Amateur photographer Kawika Singson routinely ventures out to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to snap some pics. But this time around, after setting up his equipment on a lava flow, his shoes and tripod caught fire. The photo has since gone viral — but is it real?
Yes and no.
Yes, the fire you see in the photograph is real. Nothing has been Photoshopped in. Singson's shoes and tripod are indeed ablaze.
Here's the photographic evidence:
But it's not 'real' in the sense that it's a contrived shot. As he states on his Facebook page, "I thought it would be pretty cool to take a lava pic with my shoes and tripod on fire." So, along with his friend, Christopher Hirata, the two staged the photo.
Also, the flames on the tripod and the shoes did not start because of the lava. As Singson admits, "It's like if you put your shoe in a hot frying pan, it will not catch fire right away."
Singson had to use an accelerant to start the flames.
"It's just something I wanted for my Facebook cover photo."
[WAFB]