Stephen wrote:

 > It might be because I expect the volcano to loom over me.


I think that *is* hollywood. Volcanos (and mountains in general) are too 
big to loom. By the time they're looming, you're standing on them and 
they're under you.

Now, volcanos I think don't tend to be quite so vertical, nor quite so 
symetric.  There would probably also be outbreaks of lava on the slopes 
as well. It does, after all, melt through rock.

The smoke seems very symetrical also. If there were no wind, I'd think 
it would be going mostly up, or up then back down in an umbrella-like 
shape. Maybe having the smoke going one way and the lava coming down on 
the other side would give a nice balance.

I also doubt you'd find snow on the slopes of an active volcano, as it's 
not unusual for the ground to be like 3000 degrees six inches down. I 
was caught in a rain storm once in Hawaii that came down so hard you 
couldn't breathe if you weren't looking at the ground. My feet stayed 
dry, because the rain all evaporated somewhere around my knees. This was 
at tourist distances from the lava, too, not like I was in there taking 
samples. But of course getting rid of the snow would ruin the artistry 
of the image, so that's more a nit than anything.

The ground is both too black and too bare. Lava is very shiney, as the 
surfaces were all liquid a short time ago and cooled under gravity. It's 
mostly brittle and crunchy, like blown glass. Plus it's full of 
delicious plant nutrients, so even days after an eruption, you get grass 
there, saplings, etc.

The water near the shore looks kind of grey, but I don't know if that's 
correct or not. Unless that's supposed to be a beach or something.

I'm looking forward to how you manage the glow of the lava. :-)

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
    Luke, the Force is a powerful ally,
    second only to The QuickSave.

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