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Firefly fireworks

By Sarah Whalley, Director on Seven Worlds, One Planet

Quite often one of the pleasures of being in the field are the people you meet and the firefly shoot was no exception.

it was like being in a magical fairytale

I had the pleasure of working with the world’s leading firefly scientist, Lynn Faust, and also Paul and Libby Hartfield who let us film on their land as they had a dense population of synchronous fireflies right on their doorstep.

The first time they showed me the fireflies in action I was blown away, it was like being in a magical fairytale, they were so hypnotic. I couldn’t take my eyes off the blinking insects. It was as if the trees were strung with Christmas lights.

The tricky bit was capturing this spectacle on our specialist low light cameras. As the fireflies are sensitive to light we had to work in the pitch black, setting cameras up in places and then trying to find them again!

we had to work in the pitch black

Using these low light cameras and timelapse photography the crew were able to document the firefly activity over the course of the night, resulting in a spectacular light show.

Despite nearly stepping on a few copper heads, a species of venomous snake it was an experience I will never forget.

Bringing the light show to audiences is worth the risk and thanks to the people who helped us on the trip, I am now an avid fireflyer.

Web exclusive: Filming an enchanted forest

The challenges the crew faced filming fireflies at night.

On location

Saving Seven Worlds