Photographing Lightning Bugs at the Mabry Mill (2019!)
Some of my favorite images that I have ever made are those of lightning bugs(or fireflies). Every summer these awesome little creatures come out in droves and really put on a great show after sundown.
A few years ago, I had some fun at Mabry Mill shooting the lightning bugs. This year, with so much real estate photography keeping my busy, I haven't had a whole lot of time for what I like to call 'recreational photography". So just to keep my photography life interesting I headed down the Mabry Mill last month to shoot the lightning bugs.
I only ended up making three photos, since each one took 30 minutes to an hour to make. I set the built in intervalometer on my Nikon D750 and just sat back and watched em fly around.
Lightning bugs like the edge of a forest and water. Mabry Mill's lawns and water are a great place for viewing lightning bugs. This first photo was taken at the back side of the main lawn looking back toward the Mill.
My next spot was down next to the Mill. The lightning bugs were really popping by this time! Standing there watching them fly all around was just great and much needed(spring is just crazy busy for me and it was much needed).
I light painted the structure in one exposure and let the bugs fly in a bunch of others.
My last shot was taken from across the pond. I used one very long exposure for my base exposure and then let the camera take photos for a half an hour or so before heading home.
Thanks for looking, scroll down to check out some other photos of lightning bugs that I have taken at the Mabry Mill.
&layout=none&ref=https://www.michaelspeed.com/blog/2019/7/photographing-lightning-bugs-at-the-mabry-mill-2019)