Beginning in the Fall of 2004 and ending in the Winter of 2008, Mount St.Helens entered a new eruptive phase. It reawakened when a series of unfelt earthquake swarms were detected directly beneath the 8363' volcano. By October 1, 2004, the mountain was emitting 15,000ft steam and ash plumes that continued for the next five days. Predictions of fresh magma moving upward came true on October 11, 2004, when molten rock was detected on the south side of the 1.2 mile wide crater left after the 1980 eruption. For the first time in 18 years Mount St.Helens was resuming the slow process of rebuilding itself. In the early stages of the new dome growth, several impressive rock features were observed towering hundreds of feet skyward. These would eventually crumble under there own weight, revealing the glowing rock within and adding to the growing pile of rubble below. On the evening of March 8th, 2005, a 36,000' steam and ash plume, the biggest since 1980, marched skyward into the fading light, drifting over 150 miles to the east.

The images in this gallery represent nearly 4 years of photographing the changes "The Mountain," as I like to call it, went through during this time. As a landscape photographer, my approach was very much the same as it would be anywhere else in the world; but the added element of photographing an active volcano is what made it especially exciting. On March 8th, 2005, when St.Helens unexpectedly erupted, it showcased a powerful beauty unlike anything I'd ever seen. I had my camera with me and snapped what I consider to be my best ever photograph, "Lord of the Ring." In the summer of 2006, I flew around St. Helens with Research Scientist, Graham Hill, from New Zealand's Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, to photograph the compelling work he was doing to map the underlying magmatic system of the mountain. On two different occasions, once in 2006, and later in 2007, I climbed up to the summit rim to create a photo I'd been visualizing for some time: the glowing, magma-filled crater under the starry night sky. My latter attempt proved successful on a moonless night in September when I created, "Fire Mountain." For now, I have moved on to other photographic pursuits, but I know I will return to pick up where I left off -- perhaps it will coincide with the next eruption event....