How to Photograph Fireflies

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Fireflies captured as they begin painting the evening sky.

Who doesn’t remanence about their younger self chasing after fireflies, lightning bugs, glowworms or whatever you may call them in your neck of the woods. These delightful little insects continue to captivate people across the globe. I like to think of them as natures light painters! I remember my sons first time seeing them appear. I decided to capture the moment with him at my side. Read on to discover how to photograph these mesmerizing little insects with your camera and the right equipment.

You can easily capture firefly activity with most modern smartphones and cameras. However, in this case I will be explaining two different techniques of how to capture fireflies using short and long shutter speeds in order to freeze their glowing lights and light trails. I will explain the principles of iso and shutter speed later on. Let’s start with the basic equipment needed. You’ll need the following: your choice of photo backpack or bag, a camera, a tripod, a wide-angle lens or fast zoom with an aperture of f1.8 to f2.8(don’t worry lenses with higher f-stops still work), a headlamp with a blue or red lighting feature. Always carry extra batteries or a power bank. Never forget to double check that you have a memory card loaded in your camera, more importantly always pack spare memory cards. Lastly, don’t forget all-natural bug spray or some kind of head net. Bug attacks can be brutal!

Plan, plan, plan. Yes, research and preplan your trip. Research fireflies. You should know they love wet environments. They are commonly found near streams, marshes, wetlands and generally moist forest floors. I highly recommend scouting out a location during the day for composition purposes. Know the area before you go. The last thing you want to do is trip over terrain or not know exactly where an area is, especially at night. It is also important to use the red, blue or green light feature on your head lamp as to not disturb nocturnal wildlife on your photography outing. Remember at night, areas often look quite different, especially deep in the woods. I often carry a compass everywhere I go as safety precaution if venturing out quite far. I would also highly recommend you bring extra batteries and a power bank. Also please be aware of biting insects and predatory animals in your neck of the woods. For example, carrying bear spray in some areas of the U.S. would be advisable. It is also wise to let people you know where you are going, especially if venturing out alone.

Arrive an hour or more earlier before sunset to setup your equipment. This makes setup a lot easier with natural sunlight being present and will aid you with choosing the best composition for your shots. One thing I would like to address here is that you should remember that overcast, terrain, elevation, temperature and weather can greatly change the timing of the emergence of fireflies. Once dusk begins or enough shadow is cast these critters will emerge quickly as long as it is humid and warm. Though if it’s windy you will discover they stay quite low to the ground and rarely take flight, as they aren’t strong flying insects. Be sure to disable your flash and cover anything you have that produces blinking lights (examples; indicator lights on cameras and other devices). We do this as to not disturb nocturnal wildlife and to prevent stray light from being captured on accident in your images.

Now that your all setup, let’s focus on settings! I personally like to shoot in raw and set my camera iso between 640-1600. You can also shoot at a higher setting, as most cameras can easily shoot up to 6400 iso and even higher. This allows adequate light to be absorbed by the sensor. Just be warned the higher iso you use will produce more noise. Now on to shutter speed. Try shutter speeds of 1-5 seconds if you're trying to freeze the bioluminescent glow of the fireflies in place. Photographers should use shutter speeds of several seconds to 1 minute or possibly longer, if they intend to show light trails of fireflies in flight. This produces other worldly, almost magical images. Some cameras may require you to use the bulb setting and possibly a remote control in order to use longer exposure shutter speeds. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different iso’s and shutter speeds. Most of all immerse yourself and enjoy the experience!

Possible problems that you could face are mist, wind, rain and the dreaded bug photobomber(s). Yes, the last one can really be a problem if shooting near streams. I was shooting near a beautiful trout stream when larger flying nymphs and other flying insects kept landing on my lens. Patience is key. Make sure to observe and follow weather reports when shooting to maximize your photographic success.

Lastly, edit your raw images to further fine tune your imagery if you wish to. Some folks like to lift shadows and adjust different parts of their images to add depth to their imagery. This is really up to personal taste. You can also stack images to showcase more light trails and produce fairy tale like imagery. Just be warned this works best with images that have little to no environmental movement, as any parts of the scene moving such as grass, trees and etc., will appear blurry. This will also produce artsy abstract imagery. My go to editing software for editing are Lightroom, Photoshop, DxO PureRaw, Topaz and Capture one. There are many other editing software’s out there, so don’t be afraid to try something new or even free. Most of all have fun!

Fireflies gently fly over trout stream.