect there are many painters and sculptors who’d envy this. Great shot!
Susan Scheid
May 6, 2015 at 6:46 PM
Thanks, Susan. MOMA hasn’t called me yet, but I’ll keep waiting for the call.
Steve Schwartzman
May 6, 2015 at 6:52 PM
[…] week you saw some boiling mud at Wai-O-Tapu in the geothermal zone near Rotorua. From the same place on February 24th, […]
New Zealand: Geothermal mineral deposit | Portraits of Wildflowers
May 12, 2015 at 5:27 AM
So cool, Steve. Bloop, bloop, bloop…
melissabluefineart
May 19, 2015 at 8:40 AM
I saw your comment before seeing which post it was on, so the “bloop, bloop, bloop” puzzled me but now I understand. The splattering mud did make sounds but I didn’t record them.
Steve Schwartzman
May 19, 2015 at 9:29 AM
🙂
melissabluefineart
May 19, 2015 at 4:38 PM