Although Iceland’s Bárðarbunga Volcano, which has been erupting since late August, is located in an isolated, uninhabited stretch of land, true enthusiasts still are attempting to seek it out. According to Natural World News, two such enthusiasts are photographer Ranar Th. Sigurdsson and his accomplice Eric Cheng. The pair recently sought out the magma spewing rock, and returned, not with piles of ash and burnt limbs, but with some incredible, breathtaking footage.

The pair traveled out to the volcano with intent to capture some great shots of the eruption. However, once there it became apparent that they could only get so close to the lava spews without risking serious injury. As such Cheng, who works for the company drone maker DJI, thought to use one of his drones to capture the footage. Using a GoPro with a live feed to pilot, the pair then flew the drone into the volcano and came away with some truly beautiful videos.

This footage that the pair captured is the first step in a line of videos coming out from DJI, which is aptly called “DJI Feats”. These videos will show all sorts of interesting, breathtaking videos taken (and made possible) through the use of drones. If this first video is an accurate representation of what’s to come, then they should all be equally exciting.

However, while the video footage is stunning, not everything went according to plan. As the pair was recording, Cheng got excited and flew the drone a little too close to the lava. When the feed unexpectedly cut out, Cheng brought the drone back to find that prolonged exposure to the intense molten earth had melted the entire face clean off. However, not all was lost. While the drone was destroyed, the footage and the SD card were still intact, giving us an up close and personal look at one of the world’s natural wonders.