'Crazy' close-up with volcano

Warrnambool photographer Josh Beames dropped everything for a "crazy" close-up experience with an erupting volcano.

Mr Beames trekked about 40 kilometres in a day to capture spectacular drone footage and images after a 5.2 magnitude earthquake caused hundreds of volcanoes to erupt. "It's so crazy how close you are, the wind can swing pretty fast and you have to get out quickly," he said. Access was closed the day he arrived because of deadly gas emissions, but reopened the next morning.

Mr Beames said many people lost their drones because they flew the devices too close to the lava.

"I wanted to go in riskier and go higher and get more cinematic," he said.

"I went two metres off the lava and went really slow and as I got to where it flows down like a waterfall I was getting nervous. I thought I'd lose the drone. It's worth about $4000. It was going over the waterfall, I saw chunks of lava going up and I thought it would melt."

He was in New Zealand with his partner when the eruptions near Reykjavik started. Mr Beames said he missed seeing the volcano erupt in 2022. "I vowed the next time one erupted, I'd be there in a heart beat," he said.

"As soon as we landed back in Australia from NZ, and with a window in my schedule of only five days (including the transit), I booked flights to Iceland on a mission to witness a volcano up close.... one of my ultimate goals in life.