“When I walk through a quiet forest in the middle of the night full of fireflies, I feel like I am in a magical forest. I see fireflies being a mere reflection of stars under the Milky Way, I feel connected to everything in the universe. They are communicating to me. I am listening …”
Photo by Jud McCranie via Wikimedia Commons
These are the poetic words of photographer Radim Schreiber.
Schreiber was born in the Czech Republic, but now lives in a fairyland called … Iowa.
Yup. The Hawkeye State. Corn fields and combines.
Sometimes, it takes a fresh perspective to see the ordinary as extraordinary.
“When I first moved to Iowa, I was mesmerized by the abundance and brightness of fireflies during summer nights. During my childhood in the Czech Republic, I had never seen anything like that,” he recounts on his website, FireflyExperience.org. “It was in 2003, and I was on the plane when I felt inspired. So, I made a sketch on a paper; it was a glowing firefly on a silhouetted blade of grass, with the moon in the background and the dark-blue sky. Since then I had this image in my head, waiting for the right time to materialize.”
Taking advantage of recent advancements in the low-light capabilities of camera equipment, Schreiber began to photograph fireflies in 2008. “The most challenging aspect of firefly photography is the fleeting nature of fireflies. When they glow, they like to fly or move. They never seem to be still for very long, and so I struggle to quickly compose my shots. It was sometimes almost complete darkness and I took the photo right when the firefly illuminated … and all that when being bitten by other insects. This truly shows my patience,” he says with a smile.
Photo by Jud McCranie, http://www.fireflyexperience.org/photos/
Perhaps even more delightful than his photos, though, is Schreiber’s Firefly Experience, which you are about to experience right here.
But before you do, be warned: if you are far from firefly country or have never known the magic of fireflies in person, you will pine. Yearn, even. Fireflies are just that fantastic.
Willing to take the risk? Then, immerse yourself in the Firefly Experience …
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