Explosive images: Daredevil captures the volatile majesty of lava-spitting volcanoes up close

Dicing with death around fountains of 1,000C glowing lava wouldn't be everyone's idea of the perfect day.

But for daredevil photographer Skarphedinn Thrainsson, teetering around the world's deadliest volcanoes is nothing but another thrilling day at the office.

Despite being lucky not to be injured or killed by chunks of volcanic ash crashing into the ground around him, his resulting images are stunning.

From bright orange jets of lava darting into the night sky like a firework, to fellow madcap photographers standing just feet away from molten streams raining from the skies, these photos show a different side to the destruction.

Mr Skarphedinn, 39, said: 'It's the most amazing thing I've ever experienced in my life.

'It's hard to describe the feeling you get when you're standing in front of an erupting volcano - all the heat, the noise, the smell and the lightning strikes.

'You feel very small and powerless in front of a volcano. And going back to normal landscape photography is just boring after it.

'It's incredibly dangerous though and sometimes I have to walk across the new lava so could easily get burned.

'It was also dangerous to be in the area around Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland where I took a lot of my pictures last year because the lightning was striking through the ash cloud.'

Spooky: This eerie image shows a man coming towards the camera - or is he heading closer to the volcano?