Chuk Tang , Jun 04, 2006; 09:05 a.m.
Hi, the fireflies are just starting to emerge here in Japan and I want to take
some photos of them because it's my first time I have ever seen them! I went
out tonight and I tried a few shots but when I got back and processed my film
it was black... The film speed was ISO 50 and the exposure was a guess at
around 2 minutes. The sky was pretty much black with a few street lights
glowing in the distance lighting up the horizon. The aperture was at f11. I
maybe should have shot full open? I was expecting a little bit of... well
anything really! It was just black with a very faint outline of the horizon and
the trees. It was a polaroid so I'm pretty sure it wasn't developing error.
Does anyone have any tips to offer on photographing these beautiful creatures?
Arnab Pratim Das , Jun 04, 2006; 09:15 a.m.
this is one of the most challenging critters to shoot glowing. For a stationary specimen you want a moderately long 3-4 sec exposure (just enough to capture a couple flashes) with slow sync flash (choose -ve flash compensation to taste).
Arnab Pratim Das , Jun 04, 2006; 09:19 a.m.
"just enough to capture a couple flashes" - when I say "flashes" I mean "glow bursts" from the firefly. Similar technique can be applied for glow worms. I have a nice capture on Velvia but unfortunately the slide is not with me here.
The best time to shoot is early dusk so that you can focus properly on the whole insect. They switch off their lights at dawn/during daytime. The glow is primarily used as mating signals.
Rachelle M. , Jun 04, 2006; 09:59 a.m.
Hi Chuk
Don't know if I can help you much but I used to live in Japan and tried on a couple of occasions to photograph fireflies. At that time I was always using slide film but if I could try it again I would definitely go with print. I also shot either at 200 or 400 iso, with a tripod, at either f8 or f11, with exposures running between 10-60 seconds. At best, I got a few long green squiggles, and of course the background is black. I would definitely try shooting at around 400 and as open as possible, just like shooting the stars, if I were to try this again. I've seen some good pictures of this done, but the exposures were obviously long (I'd say at least 2 minutes, based on my exposures) and possibly flash was used to illuminate the background during these times. I guess the best thing to do is experiment and definitely bracket!
Good luck.
Hotaru squiggles
Rachelle M. , Jun 04, 2006; 10:02 a.m.
Sorry, meant to mention that the above photo was shot at 400, f8, 60 seconds. This is the best exposure I got all night!
Steve Wolfe , Jun 04, 2006; 03:05 p.m.
I've never tried fireflies, but I would imagine that it would be like fireworks or lightning - as the bugs are moving, your exposure is going to be determined by the combination of ISO and aperture. If your film was all black, then you either need faster film, or a larger aperture.
Look at the excellent photo that another person submitted, ISO 400 at f/8.0. If you were at ISO 50, f/11, you were 4 stops below his exposure level.
steve
Sitthivet Santikarn 
, Jun 04, 2006; 09:54 p.m.
I would suggest you take a digital camera so you can view the results immediately after exposure. After you got a good exposure then you can switch to film using the same settings (if you like).
Mike Earussi , Jun 04, 2006; 11:51 p.m.
Use the lens with the largest aperture you've got, shoot wide open, use 800 speed neg. film and bracket like crazy, writing down your settings so you can duplicate the best one later.
Brent Chadwell , Jun 04, 2006; 11:59 p.m.
Just a quick question; if you're shooting something at night, why on earth would you use ISO 50 film and stop down to f/11? Even during daylight you often can't use f/11 with ISO 50 film. You're going to need at least 800, I would get a few rolls of 1600 also. Furthermore, you need to shoot at something like f/4 or 5.6. After that, you just need to fine tune your technique. Challenging things to photograph, but worth it if you get a great shot.
Chuk Tang , Jun 05, 2006; 02:15 a.m.
Haha, yeah, the film I used (polaroid type 55) is a bit slow! I am shooting large format so my choice of film is very limited in the high speed range. The fastest film I have is RVP100. Also, I need to stop down to get depth of field. Shooting at f5.6 is not a good idea when trying to shoot a landscape type shot in large format;) I think it might be an idea to try my 35mm again... I'm going to go out tonight and try again with my Nikon. I think I might go for some closeups if I can get close enough. That might be more successful than trying to get huge sweeping views. Thanks for everyone's advice!! I'll see how I get on with my 35mm!
