Billions of Fireflies: Summer 2019 Lightning and Fireflies Series
After several years of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, I was finally able to be in eastern Iowa during “firefly season” – early late June/early July. That is when the fireflies are out just after sunset and they twinkle like holiday lights. There are millions – billions of them really – in the corn and soybean fields and they are truly a magical sight to behold. Hundreds of square miles of lightning bugs, in fact.
And to make things extra special we had a number of summer storms pass through the region (these were all shot near Cedar Rapids, Iowa). But when I say region, I mean within 100-120 miles. This part of the country is very, very flat. Some of these storms were over 100 miles away in Illinois. All these shots were taken from June 29th to July 10th.
As an added bonus, on the 4th of July this year, I got fireworks, fireflies and a lightning storm in the same timelapse. My primary Nikon 28-300mm lens had broke just days before so I was stuck using a longer or wider lens for these than I would have liked. But I’d say it worked out.
With some of the time lapses below I’ve included the number of shots and the camera settings.
I’ve included some images at the bottom of this post as well as how they were made. At the very, very bottom are some firefly close ups (no lightning).
Lightning and Fireflies Time Lapse June 29, 2019
128 photos each set at f/2.8, iso 500, 6 second exposure, 18mm.
Lightning and Fireflies TimeLapse #3
I found this pretty amazing: The storm in this shot is in central Illinois, more than 100 miles away from where I was standing last night, just east of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Yes, this part of the country really is that flat! Illinois lightning and Iowa fireflies (and corn). 310 photos each a 6 second exposure, iso 1600, f/3.2, 200mm.
Lightning, Fireworks and Fireflies
Shot on 4th July 2019 near Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 88 photos stacked. Each photo is 6 seconds long, f/2.8, iso 500, 18mm cropped.
Lightning, Fireflies, and a Cat?!?
A cat photobombs my latest lightning and firefly time lapse in an corn field near Cedar Rapids. The storm in the distance is in Illinois, 100 miles away. Still image of the cat in question, lit by the moon, is below the timelapses (keep scrolling).
Lightning and Fireflies TimeLapse #2
Just too much fun. I went out to shoot the crescent moon (below) and this was happening in the east. Luckly I had two cameras with me that night.
Crescent Moon and Fireflies Time Lapse
Bonus 1: No lightning with this one but a setting crescent moon and fields thick with fireflies. The lightning time lapse above was happening in the opposite direction. Luckily I had two cameras that night. 218 photos each a 4 sec exposure. Enjoy. Please feel free to share.
Lightning and Lightning Bugs Timelapse 2017
This one is a throw back. This was a very brief lightning and firefly time lapse I shot in 2017. That’s when I knew I had to come back and give this a real try.
Photos of lightning and fireflies
These are mostly stacked photos, some taken from the time lapses above. The cat photo is a single frame from the cat time lapse above.
Lightning storm and fireflies in eastern Iowa. June 2019. This is 128 photos stacked on each other. 768 seconds, or just shy of 13 minutes, of storm and fireflies. Copyright Christopher V. Sherman. To purchase this photo go here.
Fireflies and lightning storm. Iowa. 84 images stacked. Each image is a 4 second exposure for a total of 336 seconds. Copyright Christopher V. Sherman. To purchase this image go here.
Firefly Close Ups
I also tried my hand at shooting close ups of the Lightning Bugs with my Nikon D850 and Nikon 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Micro Autofocus Macro Lens. This is not easy to do. They don’t blink on command and they’re hard to see at night when they don’t. Here are some of the results.
