Firefly Venture

A friend of a Friend (friend of a friend who is also a Quaker) has some fields on his property that are full of Joe-Pye Weed. Fireflies are among the several species of insects that love this plant. Pollinators, such as butterflies, skippers, and bees, feed on the nectar. Fireflies like to shelter under the leaves during the day. Then they come out at night. The most common species is the Common Eastern Firefly (Photinus pyralis). Fireflies produce their light by a process called bioluminescence, a process that is nearly 100% efficient.

My friend arranged for a group of us to go see the firefly display. It was magical! I’ve seen fireflies before, and even spent childhood hours catching them in my hands, but I have never seen so many. Constant little lights. Of course I had my camera and tripod with me.

The host has made observing very easy. He has made paths with chipped wood, which makes for easy walking. He even has observation posts with posts!

OM System has a computational feature in some of their cameras (I have the OM 1 mark ii) called live composite. With this setting, the camera takes a base photo, then repeats the exposure for as long as you like, adding only new light to the image. That way the overall exposure does not increase. I used this feature a few years ago to photograph fireworks. What works for fireworks (and star trails, and tail lights and headlights, etc.) also works for fireflies.

After creating a few images I realized that the paths of individuals could be captured. Just imaging connecting the dots.